12 11 16 A Rose in Winter James 5:7-10; Luke 1:46-55

This song that Mary sang was a litany of thanksgiving for who God is and
what God does. This was not new information for Mary. It was a familiar, happy
summary of the good news of liberation for the poor and oppressed. Maybe Mary
had sung that song 100 times before while doing laundry, or walking with her
sisters, or at home alone when she needed encouragement. What was new this
time, was that it captured her heart and mind in a new way. The news of her
pregnancy being a holy event made this singing event a joyful moment. Her yes
to God was a joyful participation in liberation, for all. What she had sung for
years as promises, she now sang in joy as fulfillment. God wasnt coming in the
future, God was coming to be with humankind, now.
The poetic rendition of Marys song the song we call the Magnificat
must have been a response to an event in the poets life. I can only imagine for
Ritamary Bradley that she, too, had heard these verses from the first chapter of
Luke that we have heard many times over. At some point in 1991, the words
struck her differently. What if the image of God that came to Mary was a female
image? What would that change? How would Marys song be different?
Rather than her soul Magnifying the lord, in the poem she says her soul is glass
a looking glass in which she reflects the image of God. That moment of indwelling
of Gods being was a joyful reality for Mary and undoubtedly, for the writer
Ritamary as well.
A common quality of joy is that it takes our breath away. Whether
expected or not, it is somehow bigger than could have been hoped. For example,
it is now new information that snow comes in December in Chicago, and that
eventually things will grow again but on those rare occasions when we see a

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rose in winter it takes our breath away. The joy is of a different quality than the
response to seeing a rose in July. In the same way, when we hear the words of
Psalm 146 that Marcy read for us today, we think, Yup, God is good. God brings
justice and food and sight and freedom and watches over us. The words of the
Psalm read: Happy are those whose help is in God. And thats true. We are
happy to know God executes justice, Gives food, Sets free, Opens eyes, and lifts
up the downtrodden. BUT, when we are truly in need, for example in the depths
of depression, or the confines of addiction, or the frustration of our physical
limitations, and God truly breaks in? We are not just happy any more. We are
joyful. We are like the Psalmist who cant contain himself and blurts out, Praise
the Lord! He is proclaiming joy in fulfilled promises. Gods promises bring
happiness; The fulfillment of Gods promises brings joy. That kind of joy takes our
breath away.
So in the season of advent, we are dwelling on the happiness Gods
promises of liberation, safety, peace and justice. We dwell on the promises of
God at this time, in anticipation of their fulfillment in Christ, when there will be
tidings of GREAT JOY. No longer will we have to share the stories of wont it be
great when because on Christmas we will see the rose in winter we will
experience the joy of exactly what we have been promised. //
This would be a great ending, wouldnt it? Fulfillment, joy and roses,
promised to arrive on Christmas? While this may sound like good news: Joy-in-
an-instant on Christmas eve, in our lives you and I experience things a bit
differently. Thats not how things always end. We do not schedule the time that
God is going to show up, or even schedule the time that we are going to fall into a
vortex of trouble.

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 Our real experience shows that both Advent and Christmas are happening
all the time. We are always waiting and reflecting on a promise that has yet to be
delivered. Likewise, we always have the opportunity to see a beautiful flower in
the midst of a snow covered yard. Our real experience reveals that you and I are
not spending our entire lives waiting but neither are we in a constant state of
euphoria! We have periods of waiting, and moments of joy. (Hence Advent is 4
weeks long and Christmas is a day!) This season of the Christian year is a
microcosm of our entire lives a symbol of our relationship with God and how it
ebbs and flows, how we see the light and fall into the darkness, how we are
mesmerized into a rut and awakened to new life. Our whole lives with God, like
Advent and Christmas, are overlapping processes of waiting and fulfillment.
For you, today, whether this is a time of hopeful waiting, or a time of joyous
fulfillment, you are in the embrace of Gods eternal season of care and promise.
May God bless you always.
Amen.

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James 5:7-10
7
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The
farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with
it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also must be
patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is
near. 9Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you
may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10As an
example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who
spoke in the name of the Lord.

Psalm 146
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!

I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God
all my life long.

Do not put your trust in rulers, in mortals, in whom there is no help.

When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very
day their plans perish.

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in
the LORD their God,

who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who
keeps faith forever;

who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the
hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;

the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who
are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.

The LORD watches over the strangers, upholds the orphan and the
widow, but the way of the wicked God brings to ruin.

The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD!

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Ritamary Bradley was a Catholic woman religious, a nun, who co-founded Mystics
Quarterly, and who was a member of the Civil Rights Commission in Iowa. She
had her foot in the past in her research of mystic Julian of Norwich, and in the
present, working for civil rights and ministering with incarcerated adults. She re-
wrote the text that Cindy sang so beautifully from the first chapter of Luke. Her
interpretation of Marys response when she learns she will have a holy child is
called, Mary Sings.

Mary Sings, by Ritamary Bradley, 1991

My soul is a glass: gaze and see how great is Mother God.

And my spirit sings out in joy, for Mercy has come to save.
For the One who is Mighty has taken flesh in me
Holy is Wisdom.
Holy is that Wisdom that shall be born and called Emmanuel
Yes, my soul is a glass: gaze and see how great is Mother God.
My spirit sings out in joy for the Mercy who comes to save.
Because I mirror the motherhood of the One who gives me birth.
Yes, from this day forward all who are born of woman may call me full of joy.
For the Mighty One has done great things to me.
And holy is that Wisdom which is before all things,
That Mercy reaching from age to age to all who reverence her Power
is in the arm that shelters and embraces me.
Routed shall be the proud of heart.
Down from their thrones shall princes fall,
while the lowly learn that the least are greatest.
Mother God will give her breast to those who hunger,
and the rich shall go away with parched tongues.
Light will fall on the path of those who escape from the snare. 1

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originally published in: Ritamary Bradley, In the Jaws of the Bear (Toronto: Peregrina Publishing Co., 1991) p. 3