Wednesday 22 December
O Rex Gentium
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
(cf Isaiah 28.16; Ephesians 2.14)
Arvo Pärt. Seiben Magnificat Antiphonen. (1988 / 1991). Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, dir. Tönu Kaljuste. 6. "O König aller Völker, ihre Erwartung und Sensucht, Schlußstein, der den Bau zusammenhält: O komm und errette den Menschen, den du aus Erde gebildet."
Rex Wood (1906-1970, South Australia). Nativity (ca.1933).
Relationship is the new thing at Christmas, the new possibility of being related to God as Jesus was and is. But here’s the catch and the challenge. To come into this glorious future is to learn how to be dependent on God. And that word tends to have a chilly feel for us, especially us who are proudly independent moderns. We speak of ‘dependent’ characters with pity and concern . . .
But let’s turn this round for a moment. If we think of being dependent on the air we breathe, or the food we eat, things look different. Even more if we remind ourselves that we depend on our parents for learning how to speak and act and above all how to love. There is a dependence that is about simply receiving what we need to live; there is a dependence that is about how we learn and grow. And part of our human problem is that we mix up this entirely appropriate and life-giving dependency with the passivity that can enslave us. In seeking (quite rightly) to avoid passivity we can get trapped in the fantasy that we don’t need to receive and to learn. Which is why it matters that our reading [Hebrews 1.1-4] portrays the Son in the way it does—radiant, creative, overflowing with life and intelligence. The Son is all these things because he is dependent, because he receives his life from the Father.
So the important thing is not that everyone gets to stand on their own two feet . . . What we expect from each other in a generous and grown-up society is much more to do with all of us learning how to ask from each other, how to receive from each other, how to depend on the generosity of those who love us and stand alongside us. . . . As we learn how to be gratefully dependent, we learn how to attend to and respond to the dependence of others. Perhaps by God’s grace we shall learn in this way how to create a society in which real dependence is celebrated and safeguarded, not regarded with embarrassment or abused by the powerful and greedy. God has spoken through a Son. He has called us all to become children at the cradle of the Son, the Word made flesh, so that we may grow into a glory that even the angels wonder at. To all who accept him he gives power and authority to become children of God, learning and growing into endless life and joy.
— Rowan Williams, " The Heir of All Creation", Christmas Day Sermon 2009. In Choose Life. London: Bloomsbury, 2013, pp. 70-71, 77.
1 Samuel 1:24-28
When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, ‘Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.’
She left him there for the Lord.
The Song of Hannah
My heart exults in the Lord:
my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies:
because I rejoice in your salvation.
There is no Holy One like you, O Lord:
nor any Rock like you, our God.
For you are a God of knowledge:
and by you our actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken:
but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full now search for bread:
but those who were hungry are well fed.
The barren woman has borne sevenfold:
but she who has many children is forlorn.
Both the poor and the rich are of your making:
you bring low and you also exalt.
You raise up the poor from the dust:
and lift the needy from the ash heap.
You make them sit with the rulers:
and inherit a place of honour.
For the pillars of the earth are yours:
and on them you have set the world.
James Whitbourne (1963- ). "The Song of Hannah". Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, dir. Timothy Brown, 2001.
Luke 1:46-56
And 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 for ever.’
And Mary remained with her [Elizabeth] for about three months and then returned to her home.
Arvo Pärt (1935- ). Magnificat (1989).
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir,
dir. Paul Hillier·
Intimate God,
we yearn for the light of your coming
and the warmth of your embrace;
focus our hearts on the truly important
and keep us centred on that still point, Jesus our Emmanuel,
who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever. Amen.
— Bosco Peters.