For four weeks during Advent and Christmas we have been looking at some liturgical songs found in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Today we shall consider the Magnificat , the song of the virgin Mary. We gather in amazement at the maturity and faith of a young girl who willingly agreed to be the mother of the Messiah, even if she did not and could not understand fully what a burden that would entail. Let is therefore, with confidence, worship the God who inspired Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
Pastoral Prayer
We bow before Thee, Lord God, with a whole host of thoughts and feelings as we approach another Christmas. Some of us have a warm glow in our hearts, because shall be with family. Some of us feel an emptiness, because we will not be with family. Virtually none of us face Christmas with the same degree of hope and expectation we had as young children, wondering what we would get for Christmas, while not thinking at all about what we could give to Christmas or add to Christmas. We pray for any who dread another Christmas, because it inevitably elicits painful thoughts of a recent loss: the loss of health or of a particular physical ability or of a person whose death leaves an immense hole in life. Be with all of us, with whatever emotions we come once again to the manger.
We thank Thee on this day for the young woman whose song of the Messiah we consider today. Whoever Mary actually was, however she actually lived her life and raised her first-born child, we thank Thee for her, and for her meek acceptance of what she perceived to be Thy will for her. We pray for the millions of Roman Catholics who not only pray to Thee in gratitude for Mary, but who pray directly to her. We confess before Thee, O God, that we do not understand the extraordinary commitment that so frequently is made to Jesus’ mother, but we acknowledge that commitment, however much it mystifies us. Unite all Christians in our common faith, even as we divide ourselves by our differences of beliefs. May Thy desire for oneness overcome our proclivity for constant separateness.
We pray for the people of Aleppo who have survived their siege but are now refugees from all they have known and treasured. Bless the thousands of families who have lost family members in the carnage, and uphold those whose injuries from the shelling shall leave them handicapped for the rest of their lives. Give wisdom to the peacemakers, strength and understanding for those who care for the victims of the warfare, and a softening of heart for those who have caused the warfare. May the scourge of turmoil which has descended on the Syrian people for so long be lifted, that peace may once again prevail. We ask these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, Thy Son. Now we pray together as Jesus taught us, saying, Our Father….