Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
the decree of the Lord is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the lord is clear,
enlightening the eye.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true,
all of them just.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
Let the words of my mouth and the
thought of my heart
find favor before you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
All of these antiphons that we are commiting to memory, “inscribing” on our hearts are so dense with meaning, that it would take lifetimes to fully grasp their intent. Yet their brevity allows us to both learn them by heart, and learn from them as our heart works with them over time.
“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”
I have had trouble with this concept all my life. Growing up in a large family, I knew, or I should say, I learned, “life was not always fair.” All people are equal and some are more equal than others.
Yet God governs the people with equity. I know, we are all precious in God’s sight, equally loved. I think though the problem rests with our understanding of equity. Fair does not equal “even steven.” I think God’s equity lies in the description found in The Acts of the Apostles: They shared all things in common, each according to need. If you do it for one, you have to do it for all. What genius thought that one up? So if one person is sick and needs medication, you have to give it to everyone, even those who are well? Since an infant needs to be held and carried everywhere, we have to provide that for all members of a family? Obviously these examples push the envelope, but you get the point.
Equity in God’s hands is about justice. It is about having more than enough to go around. When we pray for our “daily bread” what day are we talking about? I used to say I do not know why some are poor and some are rich. Why some suffer and others do not. Why, as in the gospel, “two men are in a field, one is taken and one is left; two women are grinding corn, one is taken and one is left.” Lately in my prayer an answer is beginning to crytalize. God is posing a new question. Peg, what do you understand equity to mean?
I know, as soon as I get a little further along that gospel about paying the guys who work all day the same as paying the fellows who work for an hour will come around again. That one really throws me - because it is not rhetorical, it happens everyday. I always thought of myself as one of the folks on the earlier shift. Now, I’m beginning to recognize that my trunk full of privilege, makes me one of the people at the end of the shift. If I had to walk any # of miles to get water, come home and grind anything into flour, make bread, collect fuel, start the fire, bake the bread, I’d be lucky to get there for the last 10 minutes of the shift and I’d be too exhausted to do anything!
Peg Hanrahan,
Pastoral Associate
What word or words, phrase or image ignites your imagination, brings comfort, provides strength or hope for you? What word, phrase or image stays with you -c alls you back again and again? Let that word, phrase or image complete the work God has intended it to do for you.
Proclaim his marvelous deed to all the nations.
Sing the Lord a new song:
sing to the Lord, all you lands
Sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim his marvelous deed to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nation;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Proclaim his marvelous deed to all the nations.
Give to the Lord, you families of nations,
give to the Lord glory and praise;
give to the Lord the glory due his name!
Proclaim his marvelous deed to all the nations.
Worship the Lord in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth;
say among the nations: The Lord is king.
He governs the peoples with equity.
Proclaim his marvelous deed to all the nations.
As you commit this simple antiphon to heart, what marvelous deed or deeds come to your mind that you would proclaim? that you feel need to be proclaimed? that you hope one day will be proclaimed to all the nations?
” Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations”: (96:3)
This has been a remarkable week. We saw Saddam Hussein executed and Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States laid to rest. We saw the first woman ever to be elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Kofi Annan retire his post at the United Nations. The military junta that took over Thailand in September, failed to foil the massive bombings that rocked Bancock on New Year’s Eve.
General Pinochet sought forgiveness for his crimes against humanity before his death. North Korea remains a potential nuclear threat and Iran, once included in the axis of evil, has not converted, but if civil war is to be avoided in Iraq, we must put our differences with Iran aside for the common good. Refugees continue to poor out of Somalia, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Ubekistan, Afghanistan, Columbia, Guatemala, Sudan, Dafur, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey. It would seem we still need to pray ”O God with your judgment endow the king” (the prime minister, the generals, the presidents, the chiefs, the judges, the magistrates, the governors…).
Each week, when we gather for Eucharist, we are instructed to pray for secular rulers, heads of states, ministers of justice, civil and military leaders, ambassadors and diplomats. I find myself paying more attention to those intercessions. I think we are desperately in need of justice and peaceful rulers. There is so much to pray for, so many to consider. I wonder will we pray for God to have mercy on the soul of Saddam Hussein? If anyone needed mercy in our time he did. Will Pinochet and all the disappeared under his reign of terror be mentioned among the dead along with President Ford? Will we give thanks for the work of Kofi Annan and all who work for peace? Will we pray for the new speaker of the House and the 110th Congress as they begin their work? And if you are part of the assembly and do not hear any of those people or activities prayed for, what will you do? Will the antiphon of the psalm - Lord, every nation on earth will adore you or O God with your judgment endow the king - become part of your daily prayer? Will you drop a note or an e-mail to those who plan the weekend liturgy and express your concern and desires? Will you wrestle with the demands of a compassionate God that requires justice and mercy. I heard over and over “prayer does not change God; it changes the one who prays.” Does it? Did it ever? Will it?
