This song is based on Psalm 85, and is
the Responsorial Psalm for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year B.
Lord,
you were favorable to your land;
you
restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You
forgave the iniquity of your people;
you
pardoned all their sin.
You
withdrew all your wrath;
you
turned from your hot anger.
Restore
us again, O God of our salvation,
and
put away your indignation toward us.
Will
you be angry with us forever?
Will
you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will
you not revive us again,
so
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show
us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and
grant us your salvation.
Let
me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for
he will speak peace to his people,
to
his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely
his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that
his glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast
love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness
and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness
will spring up from the ground,
and
righteousness will look down from the sky.
The
Lord will give what is good,
and
our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness
will go before him,
and
will make a path for his steps. (Ps. 85, NRSV)
The psalmist writes of God’s everlasting love. In spite of Israel’s faithlessness, in spite of the many sins of Israel, God’s love remains steadfast and faithful. Kindness is the quality which flows from God’s faithful love. Tragically, humanity has been sorely lacking the quality of kindness throughout all of human history. If we acted in kindness toward one another, there would be no conflict, no hunger, no violence and war. All people would be cared for and loved. As in the first Psalm Offering of this Opus, there is an abundance of hope that humanity will be healed of its brokenness and sin, and restored to the humanity God intended at the creation of the world. May our lives be an expression of God’s kindness and peace in our world, in which love and faithfulness will meet, and righteousness (justice) and peace shall kiss.
Lord Let Us See Your Kindness, Psalm Offering 2 Opus 11 (c) 2018 by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.
When I was in graduate
school at the St Paul Seminary School of Divinity, my class did a number of
church tours for our Art and Environment in Catholic Worship class. One of the
churches we toured was St John the Baptist Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota.
When this church was built, there was a Eucharistic chapel attached to the sanctuary
in which the tabernacle, where consecrated hosts were reserved to be
distributed to the sick and homebound, was located. Next to the tabernacle was a
fairly large statue in honor of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Mary’s head on the
statue was gazing at the tabernacle, her left hand pointing to the tabernacle.
No matter how one looked at the statue, one’s eyes was always drawn to the
tabernacle which contained the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated hosts.
Fr Jim Notebaart, the professor of our class, observed, “Mary always points to
Jesus.”
On this second Sunday in Advent, we meet John the Baptist for the first time. John is out and about preparing the way for Jesus, whose sandal strap John felt not worthy to fasten. Like Mary, John always points to Jesus. I love this passage from the Gospel of John, which I believe illustrates this point so succinctly.
²⁵ Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew. ²⁶ They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” ²⁷ John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, I have been sent ahead of him.’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:25-30, New Revised Standard Version)
Like Mary, Mother of
Jesus, John always points to Jesus. Something on which to reflect during this
second week of Advent is the question, “As disciples of Jesus, do our lives
point to Jesus?”
Upon reflecting on this question, I have noticed the many times my life failed in pointing to Jesus, especially as compared to the practice of Mary and John the Baptist. Like many human beings, rather than a life consumed on Jesus and in service to God and neighbor, my life has been more self-consumed, self-focused. The challenge that John the Baptist presents to me this second week in Advent is not only to become aware of a life that has been self-consumed, but to begin a life more focused on Jesus, and to choose that my words and actions are pointed always to Jesus and what he has taught us in the Gospels.
I acknowledge that living a life pointing to Jesus is not a one time conversion event. This is more than just saying, “I have accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.” To live a life that points to Christ in everything is a long process, and like all human relationships, our relationship with Christ is one into which we must daily put forth all our effort. As important as the relationships we have with spouse, children, grandchildren, family and community are, the most important relationship we have is with Jesus Christ. When our relationship with Jesus improves little by little, day by day, the human relationships we hold most precious will also improve.
Advent is a time when
Mary, Mother of Jesus, and John the Baptist can be important guides to living a
life focused on Jesus. As we often call upon our friends to assist our lives,
let us call upon Mary and John the Baptist to assist us in deepening our
relationship with Jesus, the Christ.
