Sermon by Fr Neil Traynor, at St John the Baptist Holland Road, Sunday 10 December 2017, Advent 2
Sermon by Fr Neil Traynor, at St John the Baptist Holland Road, Sunday 10 December 2017, Advent 2
O
Magnum Mysterium
O Lord, raise up (we pray thee) thy power and come
among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas through our sins and
wickedness , we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set
before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us;
through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy
Ghost be honour and glory, world without end.
Amen (The collect for the 2nd
(CW) or 4th (BCP) Sunday of Advent)
Our eyes have in them a mixture of rods and cones,
which determine in part what we see.
Cattle (some think) can see blue, green and yellow; sheep seem only to
see in monochrome. Bees see yellow, blue
and infrared. Each of us - and probably
everything in creation - sees the world
slightly differently. How often have you
seen one colour, only for someone else to be certain it is another?
There was a craze a few years ago for stereograms. Seemingly abstract patterns, out of which it
was possible to see a 3d picture, if you were lucky enough, or were able to see
in the ‘right way’. Some saw them
immediately; others after a struggle; many gave up in disgust.
What we see isn’t necessarily what is there; perhaps
we only see now in part as through a glass darkly.
The music we’ve just heard ‘O magnum mysterium’ fits in well with this theme. It’s taken from the responsory at Matins on
Christmas morning, before the dawn breaks, and the new day is born. The text comes not from the Gospel of
Matthew, but instead from the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Golden Legend;
both ancient texts, but neither of which made the canonical list of books of
the New Testament.
Its theme is the group gathered around the
crib. Not, as one might think, Mary and
Joseph, but the animals instead. The
great mystery, this magnum mysterium.
is one which is first revealed to and first recognised by the non-humans at the
scene. The oxen, sheep and donkey. These are the ones to whom the Christ-child
is first made manifest.
For in their innocence they saw something that
others did not. The Christmas story, as
it gradually unfolds, is one of the word made flesh being recognised first by
the animals; then by the shepherds, those who toil and keep watch; then by the
strangers, the magi, wise men, kings or what you will; and then, finally, at
Candlemas, this child is recognised by the old man Simeon as ‘the light to
lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel’.
It’s a little like a pebble, dropped into a still
pond, creating circle after circle of ripples, that reach out to infinity.
As we approach Christmas, we need to rejoice, for
the Lord is at hand. Sometimes we need
to experience a mystery and not to understand.
Sometimes we need to see to believe.
Sometimes we need to just be. For
we are hindered in running the race that is set before us. Hindered by ourselves, our preconceptions and
those things we think we see.
But, it is God’s bountiful grace and mercy which
will speedily help and deliver us, so that, at the last, we may glimpse just a
portion of that magnum mysterium; that word made flesh, full of truth and grace
as legend has those animals doing.
O
magnum mysterium, O
great mystery,
et admirabile sacramentum, and wonderful sacrament
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, that animals should see the new-born Lord,
iacentem in praesepio! lying in a manger!
et admirabile sacramentum, and wonderful sacrament
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, that animals should see the new-born Lord,
iacentem in praesepio! lying in a manger!