Songs of Praise

Today in the parish, the parish Mass was a funeral Mass for a parishioner.

At the end of the film, Amadeus, we see Mozart's funeral, which, in fact, was a traditional Viennese funeral: cheap and anonymous. The cortege drives out of the city gates, with the priest dashing through the rain in front, carrying a thurible in one hand, and a holy water bucket in the other. He blesses the grave, and then runs back, perhaps, to his luncheon.

I do find that funerals can become a little procedural from time to time, perhaps not as dramatically as in that particular scene. I did wonder, today, while I was reading at Mass, whether I sounded rather blasé, or even disinterested.

I did have part of my mind on the readings given for the liturgical day, the 22nd December, the third day before Christmas. So far this week, we have heard from the evangelist, who has told us about the annunciation, and yesterday, the visitation.

Today, for the Gospel, we heard (or, not, in my case), the Song of Mary, the Magnificat, which is one of the most beautiful songs of praise in the Church. In Vespers this evening, the Church sang its penultimate 'O antiphon', O Rex Gentium, which pleads with the King of the Nations to come quickly and save our race, which was fashioned by him from the dust of the earth. The Magnificat sings of God raising the lowly from the dust of the earth through his salvific action, in a way which will be greater than when he raised the first man from the dust of the earth in his creative act.

The first reading as Mass was not an accident. At the end of the first Book of Samuel, Hannah presents her child, Samuel, to the Lord God at the Temple in Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. The Ark of the Covenant, of course, contained the Law, the Manna which came down from heaven, and the rod of Aaron, the high priest. Inside Mary was the Law, the Bread which had come down from heaven, and the high priest himself.

In praise of God's action in her life by the bringing forth of her son, she sings a song of praise (which in Mass, is the responsorial psalm from the start of 2 Samuel), which must have been in the mind of Mary when she sang her Magnificat in the presence of Elizabeth, her cousin, many generations later. The words and imagery of the New Testament have been derived from the Old, the old covenant expanded to encompass not just the few, but which now burns bright enough to blind the whole world.

The mercy of God extends to those of every age.