May the wise ones who gifted the Christ child, gift us on this important Feast of epiphanies.
Dr. Peg Hanrahan
As you pray this psalm today, what images, words or phrases fill your heart? What stays with you? What lingers after the reading? What echos in you? Ponder these things today. They are a gift from God.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king’s son:
he shall govern your people with justice
and your allficted ones with judgment.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in hid days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule for sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts,
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall resue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the loves of the poor he shall save.
Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Every psalm is meant to be sung. What kind of sound does this psalm bring to your mind? The full rich sound of an orchestra, the sweet voice of a boy tenor, the deep full notes of gospel soloist, the modulated crescendo of a choral?
“Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.”
“Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage”
Maybe it was different for you, but getting all ten of us to Mass on a Sunday morning was no easy task. Thank God we could walk to the Church. We had to start early, since attire was an issue then for all adults. Shoes had to be shined, the part in your hair had to be straight, ties had to be worn which meant tying them (I stood behind many a younger brother in front of the hall mirror and tied ties in assembly line fashion). We always dressed the youngest ones first, which in retrospect was not the wisest course of action, since they had the shortest attention span and sitting still was not a strength (nor was staying clean). By the time we left the house, my father was almost jogging - lest we be late - my mother was hoarse from shouting at all of us and at least three of us deeply desired to be part of any other religion as long as weekly attendance at worship was not required. (It is rumored that one of my brothers was even willing to join up with a crowd that still practiced human sacrifice - of course all the Saturday afternoon B jungle movies only sacrificed girls)!
The gathering rite escaped us to say the least! Yet years later when I read that all processions are really distilled faith journeys I thought back to our weekly ritual and thought - really! Now I have to agree. Those mini-pilgimages we made from our house to the church (did I say we only lived four houses north of the Parish Church) were in fact faith journeys. Passing on the faith is daunting. Getting everyone to move in the same direction is often problematic. Preparing a group for worship sometimes borders on the impossible. My parents had to battle apathy, lack of understanding, immaturity, defiance, doubt, anger, massive cultural shifts and the natural tendancy for children to test the values of their elders. We were all on a pilgrimage. Some of us to discover the riches of our faith, some to uncover the depth of the tradition we had been given and some to reaffirm that no matter what happened, this pearl of great price was priceless and the only real legacy they had to leave their children.
What images, words, or phrases capture your attention as you pray this psalm today? What stands out for you? Do you know why? Is the meaning shrouded and you need to sit with it for a while or pray over it for a while? Does it nudge you toward action or challenge you to look at something differently? Does it confirm or answer something you have been struggling with for a time? Does it comfort or console you? Let these sacred words work within you today and maybe for several days to come.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
Happy they who dwell in your house!
Continually they praise you.
Happy the men whose strength you are!
Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
O LOrd of hosts, hear our prayer;
hearken, O God of Jacob!
O Go d, behold our shield,
and look upon the face of your anointed.
Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.
There is a lovely little children’s book that speaks to this ancient question, “Where does God live?” As you allow these words from the scripture to be written on your heart imagine what God’s house has been, is and could be for you.
“Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord”
Psalm 80 is a prayer from the Israelite community beseeching God to come with His power to save them. They have been slaves in exile, refugees houned by enemies and conquered more than once. This psalm is a prayer too God to “rouse your power and come to save us.”
With the many countries of the world today experiencing war, corruption, poverty and disease our prayer is much the same! “O God come with your mighty power and save us.” Save us from the evils we, your human creatures, have inflicted upon our fellow human beings. Yes Lord, “make us turn to You; let us your face and we shall be saved.”
Welcome the Son of God ito our lives and our society. A new day has dawned. Give us new life this coming year.
Fr. Thomas Dore
Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see yur face and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
from your throne upon the cherubim,
shine forth.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see yur face and we shall be saved.
Once again, O Lord of hosts,
look down from heaven, and see:
take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see yur face and we shall be saved.
May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself
made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon
your name.
Lord, make us turn to you;
let us see yur face and we shall be saved.
As you pray this antiphon, think about where you see the face of the Lord.
“Lord make us turn to you;
let us see your face and we shall be saved.”
“With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.”
Ps. 12:3a
I take water for granted. I live in a part of the world where fresh water is plentiful. The most I’ve ever had to do is not water my lawn at certain times or on certain days, or take a cold shower because those before me emptied the hot water tank. Yet I know that the majority of my brothers and sisters die because they lack clean water.
The leading cause of infant mortality is diarrhea. The leading cause of diarrhea is water born parasites - contaminated water. I live literally on the edge of one-fifth of the world’s largest source of fresh water, the Great Lakes. Others, many others, live on the edge of fragile eco-systems that have been destroyed or irrevocably altered by the intervention of human beings. “Water rights” is a global concern and often at the heart of tribal, regional and national conflict. Without water there can be no life.
