My soul doth magnify the Lord

Sunday ends with a visit commemorating a visit. We walk up to the Church of the Visitation, in the village of Ein Karem, where the pregnant Mary met her cousin Elizabeth.

There are tiled tablets showing the Magnificat in hundreds of languages. We gather to say Evening Prayer in a small outdoor chapel.

Listen to an extract from our service

Bishop John reminds us how vulnerable Mary was. “She needed a break. She was shocked,” he says.

“She decides to go to the hill country to see wise cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth bursts with joy and tells Mary hoer own baby leapt for joy in her womb.”

Mary gets caught up in the moment and responds with the song we know as the Magnificat – a song of joy and a cry for justice. “It's strong stuff. We have a God of justice as well as wonder,” says Bishop John.

“This is a flagship text for Christians. How can it be right that 1% of the world owns 40% of the world's wealth? And that 5% owns 70% of that wealth? Or that the three richest people in the world are richer than the 48 poorest nations put together?”

We pray the Micah prayer, which is being said by 100 million Christians from 40 countries around the world on this day, the 10.10.10.

O Lord, our great and awesome God, loyal to your promise of love and faithful to all who honour and obey you, hear our prayer.
We pray for those who live in poverty,
we cry out for those who are denied justice and
we weep for all who are suffering.
We confess that we have not always obeyed you.
We have neglected your commands and have ignored your call for justice.
We have been guided by self-interest and lived in spiritual poverty.
Forgive us.
We remember your promises to fill the hungry with good things, to redeem the land by your mighty hand and to restore peace.
Father God, help us always to proclaim your justice and mercy with humility, so that, by the power of your Spirit, we can rid the world of the sin of extreme poverty.
As part of your global church, we stand with millions who praise and worship you.
May our words and deeds declare your perfect goodness, love and righteousness to both the powerful and the powerless
so that your Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen