A Poem a Sunday
Advent IV C
December 20,
2015
St. Luke 1:39-56
- New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Commentary: David Lose on his blog “In the meantime”
reminds us that singing is an act of resistance. Luke’s birth narratives are full of
songs. Zachariah sings after being mute
during Elizabeth’s pregnancy and John is born.
Mary sings when she visits Elizabeth.
The angels sing to shepherds at the birth of Christ. Simeon sings when
Christ is presented at the Temple. And
all these songs are ways to resist tyranny and proclaim the good news of God’s
reign. The Kingdom comes near as the
marginalized sing of God’s judgment and grace.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In
those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill
country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and
greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the
child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and
exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that
the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard
the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And
blessed is she who believed that there would be[a] a
fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Mary’s Song of Praise
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
56 And
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Footnotes:
A Poem a Sunday
Advent IV C
December 20,
2015
Cantata
Notes
from a flute
or
a Medieval recorder.
Madrigals
sing
bringing
calm to disorder.
Notes,
songs, harmonies
-
the silence in-between -
create
spaces in the human heart
open
to new scenes.
Deep
yearnings cry in new songs
while
tyrants silence the arts.
Yet,
deep, deep, deep in the underground
A
new sound is being born.
So
sing, Oh, blessed Mary,
radical
zealot, gentle mother;
sing
of the Time of Jubilee
coming
in our newborn brother.
Sing
blessed Mother.
Magnify
the Lord.
Sing
of longed-for justice.
Embody
God’s new Word.
“The
haughty rich now brought low;
the
humble poor lifted high;
no
more vast inequities!”
Your
cry up to the skies.
Sing,
blessed Mary,
become
a new song;
birth
earth’s longed-for Messiah
who
rights our every wrong.
Teach
us, Oh Mary,
the
song of new birth,
so
all of us can embody
God’s
peace here on earth.
@A Poem a Sunday
– December 14, 2015 – Kenn Storck
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