Remembering with fondness and sadness the passing of my diaconal brother, Tom Semlak. Tom and his wife, Marge, served the Archdiocese as a deacon from the time of our ordination on September 24, 1994 to his death on December 8, 2015. Marge later died on February 1, 2018. Because Tom died on December 8 (feast of the Immaculate Conception), I usually celebrate his feast day on the day of his funeral, December 14.
Tom and Marge at a later gathering of our ordination class.
This is the prayer for a
deacon at a funeral Mass.
God of mercy, You gave us Tom to proclaim the riches of Christ through the Word of God and in service to all of God’s children, particularly to the poor, the despised, and the hopeless. By the help of his prayers may we grow in knowledge of you, be eager to do good, and learn to walk before you by living the truth of the gospel. Grant this through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and brother, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Ordination day, September 24, 1994.
As an ordination present for Tom and Marge, the day of our ordination, I composed this music for them. Think of the music as an aural prayer for Tom and for Marge.
For Tom and Marge Semlak, Psalm Offering 4 Opus 5, (c) 1994 by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.
Here is an Advent Song for piano I composed last year and on my album, Songs For The Refugee Christ At Christmas (available
for download at CDBaby.com). It is entitled, Come Lord Of Counsel. The text is
based on Advent readings from the prophet Isaiah.
“A
shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and
a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The
spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the
spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the
spirit of counsel and might,
the
spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His
delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He
shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or
decide by what his ears hear;
but
with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and
decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he
shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and
with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be
the belt around his waist,
and
faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The
wolf shall live with the lamb,
the
leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the
calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and
a little child shall lead them.
The
cow and the bear shall graze,
their
young shall lie down together;
and
the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The
nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and
the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy
mountain;
for
the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as
the waters cover the sea.”
(Isaiah 11: 1-9, NRSV)
“In
days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the
highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations
shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we
may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall
arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in
the light of the Lord!”
(Isaiah 2: 2-5, NRSV)
Isaiah
11: 1-10 is the first reading on the Second Sunday of Advent, and Isaiah 2: 2-5
is the first reading on the First Sunday of Advent. There is an underlayment of
hope and joy in these two scriptural readings from Isaiah. Humanity is not
doomed to an eternity of chaos, violence, and brokenness, for God will come and
save us and teach us how to walk in the light of the Lord.
The music reflects the excitement that Isaiah is imparting to the listener. As opposed to the normal Advent chants, stoic and rather dismal, the music is imbued with anticipatory joy. The musical form of the song is three part, ABA form. It is composed in the key of G major.
Come Lord of Counsel, Psalm Offering 1 Opus 11, (c) 2018 by Robert Charles Wagner. All rights reserved.
Last evening, I posted a Morning Prayer for Thanksgiving Day. After we have all napped after the afternoon turkey meal and all its delicious wonder, here is an Evening Prayer for Thanksgiving Day. Like the Morning Prayer, I have used my favorite inclusive language Bible, The Inclusive Bible for the Psalms, Canticles, and other scriptural texts. There is a beautiful text by Fred Prat Green which the liturgical music composer David Haas set to music a number of years ago. Acknowledgements for both the Inclusive Bible and the hymn text Now It Is Evening follow the prayer below.
Ruthie and our family in Ireland.
THANKSGIVING EVENING PRAYER
INTRODUCTORY VERSE
O Adonai, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will
be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.
Now it is evening: Lights of the city
Bid us remember Christ is our Light.
Many are lonely, Who will be neighbor?
Where there is caring Christ is our Light.
Now it is evening: Little ones sleeping
Bid us remember Christ is our Peace.
Some are neglected, Who will be neighbor?
Where there is caring Christ is our Peace.
Now it is evening: Food on the table
Bid us remember Christ is our Life.
Many are hungry, Who will be neighbor?
Where there is sharing Christ is our Life.
Now it is evening: Here in our meeting
May us remember Christ is our Friend.
Some may be strangers, Who will be neighbor?
Where there’s a welcome Christ is our Friend.
Antiphon
1: Let us come before God
with thanksgiving and extol God with music and song.
Psalm 23
Yahweh, you are my shepherd— I want nothing more. You let me lie down in green meadows; you lead me beside restful waters: you refresh my soul.
