Advent and Mary: the Mother of Christ and Subversive Radical

Last year I ran across a rewriting of Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) named “The Canticle of the Turning.”  And, on the first day of Advent, I have been thinking about the Blessed Virgin Mary's connection with the season, as well as the season of Advent's connection to the Second Coming of Christ.

During Advent we wait (the watchword of Advent) for Christmas—the Incarnation of God, the First Coming of Christ—and we celebrate that historical event, as well as Christ taking up residence within us.  But Advent is also about waiting for the Second Coming of Christ.

The Second Coming is an uncomfortable subject whenever it comes up, and rightfully so.  People abuse the idea, make predictions that do not come true, and use the Second Coming to scare people into submission.  Yet we say in our Creed and our Eucharistic prayers that “Christ will come again,” so we must have something to say about it.  

I’m not going to set out a prediction, but I will make a bold suggestion.  Advent is the season in which we wait for nothing less than the complete inversion and conversion of the world as we know it.  This is the promise of the Second Coming.

That is quite a claim, but Mary’s Magnificat is a prime example of a celebration of God’s promise to upend the world as we know it.  This promise of God’s decisive work in our world is celebrated in our liturgy.

Mary’s Magnificat is a song which celebrates God’s complete inversion of the world as we know it into what God would want to see.  She sings of God’s promise of mercy; that the proud are scattered, that the mighty are cast down while the lowly are raised, and that the rich are sent away empty and the hungry are fed.  The "Canticle of the Turning" highlights what is in plain sight in the Magnificat, but is somewhat muted in the song’s familiarity and Mary's meek and mild image.

 

To make it plain:  the Magnificat is subversive; and “The Canticle of the Turning” follows Mary’s sentiments with allusions to other biblical images.  Below are the words to the “Canticle of the Turning (sung to the tune of Star of the County Down).” The best version in recording--in my opinion--is the version by Emmaus Way.  I encourage you to read it alongside the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and envision the upending of the world about which Mary sings.

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My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant's plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?


Refrain
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn!


Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
And your mercy will last                          
from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might,                          
put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn.


From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
ev'ry tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn.


Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God's mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror's crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
'Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around.
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My meditations over Advent will continue on some of these themes.