Advent III 12/15/24
The Still Point
A Time of Meditation and Reflection
Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
... At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance...
T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton
Peace on each one who comes in need;
Peace on each one who comes in joy.
Peace on each one who offers prayers;
Peace on each one who offers song.
Peace of the Maker, Peace of the Son,
Peace of the Spirit, the Triune One.
Opening Prayer
Come, O come, Emmanuel; you are the way, the truth, and the life; Come, living Savior, come to your world which waits for you. Hear this prayer for your love’s sake. Amen.
Scripture Reading Luke 1:39-45
Mary set out in those days and went to the hill country with haste, to a Judean town. There she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. Now when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. From where does this visit come to me? That the mother of my Sovereign comes to me? Look! As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting in my ear, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Now blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of those things spoken to her by the Holy One.”
Poem: “Magnificat in Little” by Léonie Adams
I was enriched, not casting after marvels,
But as one walking in a usual place,
Without desert but common eyes and ears,
No recourse but to hear, power but to see,
Got to love you of grace.
Subtle musicians, that could body wind,
Or contrive strings to anguish, in conceit
Random and artless strung a branch with bells,
Fixed in one silver whim, which at a touch
Shook and were sweet.
And you, you lovely and unpurchased note,
One run distraught, and vexing hot and cold
To give to the heart’s poor confusion tongue,
By chance caught you, and henceforth all unlearned
Repeats you gold.
Meditation
At Easter, Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb of Jesus to find it empty. She encounters a man she assumes is the gardener, until she recognizes his voice calling her by name: "Mary." She then goes forth rejoicing to spread the good news of Jesus' rising from the dead.
In the story of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, we have a mirror image to Mary Magdalene's encounter of joyful recognition and proclamation. Elizabeth hears Jesus in Mary's voice and Jesus leaps in her womb, an unmistakable sign that he is alive. The exchange between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth prompts the song of rejoicing that Mary sings, the Magnificat, the proclamation of Jesus' identity as the Christ, the Messiah, the one who will lift up the lowly and cast down the mighty.
In both moments, the joyful recognition is prompted by these women hearing the voice of Jesus, receiving the Word through the activity of the Holy Spirit, and then using their own voices and bodies to magnify that voice - "my soul magnifies the Lord". The voice can be heard in the first place because of love - Mary Magdalene's love for Jesus that brings her to the tomb entrance, and Mary's love for the little baby she is carrying, whom she is eager to share with her cousin Elizabeth. In both instances, love prompts action from the two Marys - to venture in, to receive, and then to go forth and magnify with all their heart, "subtle musicians" who have "strung a branch with bells which...shook and were sweet", as the poet Leonie Adams writes.
As we light the third candle - the rose candle - representing Joy on our Advent wreath, we magnify the joyful song of Love that the Marys sang, the joyful song of Love that sings at our altar in the visible gifts of Eucharist, the joyful song of Love we sing every time we serve the Christ in one another.
Questions for Reflection
- Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth speak affirmation of the name of Jesus, living and present. This process of naming is essential to the magnification of the power of the Word. Have you had an experience of someone naming something holy and living in you? What, or who, did they name? What happened to that living word once it was spoken for you?
- Have you experienced Jesus alive in your life? If that's hard to imagine, think of when you've experienced the grace of love. Can you imagine that your experience of overwhelming love may have been, not random like a gardener at the tomb, but the Lord of Love, alive and present with you? What changes for you to name that experience of love as Jesus?
- The Marys ventured out into the world to joyfully magnify the Good News that Jesus is alive. What do you think would have happened if Mary Magdalene had never visited the Apostles, and Mary had never visited her cousin Elizabeth? Would the Good News still have been magnified? Would we know it?
- Love so often has a way of making us want to rejoice from the rooftops. What experience of love from your life is asking you to magnify it? How might you magnify the name of Love in this week, and in the days to come?
AMEN!
Prayers
We bring before God someone whom we have met or remembered today
We bring to God someone who is hurting tonight and needs our prayer
We bring to God a troubled situation in our world
We bring to God, silently, someone whom we find hard to forgive or trust
We bring ourselves to God that we might grow in generosity of spirit, clarity of mind, and warmth of affection
We offer our thanks to God for the blessings in our lives
We name before God those who have died.
Now to God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or conceive, by the power which is at work among us, be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all ages. Amen.
Accept our thanks for all you have done, O God. Our hands were empty, and you filled them.
May Christ’s holy, healing, enabling Spirit be with us every step of the way, and be our guide as our road changes and turns, and the blessing of God our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life be among us now and remain with us forever. Amen.
Reflections this month offered by: Kathleen Schmidt