You guide me to lush pastures for the sake of your Name. Even if I’m surrounded by shadows of Death, I fear no danger, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff— they give me courage.
You spread a table for me in the presence of my enemies, and you anoint my head with oil— my cup overflows!
Only goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, all the days of my life, and I will dwell in your house, Yahweh, for days without end.
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will
be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon
1: Let us come before God
with thanksgiving and extol God with music and song.
Silent prayer
Antiphon 2: I will give thanks to you, my God, with all my heart; I will
tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 117
Praise Yahweh, all you nations; extol God, all you mighty ones. For God’s love toward us is great, God’s faithfulness, eternal. Alleluia!
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will
be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon 2: I will give thanks to you, my God, with all my heart; I will
tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Silent prayer
Antiphon 3: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of
one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Canticle – Ephesians
1: 3-10
Praised be the Maker of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens!
Before the world began, God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless and to be full of love;
God likewise predestined us through Christ Jesus to be adopted children— such was God’s pleasure and will— that everyone might praise the glory of God’s grace which was freely bestowed on us in God’s beloved, Jesus Christ.
It is in Christ and through the blood of Christ that we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven, so immeasurably generous is God’s favor given to us with perfect wisdom and understanding.
God has taken pleasure in revealing the mystery mystery of the plan through Christ, to be carried out in the fullness of time; namely, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
“We give thanks to you, Sovereign God Almighty, the One who is and who was, for using your great power and establishing your reign.
The nations raged, but now it is time for your own anger, and time for judging the dead, and for rewarding your faithful and your prophets, and your holy ones and those who revere your Name— both great and small and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
“Now have come salvation and power, and the reign of God, and all authority for God’s Anointed. For the accuser of our sisters and brothers, who accused them before our God night and day, has been brought down.
They triumphed over the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; their love of life did not dissuade them from death. Let the heavens rejoice and all who dwell in them;
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will
be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon 3: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of
one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Silent Prayer
SCRIPTURE READING – Matthew 11:25-30
Then Jesus prayed, “Abba God, Creator of heaven and earth, to you I
offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever, you have revealed to
the youngest children. Yes, Abba, everything is as you want it to be.” Jesus
continued, “Everything has been handed over to me by Abba God. No one knows the
Only Begotten except Abba God, and no one knows Abba God except the Only
Begotten— and those to whom the Only Begotten
wants to give that revelation. Come to me, all you who labor and carry
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders
wand learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Here you will find
rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
RESPONSORY
Lord, you have given us food, bread of the finest wheat. Lord, you have given us food, bread of the finest wheat. Honey from the rock to our heart’s content, Bread of the finest wheat. Glory to God our Abba, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, Lord, you have given us food, bread of the finest wheat.
CANTICLE OF MARY
Antiphon: We give thanks to you, O God, for you satisfy
the thirsty and fill the hungry with good things.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, and my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior. For you have looked with favor upon your lowly servant, and from this day forward all generations will call me blessed. For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me, and holy is your Name.
Your mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear you. You have shown strength with your arm; You have scattered the proud in their conceit; you have deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. You have filled the hungry with good things, while you have sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the aid of Israel your servant, mindful of your mercy – the promise you made to our ancestors – to Abraham and his descendants forever.
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will
be for ever. Amen.
Antiphon: We give thanks to you, O God, for you satisfy
the thirsty and fill the hungry with good things.
INTERCESSIONS
Our hope is in God, who gives us help.
In thanksgiving to our God we call upon God and say:Look kindly on your children, Lord.
In thanksgiving to you, O God, for your loving
care of our Church, may you guide us all as disciples of Jesus Christ.
In thanksgiving to you, O God, for earth, our
home, may we
protect our home from all that would harm all living things.
In thanksgiving to you, O God, for the change
of seasons, may our hearts be open to the beauty and splendor of you present in
Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
In thanksgiving to you, O God, for our family
and our friends, may you bless them and watch over them.
In thanksgiving to you, O God, for our
community of faith, who rejoice with us in good times, and support us in time of sorrow.
In thanksgiving for the gifts which you have
given us, O God, may we use our gifts to build up your Reign on earth .
