i-Llan: 22nd December 2024 – a Solstice Magnificat

A call to mark the winter solstice by echoing Mary's song of rejoicing--the Magnificat.

The Sunday's bible readings are:
Micah 5. 2-5a
Hebrews 10. 5-10
Luke 1. 39-45, [46-55]
You can read them here.

i-Llan is part of alisteningspace.uk

Transcript

Welcome to i-Llan, a podcast connecting faith, life and Scripture. This episode invites you to sing a solstice Magnificat.

Winter solstice. The shortest day. A time when the sun seems to stand still (sol – sun, stit - stopped), sunrise and sunset stuck at their most southerly points before slowly moving north again with the new year. 

It’s a time when nature tells those of us in the north to hunker down in our burrows, ease into semi-hibernation. Time to pause, take a deep breath, rest for a while, build up our energy reserves. 

Schools are on holiday and many people will be enjoying a long break from work. But others will be working over Christmas, often for low pay as they serve meals, wash dishes from festive dinners they won’t share. They may struggle to get to work as transport shuts down. Some will be on duty caring for the sick, keeping the streets safe, dealing with danger.

And need does not pause—indeed, it worsens in midwinter—nor does grief, while those in places devastated by war and other disasters will suffer just as much on Christmas Day as on other days.

A bleak outlook. And, as you sing In the Bleak Midwinter, I hope it won’t spoil your Christmas further if I point out that we don’t know the actual date of Jesus’s birth, or the weather at the time. Perhaps it isn’t really Christmas at all! 

It’s midwinter solstice, the longest night. Yet, the earth still turns and the days will grow longer and the light grow stronger. Jesus was born sometime and celebrating his birth at midwinter speaks of God coming into the darkest human experience with the inextinguishable light of his love. 

This Sunday, the Church sings Mary’s hymn of rejoicing: the Magnificat.
 ’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.’
It’s a hymn of revolution: the hungry fed while the rich go hungry; the powerful thrown down and the lowly lifted up. It’s sung by a village girl in an occupied country.

God still uses what the world regards as small and unimportant to work his revolution. So, following Mary’s example:

• let’s rejoice in the light of love that shines in darkness
• let’s pause and reflect on God’s enduring goodness 
• let’s take time to nurture God’s gift of life in us
• let’s affirm our solidarity with the world’s need in whatever practical way we can. 

Let’s sing a solstice Magnificat!

So my prayer, in words of WIlda English:
God grant you
 the light in Christmas, which is faith;
 the warmth of Christmas, which is love;
 the radiance of Christmas, which is justice;
 the belief in Christmas, which is truth;
 the all of Christmas, which is Christ.
Amen.