We start our Gospel series at Luke 1. Like any good story, the main characters are often introduced from the beginning. In this case Mary, his mother who was present with Jesus from the moment of birth to the moment of death. Not many of us will be able to say that about our Mum! The other main character is John the Baptist.
We’ll let Mary give the sermon today and Johann Sebastian Bach put it to music.
Bach wrote the music for the Magnificat, called Mary’s song after her response to Elizabeth telling her by the Holy Spirit that she was blessed among women, that Mary was the mother of her Lord, and that John had leapt in her womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. It’s an amazing piece of music which I heard for the first time this week with many parts to it, overall nearly half an hour. This is part of that piece.
What strikes me is that no musician in the orchestra dominates. Even the drummer is understated, very different to the drumming in bands today.
And that’s true in the Church, each part works together to complement the other.
Figuratively speaking.
- I might write the lyrics
- Someone else writes the music
- Someone plays the guitar
- Someone plays the drums
- Someone is the conductor
So, as we understood from the Parable of Talents, every Christian has been given gifts and talents by God to put to use, to build up his wealth, that is the Church. No individual can do it on their own. We need to put our talent to action alongside others to create a beautiful musical piece.
Bach wasn’t much of a lyricist in this song repeating the word « Magnificat » over and over but he wrote the stunning music, Mary spoke or sung the words.
Luke 1:46-51
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
We live in an age of imagination, of fantasy, of delusion. John Lennon wrote the song for our age called Imagine. It’s a very beautiful song but it is antichrist.
Imagine there’s no Heaven, it’s easy if you try. No Hell below us, above us only sky.
Imagination can be very beautiful but is very dangerous when it becomes separated from truth. Honestly how can a man think he can become a woman. It is impossible, it is delusional, it is madness. Mary said « he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts ». Pride comes before a fall. Satan fell from Heaven because of pride.
Luke 1:52-55
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you’ll probably know that this passage is known as the Magnificat. But did you know that:
⁃ The Magnificat has been part of the Church’s liturgy since its earliest days.
⁃ For centuries, members of religious orders have recited or sung these words on a daily basis.
⁃ It is the longest set of words spoken by a woman in the New Testament.
⁃ It is also the first Christmas carol ever composed.
⁃ Parts of Mary’s Magnificat echo the song of Hannah (found in 1 Samuel 2:1-10) and are also reminiscent of the anguish of the prophets.
⁃ In the past century, there were at least three separate instances of governments banning the public recitation of the Magnificat. Its message, they feared, was dangerously subversive.
During the British rule of India, the Magnificat was prohibited from being sung in church. In the 1980s, Guatemala’s government discovered Mary’s words about God’s preferential love for the poor to be too dangerous and revolutionary. The song had been creating quite the stirring amongst Guatemala’s impoverished masses. Mary’s words were inspiring the Guatemalan poor to believe that change was indeed possible. Thus their government banned any public recitation of Mary’s words. Similarly, after the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo—whose children all disappeared during the Dirty War—placed the Magnificat’s words on posters throughout the capital plaza, the military junta of Argentina outlawed any public display of Mary’s song.
Dietrich Bonheoffer recognized the revolutionary nature of Mary’s song. Before being executed by the Nazis, Bonheoffer spoke these words in a sermon during Advent 1933: « It is instead a hard, strong, inexorable song about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind. »
The Messiah that Mary anticipated is referred to as the Mighty One who topples rulers, scatters the proud, and sends the rich away empty-handed. However, He also is mindful of the lowly, exalts the humble, fills the hungry with good things, and helps His servant Israel.
He is one who turns the tables upside down. After all, God chose for Him to be born of a “lowly servant girl” instead of a woman of prominence. The Rich and powerful are afraid of the lower classes rising up. We see that in the World today as all manner of means are used to divide the people.
But Mary’s poem on its own without music would not have the same effect.