In thanksgiving to you, O God, for the lives
of all those who have gone before us, may they now rest in the peace and joy of
heaven.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil, for the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Loving God,
you are the true light and creator
of all that is good. At morning, noon, and evening you watch over us and
provide all which we need. May we ever live in the splendor of your presence,
till that time we take our place around the table of your heavenly feast. We
pray this through Jesus Christ, our Savior and brother, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
DISMISSAL
May God bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us into everlasting life.
As an ordained deacon, I am to pray the Liturgy of the Hours at Morning, Evening, and at Night, daily. The Liturgy of the Hours is made up of Psalms, biblical canticles, scripture readings, prayers of intercession, and, of course, the Lord’s Prayer. Since there isn’t a specific morning/evening prayer for Thanksgiving Day, I put together a Morning Prayer for Thanksgiving Day. Because I pray better with Inclusive Scripture, the Psalms, Canticles, and Scripture passages are from The Inclusive Bible (c) 2007 by Priests for Equality. The Rowan & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc, Lathan, Maryland, 20706, USA
MY FAMILY’S THANKSGINV MEAL IN 1977
THANKSGIVING MORNING PRAYER INTRODUCTORY VERSE
O Adonai, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the
Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now and will be for ever. Amen.
Alleluia.
HYMN My Heart Leaps Up by William Wordsworth
My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man; I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
PSALMODY
Antiphon 1: I praise you, Yahweh, for you are good, your love endures forever. Psalm 104
Bless Yahweh, my soul!
Yahweh, my God, how great you are! clothed in majesty and glory,
rapped in a robe of light, waters above;
you use the clouds as your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind; you use the winds as
messengers and fiery flames as attendants.
You fixed the earth on its foundations so it can never totter,
and wrapped it with the Deep as with a robe, the waters overtopping the mountains.
At your rebuke the waters bolted, fleeing at the sound of your thunder,
cascading over the mountains, into the valleys, down to the reservoir you made for them;
you imposed boundaries they must never cross so they would never again flood the land.
You set springs gushing in ravines, running down between the mountains, supplying water for wild
animals
and attracting the thirsty wild donkeys;
the birds of the air make their nests by these waters and sing among the branches.
From your palace you water the highlands
until the ground is sated by the fruit of your work;
you make fresh grass grow for cattle and plants for us to cultivate
to get food from the soil— wine to cheer our hearts, oil to make our faces shine,
and bread to sustain our life.
The trees of Yahweh drink their fill— those cedars of Lebanon,
where birds build their nests and, on the highest branches, the stork makes its home.
for the wild goats there are the high mountains, and in the crags the rock badgers hide.
You made the moon to tell the seasons, and the sun knows when to set:
you bring darkness on, night falls, and all the forest animals come out— savage lions roaring for
their prey, claiming their food from God.
The sun rises, they retire,
going back to lie down in their lairs, and people go out to work,
to labor again until evening.
Yahweh, what variety you have created,
arranging everything so wisely!
the earth is filled with your creativity! there’s the vast expanse of the sea, teeming with
countless creatures, living things large and small,
with the ships going to and fro
and Leviathan whom you made to frolic there.
All creatures depend on you
to feed them at the proper time. Give it to them—they gather it up.
open your hand—they are well satisfied. Hide your face—they are terrified.
take away their breath—they die and return to dust. send back your breath—fresh life begins
and you renew the face of the earth.
Glory forever to Yahweh!
May you find joy in your creation!
You glance at the earth and it trembles; you touch the mountains and they smoke! I will sing to you
all my life,
I will make music for my God as long as I live.
May these reflections of mine give God as much pleasure as God gives me!
May the corrupt vanish from the earth and the violent exist no longer!
bless Yahweh, my soul! Alleluia!
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.
Antiphon 1: I praise you, Yahweh, for you are good, your love endures forever.”
Silent prayer
Antiphon 2: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.
CANTICLE – Ezechial 36:24-28 I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
A new heart I will give you,
and a new spirit I will put within you;
and I will remove from your body the heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you,
and make you follow my statutes a
nd be careful to observe my ordinances.
Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors;
and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.
Antiphon 2: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High Silent prayer
Antiphon 3: In everything I give you thanks my God. Psalm 100
Acclaim Yahweh with joy, all the earth! Serve Yahweh with gladness!
