Living The Magnificat

This book offers a sustained reflection by leading Roman Catholic and Anglican writers on Mary’s great song of praise and transformation, the Magnificat, in the context of contemporary struggles across the world and global inequalities. The different contributors relate the story of Mary to issues of international justice, regarding this as one of the key themes of mission and evangelism. In his sparkling essay on the implications of Mary’s ‘making space’ for God, James Alison challenges the reader to ‘make space’ for an inclusive God.

From their very different perspectives, Linda Hogan, Margaret Magdalen and Mongezi Guma go on to address the issue of justice and what it means to be human in the light of Mary’s story. Mark Chapman takes up the problem of Christian politics, and how easy it is for Christians to become overly-fixated on church affairs at the expense of the suffering world. Similarly, Michael Doe sees the contemporary Anglican struggles about issues in human sexuality as a distraction from far more pressing matters, challenging the Anglican Communion to learn from the many examples of new life across the globe. In a lively piece, Joe Cassidy challenges Christians to think again about the universality of Christian ethics. Finally, Stephen Cottrell offers a vision of a world turned upside down and presents a call for a renewed sense of mission to combat the inherent destructiveness of so much recent political thinking.

Table Of Contents

Foreword by Jeffrey John or David Stancliffe
Introduction: Mark Chapman

1. “Living the Magnificat” - James Alison
2. “Living the Magnificat in the Shadow of Globalisation” - Linda Hogan (Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics and Professor at Trinity College Dublin)
3. “Catholic openness and the nature of Christian politics” - Mark Chapman
4. “The Magnificat: Mary Speaks on Justice” - Mongezi Guma (Rector of Christ the King, Sophiatown and Chairperson of the South African Commission for the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Minorities)
5. “Being Anglican Around the World” - Michael Doe (General Secretary of USPG)
6. “Justice and Joy: Participating in the Mission of God” - Stephen Cottrell (Bishop of Reading)
7. “Hospitality and Holiness” - Sr Margaret Magdalen CSMV
8. “Who’s in and who’s out?” - Joe Cassidy