#Magnificat

[book-addicted-thing]

imagine being just Some Dude with a Ghastly Market stand and suddenly seeing 2 kids and a Magnificat run past and chaos ensue in their wake. like bro I just wanted to sell some unnimal organs I need this money to pay my rent

[thewordfortheday]

And Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is His name. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

Luke 1:46‭-‬50

Mary’s song, known as the Magnificat, is awe inspiring. Mary's words display an attitude of thankfulness in the face of ridicule and condemnation. Mary could have focused on the situation and felt nothing but fear. Fear of rejection, fear of being ostracized. Instead, she focuses on praising her Creator and her Saviour. The message for us is that we are to have faith and trust in our God. No matter the situation or circumstance, God has it all in His hands, that should cause us to praise and thank Him always. Not just this Christmas season, but all seasons.

[rosasstrangemelody]

would you still accept him?

Meowgnifico or Magnificat? What are we going to call him?

[momentsbeforemass]

The Assumption

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

The Magnificat, Mary’s hymn of joy, marks the first time anyone recognized her as the mother of Our Lord. And it marks the beginning of Mary’s public ministry.

Wait. What? Mary had a public ministry?

We don’t have any Mary parables. She wasn’t out teaching, healing the sick, raising the dead, or any of that stuff.

Right. Because that wasn’t her public ministry. Mary’s public ministry wasn’t being Christ.

Mary’s public ministry was being a Christian. Being the first Christian.

With Mary’s “yes,” she was all in. No reservations. Nothing held back. 100% in for God’s plan.

Which means that Mary lived the faith. Without counting the cost.

So it should surprise no one that we look to her as our model. Our first and best example of how to follow Jesus. Of what it really means to be a Christian.

And the Assumption? If we see Mary for who she really is, the first Christian. The first to be 100% in. Then it makes perfect sense that the God who was with her every step of the way would bring her home.

Good for her. But what does any of that mean for you and me, two millennia later?

It means that Mary is our example of how to live the faith, our roadmap. In the face of all of the heartache and all of the tears, with all that she went through, Mary shows us what it really means to be a Christian.

The Assumption is nothing less than proof of God’s promise. God’s promise to Mary. God’s promise to each one of us.

That in spite of the heartache, in spite of the tears. That no matter what we go through. God will be with us, every step of the way. And that at the last, God will bring us Home.

Today’s Readings

[myremnantarmy]

“𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥..."

[inspiredbyjesuslove]

[lesser-known-composers]

Pietro Generali (1773-1832) - Magnificat per coro e orchestra

Performers: Orchestra Sinfonica di Praga, Eduardo Brizio, Coro della Radiotelevisione Ceka.

[winwin17]

Okay, who wants to join me in starting Operation Rescue All the Magnificats from the Republic?

[craigtowens]

Who Looks Good?

This many seem like an obvious question—who exactly am I trying to make look good: me or Jesus?—but a biography in the Gospels caused me to ponder this question in a different way.

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.  https://craigtowens.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/who-looks-good.mp3 The Gospel of John introduces John the baptizer to us like this, “He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light” (John 1:8).  John had a similar birth announcement as Jesus had…

[opera-ghosts]

OTD in Music History: The supreme master of music, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) was born in Eisenach, then the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, in present-day Germany. What more is there to say? To all readers: Make sure that you listen to some Bach today (and every day). And to the musicians, just remember: "There is nothing remarkable about playing a musical instrument. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time, and the instrument plays itself.” - J.S. Bach PICTURED: A very fine printed copy of a late 19th-Century British engraving done by "C. Cook" after the famous 1746 painting of the elderly Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann (1695 - 1774).

[a-queer-seminarian]

The queerness of Mary: An Advent reflection

For more on Mary through a trans lens, check out this poem or listen to a podcast episode all about “God’s transition, Mary’s trans-gressive yes, and Joseph’s trans-formation into an ally.”

Transcript below the readmore.

[Avery, a white genderqueer person with short brown hair, necklace, green sweater, and dangly earring speaks in front of a trans flag printed with an angel and the text “to be queer is to be holy.”]

Let's talk about the queerness of Mary!

The third Sunday in Advent centers joy — a joy that goes beyond extreme happiness, into an abiding sense of rightness that does not vanish in the midst of trouble or grief.

This is a queer joy, a binary breaking joy that can coexist with sorrow the way a candle can coexist with shadow.

This is the joy of Mary, the joy of her defiant yes to accepting God’s request for shelter in her womb — a yes that put Mary at risk of being misunderstood, ostracized, and shamed by her own community. The teenage girl whom the angel Gabriel hailed as “full of Grace” entered, in the eyes of her society, into disgrace.

Queer and trans folk also know what it is to say “yes” to becoming all God calls us to be, which is a simultaneous “yes” to disgrace in the eyes of the world.

For Mary, any judgment she faced by human beings could not quell her joy at being a vital part of God’s upturning — the lifting up of the lowly and the casting down of the mighty.

May it be the same for us queer and trans folk — may the joy that grows within us as we live into our full selves transcend the troubles that the world heaps upon us.

[herunswithscissors]

We are having a Godzilla Christmas!

Funny thing: In Job God compares godself to a terrifying legendary sea monster. And for Christmas, God comes to God's people to disrupt oppression and bring about the downfall of the rich and powerful.

[emvidal]

[momentsbeforemass]

The Assumption

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

The Magnificat, Mary’s hymn of joy, marks the first time anyone recognized her as the mother of Our Lord. And it marks the beginning of Mary’s public ministry.

Wait. What? Mary had a public ministry?

We don’t have any Mary parables. She wasn’t out teaching, healing the sick, raising the dead, or any of that stuff.

Right. Because that wasn’t her public ministry. Mary’s public ministry wasn’t being Christ.

Mary’s public ministry was being a Christian. Being the first Christian.

With Mary’s “yes,” she was all in. No reservations. Nothing held back. 100% in for God’s plan.

Which means that Mary lived the faith. Without counting the cost.

So it should surprise no one that we look to her as our model. Our first and best example of how to follow Jesus. Of what it really means to be a Christian.

And the Assumption? If we see Mary for who she really is, the first Christian. The first to be 100% in. Then it makes perfect sense that the God who was with her every step of the way would bring her home.

Good for her. But what does any of that mean for you and me, two millennia later?

It means that Mary is our example of how to live the faith, our roadmap. In the face of all of the heartache and all of the tears, with all that she went through, Mary shows us what it really means to be a Christian.

The Assumption is nothing less than proof of God’s promise. God’s promise to Mary. God’s promise to each one of us.

That in spite of the heartache, in spite of the tears. That no matter what we go through. God will be with us, every step of the way. And that at the last, God will bring us Home.

Today’s Readings

[myremnantarmy]

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥

Friday of the Third Week of Advent

Lk 1:46-56

Mary said:

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

for he has looked upon 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,

and 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 remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever."

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months

and then returned to her home.

[inspiredbyjesuslove]