Enter into God’s presence with a joyful song!
Know that Yahweh is God! Yahweh made us,
and we belong to the Creator; we are God’s people
and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving and the courts with praise!
Give thanks to God!
Bless God’s Name! For Yahweh is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever, and God’s faithfulness
to all generations.
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.
Antiphon 3: In everything I give you thanks my God. Silent prayer
SCRIPTURE READING – Colossians 3:12-17 Because you are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one
another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another—forgive in the same way God has
forgiven you. Above all else, put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect.
Let Christ’s peace reign in your hearts since, as members of one body, you have been called to that
peace. Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in you.
Instruct and admonish one another wisely. Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns
and songs of the Spirit. And whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of
Jesus our Savior, giving thanks to God through Christ.
RESPONSORY Praise and exalt God forever. Praise and exalt God forever. Let all the earth bless our God. And exalt God forever. Glory to God our Abba, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, Praise and exalt God forever.
CANTICLE OF ZACHARY Antiphon: It is a good thing to give thanks to you, O Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O most High. Blessed are you, the Most High God of Israel – for you have visited and redeemed your people.
You have raised up a mighty savior for us of the house of David,
as you promised through the mouths of your holy ones,
the prophets of ancient times: salvation from our enemies
and from the hands of all our foes.
You have shown mercy to our ancestors
by remembering the holy covenant you made with them,
the oath you swore to Abraham, granting that we,
delivered from the hands of our enemies,
might serve you without fear, in holiness and justice, in your presence all our days.
And you, my child,
will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you’ll go before our God
to prepare the way for the Promised One, Giving the people the knowledge of salvation through
forgiveness of their sins.
Such is the tender mercy of our God,
who from on high will bring the Rising Sun to visit us,
to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory to God our Abba, to Jesus the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now
and will be for ever.
Antiphon: It is a good thing to give thanks to you, O Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O most High.
INTERCESSIONS O God you have given us the light of another day. In return we thank you as we cry out to you: Bless us and bring us close to you. For the universal Church, may we embody Christ’s message of hope, love, mercy, compassion and healing to all who are broken and overwhelmed by circumstances in their lives. In thanksgiving for the men, women, and children of the world, who daily offer their lives and time in service of God and humanity. In thanksgiving for God’s goodness and grace, which God daily bestows upon us. In thanksgiving for friends, families, and loved ones in whom we experience God’s love, may thy travel safely to and from their places of destination, For all those who are ill and injured, and those who are terminally ill, and for those who love and care for them. For the departed who in life were baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, may the Spirit through whom Jesus was raised from the dead, raise up their bodies into everlasting life.
Insert other needs and thanksgivings to God here.
THE PRAYER OF JESUS Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil, For the Kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
CONCLUDING PRAYER Loving God,
you are the true light and creator of all that is good. At morning, noon, and evening you watch
over us and provide all which we need. May we ever live in the splendor of your presence, till that
time we take our place around the table of your heavenly feast.
We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Savior and brother, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
DISMISSAL May God bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us into everlasting life. Amen.
In the Catholic Church,
this last Sunday of the liturgical year is called the Solemnity of our Lord
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or for short, the Feast of Christ the King.
Perhaps it is my American heritage, but I have always considered the name of
the feast as unfortunate.
The word “king” carries
with it a negative connotation. Throughout all of human history, the number of
human monarchs who have been benevolent and wise rulers are far fewer than those who
have been heartless, greedy despots. Of all the kings in the Hebrew Testament ,
only David, Solomon, and perhaps, Josiah, are remembered fondly, and they were
all flawed. As we read about the kings listed in the books of Kings and
Chronicles in the Hebrew Testament, more often than not, the words written
about these kings are, “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his
ancestors had done.” This is usually
followed by a description of the generally quick and grisly demise of the king.
The Gospels paint an image
of Jesus that in no way resembles that of a king. Instead of having people
serve him on hand and feet, we find Jesus on his knees washing the feet of his
disciples and serving their needs. Jesus states time and again throughout the
Gospels that he came to serve and not to be served. In John’s account of the
feeding of the 5000, the people come to make him king, and Jesus responds by
fleeing and hiding from them.