The psalmist’s image of salvation as a fountain is both beautiful and significant. Fountains are not wells or wellsprings. They are not rivers or streams. Fountains are made for abundance, for those who have all they need and then some. Fountains spill over, spray, mist, gurgle, drip, run. Fountains lure, invite, entice, draw in, appeal to our senses. Fountains capture our attention and pull us toward the water. We see, we hear and we want to touch. We want to dip our fingers, scoop up the water in our hand, splash, dance, leap into the fountain’s reality.
So too with salvation, once we have experienced it, tasted it, felt its power. We are drawn to it like a magnet. It becomes the center of our attention, the whole of our focus, the fullness of our being. One doesn’t casually encounter salvation. One circles it cautiously until such time as one can let go and dive headlong into the complete abandonment it requires. Then, no matter how arid life gets, no matter what droughts we suffer, we can always close our eyes and re-connect with the fountain of salvation.
Dr. Peg Hanrahan
Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
God indeed is my savior;
I am confident and unafraid.
My strength and my courage is the Lord,
and he has been my savior.
With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.
Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Sing praise to the Lord for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!
Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.
Instead of a Psalm text, the Lectionary offers us a text from the prophet Isaiah. Read in the context of the gospels for this week and last, the prophet offers us an answer to the question posed to John the Baptist no fewer than three times - What are we to do? The contemporary person is now left with other questions - how? where? when?
“Cry out with joy and gladness:
for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel.” Is. 12:6
“When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.”
Have you ever used the phrase “too good to be true”? How about “you must be dreaming!” or “You just had to be there.” It is hard sometimes to describe our experiences. Words fail us. There is simply too much to give expression to - too much excitement, too much pain, too much kindness, too much fear, too much joy. We feel like we will explode if we don’t laugh, dance, sing, weep, shout, share, tell. If you have had just one experience like that, you have glimpsed the divine, you have peeked in at heaven. The thing about moments like that is that you can not capture them nor hold on to them no matter how hard you try. The stories don’t do it justice, the photographs pale in comparison, the memoir leaves much to be desired.
If you have had the opportunity to share an experience like that with a group of people something happens. There is a bond that develops because they saw, they heard, they touched, they felt and so they “know” not with the head but with their whole being. So no matter how different you might be, no matter how incompatible you are, once you are on the other side of “too much” with each other, things have changed. You become as the theologian and poet Jack Shea says, “creatively indebted” to one another, for you hold in trust the treasure of the other - the truth that it might have been “too much” but it was and is and will be forever true.
As we move toward Christmas, the feast of the Incarnation, as a people of faith we are rushing headlong into “too much.” It is too much to grasp that God would become like us. The real heart of sin is that human beings want to be God. We fear we are too little, we will not have enough, not be enough. The great wisdom of the Incarnation is that God becomes like us to show us that really we are “too much.” As one of the fathers of the Church taught, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” We “runneth over” with goodness, kindess, hope, peace, joy and love. And when you are over flowing there is no way to hold on to what you have. Imagine, a world in which everyone has everything they need and then some, and some more and more. Wouldn’t we truly be blest? That is where John the Baptist and every other prophet of God, every angelic messenger ever sent leads us. If we just could convince ourselves to trust that it isn’t too much to be true - the truth is that there waiting around every corner for us is a kingdom moment.
When God brought the captives back it was too good to be true. They felt as if they were dreaming. In the next verse the psalmist tells us they laughed. No doubt they also wept, danced, shouted, ran, sang, and told, as best they could using words, what had happened - The Lord had done great things for them and they were filled with joy.
May you too be filled with joy - filled to overflowing and then filled again.
Dr. Peg Hanrahan
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Then the said among the natios,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us’
we are glad indeed.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those who sow in tears
shall reap in rejoicing.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
they shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
What if were to turn this antiphon around and ask: What fills us with joy? Do we think of those things a “great”?
“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3
“and for you I wait all the day”
There are very few people I would wait all the day for - their names come quickly to mind. I know the feeling of that kind of anticipation. The heartfelt longing that keeps me ever vigilant. My eye on the clock that moves so slowly, my constant checking at the door and the window, the excitement that builds within me till I can hardly stand the waiting.
Advent is a time of preparation AND anticipation. We do prepare in anticipation of someone’s coming. Families expecting a child, friends expecting the visit of long held friendships, children expecting the coming of grandparents, favorite uncles, aunts and cousins all make preparations. Yet there comes a time when all the preparation is done and one must simply wait. It is the most difficult joy of the human heart - to wait for the beloved. To have one’s heart stretched by longing, hoping, waiting is the most terrible of all ecstasies. This is goal of the psalmist, the mystic, the contemplative, the lover, the child who sleeps on Christmas eve. This is the beauty of Advent. May the Lord be with you.
Dr. Peg Hanrahan