Today is an odd day in the Christian liturgical calendar when the fourth and final Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve fall on the same day (take pity on your clergy, dear friends!). This morning is the Fourth Sunday of Advent and, beginning at sunset, it will be Christmas Eve.
With this post, we come to the end of “A Beautiful Advent.” Thank you for joining me on this journey to discover the nearness of God in these wilderness times. May the light shine brightly on you, all those you love, and the world awaiting a new day of justice and peace.
Of this good news, Mary was a prophet and deliverer. She birthed God’s beauty into the world. Our search for a beautiful Advent ends with the promise of Earth renewed, all oppression and violence ceased.
Canticle 15 (from the Book of Common Prayer)
The Song of Mary Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
NOTE: This post originally appeared on the Sojourners blog on December 22, 2008. That year, I opened a window on my own Advent calendar every day and wrote an impromptu reflection about the surprise in the window that greeted me. The good folks at Sojourners thought I was brave to even try the exercise and tried to dissuade me — but we all loved it! (And it was really hard work!)
* * * * *
As the days grow shorter, darker, and colder, our longing for the light intensifies. In these lengthened days of winter, the Advent calendar window opened to reveal Mary, the mother of Jesus, the one who carried light into the world.
When I was a child, I always loved unwrapping the crèche. It gave me special joy to find Mary, swaddled in last year's newspaper, resting in the box. I would tenderly free her, cradle the blue-clad figurine, give her a secret Protestant kiss, and place her in the manger. Her serene motherhood embodied holiness.
Over the years, Mary has not ceased being a compelling biblical hero to me — and I have learned how this woman reflects the hopes and longings of Christians through many ages. To me, and her countless admirers, she has been — among other images — the pious mother, the face of the divine feminine, a faithful disciple, and the even the queen of heaven.
Her glory, however, is almost always connected to her maternity. Mary is Mary because of Jesus. But before she was Jesus' mother, Mary was a prophet. In some ways, her story is like that of Isaiah, a person of humble circumstance who lived at a time of political turmoil and military oppression. An angel appears to the future prophet, who feels inadequate to bear God's word to the people. Yet, eventually, both Isaiah and Mary relent and embrace the Spirit's call on their lives.
And, long before the cry of the infant in the manger, Mary proclaims the in-breaking of God's reign, the political justice that will be born into the world:
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever (Luke 1:46-55).
Yes, Mary is Mary because of Jesus. But Jesus was born Jesus because of Mary, who responded to the call of God, as did Isaiah of old: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord." Without her, the light would not have shined forth amid the oppression and injustice.
MUSIC
The final musical selection for “A Beautiful Advent” is once again from our friend Carrie Newcomer. Dona Nobis Pacem — “Grant Us Peace.”
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There must be always remaining in every one’s life some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful and, by an inherent prerogative, throws all the rest of life into a new and creative relatedness, something that gathers up in itself all the freshest of experience from drab to commonplace areas of living and glows in on bright white light of penetrating beauty and meaning — then passes.
— Howard Thurman
Reading the scripture this time, it occurs to me that Mary being "overshadowed" by the Holy Spirit and having a sexual experience are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps she needed the Holy Spirit to overshadow her ideas about sex, marriage and society's constraints to "get the show on the road" so to speak. Perhaps life just couldn't wait any longer to bring Jesus into the world. How I love all of the reclamations possible in this story!
Happy Christmas Eve to you and Richard! Thank your this wonderful journey through advent. I enjoyed every single day and will continue to enjoy through the Christmas season. Mary to me is ever present, she is Mother, comforter, both server and bearer of the most Holy. Simply because she said Yes.