In John’s Passion we
hear this dialogue between Pilate and Jesus. “Then Pilate entered the
headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the
Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this
on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief
priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this
world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to
keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not
from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you
are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.” With such negative
historical references about kings, why on earth would we impose such a title on
Jesus?
Listen to these words
from John’s Prologue. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things came into
being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come
into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not overcome it.” Jesus is far more than a King. He, through him
all things were created, is the Lord of all. How is his reign described? The Gospel today describes the kind of ruler
or leader that Jesus is as “Lord.”
Throughout his earthly
ministry, Jesus did not identify himself with the rich and the powerful. He
becomes one with the most despised or most
forgotten of his society. In the passage from Luke’s Passion, in his passion
and death, Jesus becomes one with the thieves executed alongside him. Around
him, the Jewish religious leaders mock and taunt Jesus. One of the thieves, in
extreme pain physically and spiritually derides Jesus. The other thief rebukes
the thief, stating that while Jesus is innocent of any crime, he and the other
thief are being justly held accountable for the crimes they had committed.
Jesus responds to the thief’s compassion by promising him a place in the eternal
reign of God.
We will soon be
celebrating the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas, when he became one with
humanity by becoming one with us in everything human except for that of sin. In
his passion and his death, out of love for us he became one with us in our
suffering and our death. Denise Levertov describes this “oneing” with humanity
in her poem, “On A Theme From Julian’s Chapter XX”.
One only is ‘King of Grief’. The onening, she saw, the onening with the Godhead opened Him utterly to the pain of all minds, all bodies sands of the sea, of the desert – from first beginning to last day. The great wonder is that the human cells of His flesh and bone didn’t explode when utmost Imagination rose in that flood of knowledge. Unique in agony, infinite strength, Incarnate, empowered Him to endure inside of history, through those hours when He took Himself the sum total of anguish and drank even the lees of that cup:[1]
Normal human kings seek
to separate themselves from their subjects. Their relationship with the people
they rule is not a power with relationship, taking on the hardships of the
people they lead, but in a power over relationship that is meant to dominate
and overwhelm their subject. Jesus is the complete antithesis of a human king.
The “oneing” to which Denise Levertov refers, is one in which the one through
whom all was created makes it his primary mission to be ONE with us. His is a
power with relationship, never a power over relationship.
I love the portrait of
Jesus above by Brother Robert Lentz OFM. It is entitled “Christ of Maryknoll”.
It is a portrait of Christ as a Latino refugee held captive behind the barb
wire of an internment camp run by ICE in the United States (Google Brother
Robert Lentz OFM to see all his art). As he was in his earthly ministry, Jesus
remains one with those who are poor, those who are outcast, those who are
imprisoned. As Lord of Heaven and Earth, he continues to serve those who are in
most need.
As we celebrate this Feast of “Christ the King”, let us not model our discipleship after that of earthly monarchs. Rather, let us model our discipleship after Jesus, Lord of All by becoming “one” with those most in need, serving them as Jesus once served us. iN OUR “”ONEING” WITH THE POOR AND OUTCAST, WE BECOME “ONE” WITH JESUS THROUGH WHOM ALL WAS CREATED.
I have written about my
2nd grade teacher, Sister Angeline many times. She was a woman of
great love and was earnest about making sure us kids would go to heaven. She
believed that if we were not willing to go to heaven on our own volition, she
would scare us into going to heaven. My second grade year was filled with
stories intent on frightening the “hell” out of us usually by telling us stories
that scared us to death.
I remember vividly how
she painted what the “end of the world” would be like; the fire and brimstone that
would destroy the earth and how Jesus would be the severe judge, sending some people
to heaven and others sentenced forever to suffer in the fires of hell. I, also,
remember how if given the choice of God flooding the entire earth, eg. Noah,
and Jesus coming at the end of time, e.g. fire and brimstone, I far preferred
dying by drowning then by being burned alive. Placed at the time of the Cuban
Missile crises and the belief that a nuclear World War would happen at any
time, the thought of being vaporized in a nuclear storm only added to the
imagery she painted.
