REFLECTIONS:   Rev. Alton Donsbach

Reverend Alton Donsbach, retired pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran, former "home" of the Denton Bach Society, has been for many years; with his wife Roberta, a loyal supporter of DBS. He explained that in the Lutheran church, the Virgin Mary is frequently honored during Advent. The following excerpt is from an Advent sermon in 1994.

". . .Luke is always putting down the mighty from their thrones and elevating them of low degree. . .he is always filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich empty away. The point Luke is making isn't that the poor are better or more moral than the rich, or that the lower classes are more deserving than the upper crust. . .The point is the Holy Spirit. The point is Immanuel, the presence of God with us. He who receives the Spirit is the one who is elevated. He who shuns the Spirit is the one who is riding for a fall.
What makes Christmas so wonderful is its picture of the grace of God shining down on us all like some huge gift of inexpressible, unconditional love, demanding nothing, giving all. What God gives cannot be earned. Elizabeth and Mary know that. . .They both know that they have been extremely blessed. God is doing wonderful things through them. They have been elevated, to use one of Luke's words for it.

I think that both were aware how strong their faith had been and how honorably they had acted. But both also knew the source of their faith and strength and obedience to the divine will. The Christmas spirit is the Holy Spirit. . ."

The Donsbachs graciously provided the Denton Bach Society with a copy of Roland H. Bainton's The Martin Luther Christmas Book, a collection of sermon excerpts in narrative form, together with contemporary woodcuts. Early in his life, Luther's veneration of Mary was expressed in a lengthy treatise and in fervent prayers for her help in discovering his vocation. The following is his later commentary on the Visitation.

"Mary. . .gloried neither in her virginity nor in her humility, but solely in God's gracious regard. The stress should not be on the "low estate,' but on the word "regarded." Her low estate is not be praised, but God's regard. . .

See how purely she leaves all to God, and claims for herself no works, honor, or reputation. What a simple pure heart was hers! What an amazing person she was! What mightiness was hidden below her lowliness!"

• Magnificat text in Latin Vulgate and English
• The Birth of Jesus Foretold
• Revisiting Bach's First Christmas in Leipzig

Commentaries:

Rev. R. Roy Baines, St. David's Episcopal:
         "The Birth of the Messiah."
Sally Cunneen, Catholic feminist scholar
         "In Search of Mary": A mosaic in the Jewish 
         tradition of justice and prophecy.
Brother Barnabas: Ronald D. Curley
         Of St. Anthony's Retreat; Florence, Montana
         "The Magnificat of Mary, Our Mother"
Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis; Kol Ami Congregation, Flower Mound
         "Luke's rendering recalls Old Testament traditions."
Rev. Alton Donsbach, ret. pastor of St. Paul Lutheran:
          Reflections on the Magnificat
Kay Kolb & Pat Miller, School Sisters of Notre Dame:
         "Its many themes touch people's real lives."