Sunday Worship
You're most welcome to join us at St Thomas' Church for our Parish Eucharist at 10 am. Revd John Faraday will be preaching and presiding on the eleventh Sunday after Trinity - the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Just for now, all of our Covid precautions remain in place, with some changes being made from next Sunday (to be confirmed in the mid-week news).
If you're not able to be with us in person, you can find the Gospel, reflection and prayers below.
The first hymn this morning is "My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord (Magnificat)"
Today's Gospel
Luke 1:46-47 “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour 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 forever."
Reflection
If you are would like to follow this link to the Ely Cathedral website - https://ely.org.uk/cathedral/virginmarystatue.html it may add something to the words that follow.
In the year 2000, a new statue of the Virgin Mary was unveiled in the fourteenth- century Gothic Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral. Sculptor David Wynne captures the moment when Mary responds to the angel’s words, accepts God’s will and conceives the Son of God — but it is very different from most representations of the annunciation.
Mary stands with feet planted firmly; her arms raised in an attitude of prayer traditionally adopted by men. She wears blue (a nod to the use of lapis lazuli, a rare mineral pigment from Afghanistan, for the robes of the Madonna in medieval art), but the dress shows the curves of her body. Her hair is the traditional blonde, but flows freely in the manner of images of Mary Magdalene.
From its unveiling to the present day, the statue has caused great controversy. Those who like it praise its representation of Mary as a strong woman, freely accepting her vocation and praising God. Those who dislike it object to its deviation from the traditional Christian portrayal of Mary, especially at the annunciation, as passive, meek and submissive. The image of a strong woman, they argue, is associated with paganism or Norse mythology, and has no place in Christian art.
The Mary of today’s Gospel reading is not a meek, submissive girl, passively obedient and compliant. The Magnificat is a radical revolutionary manifesto for change, overturning the received order of society. Mary praises a God who turns expectations upside down, upsetting the plans of those who are powerful and entitled, and entrusting the divine plan for the salvation of the world to a mere woman. In a culture which measured God’s favour in terms of wealth and status, she celebrates a God who exalts those who have neither.
Mary identifies herself as a descendant of Abraham - where previous generations have looked to God’s covenant with Abraham, future generations will see her as uniquely blessed by God. Because of the “great things” God has done for her — the child she bears, the Son of God - this daughter of Abraham will be the spiritual mother of God’s people.
Despite the low status of an unmarried young woman in first-century Middle Eastern society, Mary clearly has a well developed relationship with her God, and an understanding of the history of God’s relationship with her people. She is articulate in her insights into the topsy-turvy nature of what has happened to her, an insignificant girl chosen and entrusted to bear the incarnate God. We can’t help thinking that the son born and raised by this brave and faithful young woman will turn the world upside down.
Mary lays down quite a challenge to those who follow her son. Are we to be content with the status quo, meekly accepting the divide between rich and poor, powerful and lowly? Are we to go along with a world order where it is acceptable for many to go hungry when some have so much more than they will ever need? Or are we to follow a God who joyfully turns all this on its head, blessing those whom the world does not bless, and rewarding faithfulness with a close and loving relationship? Jesus embodies so much of what today’s Gospel reading is about: taking the received structures and norms of society and overturning them.
It is Jesus who socialises with tax collectors and sinners, heals the outcasts of society and sets aside the religious rules which are getting in the way of people’s understanding of God.
The revolutionary God whom Mary praises in the Magnificat is not the God of respectable institutions or the establishment neither then nor in our own time. It is not the authorities (Herod and the chief priests) who recognise the birth of the Son of God, but itinerant agricultural workers (the shepherds) and foreign scientists (the Magi).
And what about us?
Are we, like the rich man elsewhere in Luke’s Gospel, to be sad because Jesus requires us to set aside worldly success to follow him? Or will we take our place alongside those who are lowly and hungry, and those who faithfully believe God’s promises, knowing that it is there that God’s blessing is to be found?
Richard H.
Our prayers
Holy Lord, open our eyes
to see your love at work in our world.
That we may follow your example
and show love to all.
Give us the will to make time to use our talents and resources to help the poor and lowly.
Save us from our own selfishness and sense of self-importance when we do good things.
Open our ears, that we like Mary will hear your voice speaking to us, Spirit to spirit;
That we may set aside our personal desires and wholeheartedly trust in your promises.
Restore our souls and let us joyfully serve you as we follow your example and humble ourselves in the service of others.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our saviour.
Amen
Our final hymn this morning is "Tell Out My Soul"