As a result, my image
of Jesus was not that of a savior who loved us so much that he died for us, but
the Son of God who would judge us all harshly. Jesus is writing down everything
we did wrong in his book, as we were told, did not help us in dispelling the
angry image many of us had of Jesus. I guess, it could best be summed up in
this rewording of the song, “Santa Claus
Is Coming To Town.” “You better watch out. You better not cry. You better be
good, I’m telling you why. Jesus Christ is coming to town.” Judging by the
readings we hear today on this Sunday, Malachi 3:19-20a and Luke 21:5-19, it is
easy to see how the second coming of Jesus could be perceived as very
frightening and intimidating.
I know that some
Christian traditions get around the horror of the second coming by speaking of
the “rapture”, that is, to borrow from Star Trek, the righteous being “beamed”
up to heaven before all hell breaks loose on the earth. (One of my favorite
bumper stickers is one a friend had that said, “When the rapture comes, can I
have your car?”). In my serious study of the Book of Revelation, I think the
idea of the rapture is a misinterpretation of the scripture.
So, how we do approach
the whole idea of Jesus’ second coming? Is it from a place of great fear, as I
was taught as a kid by good intentioned nuns? Is it from a place of privilege
as is taught by some Christian traditions, e.g. the rapture? For me, neither
approach is valid. I like to approach the second coming of Jesus from the
viewpoint of the liturgical season of Advent.
In the first couple
Sundays of Advent, we look forward to Jesus’ second coming at the end of
time, as we remember the great grace of his first coming over 2000 years ago. I
adopt the posture of hopeful anticipation that our Jewish ancestors had as they
eagerly looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. The second coming of Jesus
is a time of great anticipation in which the brokenness and suffering of our
world will finally be healed and humanity fully reconciled to God. The image
that Isaiah paints for us in Isaiah 2 is of all nations coming to the mountain
of God, in which all human want is satisfied, all weapons transformed from
instruments of destroying humanity, into instruments building up humanity, e.g.
swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks, and humanity finally
learning the lesson to never go to war again, but, rather, to walk in the light
of God.
As we listen to the
totality of the Gospels, Jesus emphasizes the overly abundant love and mercy of
God, and calls all of humanity to model God’s love and mercy in the way we
live. It is this that is the promise of Jesus’ second coming. Is this something
to fear, or to escape via the rapture, or is it, rather, something we would
want to embrace fully?
In the last verse of
Marty Haugen’s great hymn “Gather Us In,” we hear, “Not in the dark of
buildings confining; not in some heaven light years away. But here, in this
place, new light is streaming, NOW is the kingdom, NOW is the day.”[1]
What Marty writes is what Jesus taught. We must live in God’s reign not just as
something that will happen at some future date, but rather we must live in God’s
reign, God’s second coming NOW. While Christ’s second coming is not fully
established, the second coming of Jesus has a good foothold in our world. As
disciples of Jesus, we must live in the second coming of Jesus as if it is
fully established. If we live our lives today fully embracing a life filled
with God’s love, goodness, and abundant mercy, we will have the power of
increasing the Reign of God more fully in our world.
I would like to end for our consideration with a quote from Fr
Richard Rohr’s book, Falling Upward.[2]
Rohr writes in chapter 8, “Perhaps this is what Jesus means by there being
“many rooms in my Father’s house” (John 14:2). If you go to heaven alone,
wrapped in your private worthiness, it is by definition not heaven. If your
notion of heaven is based on exclusion of anybody else, then it is by
definition not heaven. The more you exclude, the more hellish and lonely your
existence always is. How could anyone enjoy the “perfect happiness” of any
heaven if she knew her loved ones were not there, or were being tortured for
all eternity? It would be impossible. Remember our Christian prayer, “on earth
as it is heaven.” As now, so then; as here, so there. We will all get exactly
what we want and ask for. You can’t beat that. … Jesus touched and healed
anybody who desired it and asked for it, and there were no other prerequisites
for his healings. “ … How could Jesus ask us to bless, forgive, and heal our
enemies, which he clearly does (Matthew 5:43–48), unless God is doing it first
and always? Jesus told us to love our enemies because he saw his Father doing
it all the time, and all spirituality is merely the “imitation of God”
(Ephesians 5:1).
