Fourth Sunday in Advent for many Christians is devoted to the Annunciation, which was what got the whole thing rolling, as it were. The Annunciation was when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she’d been chosen to bring the Son of God into the world via virgin birth.
(Obvs the Annunciation did not occur during Advent; that
would be weird. Weirder than the actual impregnation by the Holy Spirit. It’s
just that this is the Sunday when we reference it.)
We only have the (male) Gospel accounts of that event and
they pretty much gloss over what must have been quite the awkward conversation.
What we’re told is that, upon receiving the announcement (no discussion
allowed), Mary replies, basically, “Well, okay. I am the handmaiden of the
Lord. Let’s do it.”
A prayer for today is the Magnificat, a canticle sung by
Mary. Technically, this takes us to the
Visitation (which took place shortly after the Annunciation, thus long
before Advent, but is referenced in seasonal readings), but I am not
responsible for how this shakes out. “Magnificat” is the opening of how Mary
describes her condition to her cousin Elisabeth. “My soul doth magnify the
Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”
There are often discussions about the “magnifying” thing.
People talk about magnifying glasses, which I think misses the point.
Magnifying glasses make things look bigger; they stay the same
size, we’re just experiencing an optical illusion. Mary tells us that she
(through her soul) will add to the Lord; amplify him, if you
will. Or perhaps she’s saying that she’ll make God manifest, and
thus larger in our lives; she’ll actually add to the Lord.
So I think we should have a Magnificat today, and what better than J.S. Bach’s?
©2024 Bas Bleu
