Canon Rob's Reflections

Those who attend Evensong will be familiar with the Magnificat which is one of the canticles recited during that act of worship. It is suggested for today as an alternative to the psalm and I think it appropriate for us to reflect upon as we draw nearer to Christmas. The Magnificat, or Song of Mary as it is also called, can be found in St Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 1 verses 46 – 56. It is one of three of what are known as the “birth, or infancy, narratives.” (The other two being Zechariah’s hymn in Luke 1.68-79, known as the Benedictus and recited at Morning Prayer, and the Song of Simeon, or Nunc Dimittis, in Luke 2.29-32, recited at Evensong.) Mary sang her hymn of praise during a visit she made to her cousin Elizabeth who, like Mary, is expecting a child. Elizabeth and Zechariah’s son to be known as John the Baptist. They tell us of what God has done but also, especially in the case of the Magnificat, look to the future and what God will do. Like many of the psalms which we have reflected upon over the years, the Song of Mary begins with thanksgiving for what God has done for her personally. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.” [Verses 46 and 47.] This is a hymn of great joy, but there is also a sense in which Mary cannot believe what is happening to her. She is overcome as she continues, “From this day all generations will call me blessed” because “the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.”

Mary and Elizabeth both have a part to play in what God is doing to fulfil the promises He made through the words of the prophets. They will have been very familiar with those prophecies which we can find in the Old Testament. (Mary’s Song, for example, contains echoes of the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel Chapter 2.)

In part, then, the Magnificat is a looking back to what God has done. However, Mary also looks ahead. For, as you will see in verse 50, she speaks of God working “from generation to generation.” Her child will be the fulfilment of what has been promised in the past, but he will be born to be the Saviour of all and as she says, “the promise made to our ancestors,” is also made, “to Abraham and his children for ever.” [Verse 55.] Mary and Elizabeth lived during Roman occupation and they will have seen the suffering of many people. Life was hard for them all. Poverty was rife and those in power were, by contrast, very rich and ruled with an ‘iron rod.’ These were the “mighty,” who Mary sung, who would be “cast down.” [Verse 52.] This was the dream which Mary and Elizabeth shared: the day when the tables would be turned, when the hungry will be filled with “good things” and the rich sent “away empty.” [Verse 53.] With the birth of her son, a new dawn would be breaking. For now though, Mary must wait for her child to be born, as we wait during Advent for the coming of Christ-mass. Yet she waited in hope just as you and I do.

The Reflection on 8th December was about the conception of Mary. Today, she is a young woman soon to give birth. As you read and reflect upon the words of the Magnificat, think of Mary, not only for what she did in saying “yes” to God when He asked her to be the mother of His Son, but also for the person she was. Remember, as I wrote above, that she was amazed that God had chosen her! “How can this be?” she exclaimed at the Annunciation. Perhaps she thought there were better candidates than her! Yet through her humble obedience, we are given a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. It is that Kingdom for which we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and at the end of every Eucharist we say a prayer of thanksgiving which ends with the words, “send us out in the power of your Spirit, to live and work to your praise and glory.” Don’t be surprised then if God responds by asking you to work for and with you to help bring about His Kingdom.