To embrace the second
coming of Jesus is to live the all inclusive love of God expressed in the life
and teachings of Jesus. And as Marty Haugen emphasizes, we must live it now, in
this place, and in our time. The second coming of Jesus is all around us. Let
us embrace it and live it.
Over the Summer, I edited three volumes of poetry, namely, The Book of Ruth: The Courting Begins, The Book of Ruth: Courting In The Minnesota Valley of Tears, The Book of Ruth: The Courting Never Ends. I also copyrighted them with the United States Copyright Office.
Thr first volume began in December of 2011 as I was recovering from a MRSA infection and awaiting a second left hip replacement The poems were my Christmas present to Ruthie. It just continued to grow from there to its present form.
If there is a common theme between all of these poems it is encountering God in my lifelong relationship with my wife, Ruth.
For those who have followed this blog over the summer months, you may have read some of the new poems that I have written.
Last night, I composed a Preface for the new collection of poems. What follows is that Preface.
“On June 13, 2019, I had my retirement open house. On June 24th, I went to the New Prague Times to do interview on my retirement and upon completing the interview fell down the front steps of the building breaking my left ankle. On June 28th, I had the first surgery on my left ankle. On July 1st, I officially retired from active paid church ministry. On July 12th, I had the second surgery on my left ankle. On September 6th, I had the third surgery on my left ankle. On October 4th, with the aid of a walker, I walked for the first time since June 24th. As I write this, the healing of the surgical incision is still a work in progress. The circulation in my left leg is not good, a result of the numerous surgeries and MRSA infection back in 2011. With the same incision being opened three times, it is taking some time to completely heal over. There is still just a small part not yet healed, and that part, I discovered today has an infection. Here I go again …
I
give this chronology of events to illustrate that I had plans for my retirement
from full time ministry and it did not include hopping around on my right foot
from bed to bathroom to chair to bathroom to bed for fifteen weeks. For some
reason, beyond my comprehension, God apparently had other ideas for my
retirement. This is not to say that God deliberately tripped my feet up as I
was descending the front steps at the New Prague Times Building on June 24th.
But, all the activities to which I had been looking forward were altered far
beyond anything I could have planned or imagined.
Our lives are shrouded in mystery. To use the image of Psalm 23 of walking through the Valley of Death, I was unaware of the walking, or in my case, the lack of walking beginning my retirement. As Rabbi Harrold Kushner expressed so well in his book, The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-Third Psalm, God never says we will never experience suffering. Rather, God tells us that we will not suffer alone. God will walk with us through our suffering.[1]
I
hesitate to use the words “God’s plan for me” because it implies a life of
fatalism in which there is no human choice. God allows us to experience life:
our loves, our sorrows, health, illness, joys, thanksgivings in all its
manifestations. Contained within all these experiences is God’s grace.
Sometimes, especially in those joyful times of our lives, God’s grace is easily
seen and experienced. However, sometimes God’s grace is deeply hidden within
the experience, especially true with the hard and painful experiences. The
volumes of poetry in which I chronicle my life with Ruthie is my way of trying
to part the mist of mystery in which to find God’s grace in my life.
I
believe life is comprised of periods. The first period is that of our birth and
the first five years in which we begin to learn to navigate the world around us.
Our parents and family assist us in that navigation. The second period is
comprised of our school years, in which we acquire “book knowledge” and other
skills that continue to expand our knowledge of the world. While our parents
remain a big part of our lives, we begin to explore, on our own, the world. We explore
our interests and seek the knowledge we need for a career. The third period is
using the skills we have learned to make a living at a job or career. Subsets
during this period may be seeking a spouse/life-partner, raising a family, and
continuing to pursue those interests that enrich us. The fourth period may be
called “retirement” in which the busyness of our lives slows, giving us the
opportunity to reflect over our past and looking for those significant events
in which God has touched our lives with profound grace.
I
have found the most significant times in which God’s grace is found are those
times of great stress, illness, and physical, mental, and spiritual suffering.
Scripture familiarizes us with many stories of God’s paradoxical habit of
shaping people’s lives for the better in the worse of circumstances. As Paul of
Tarsus notes in his second letter to the Corinthians, it is at our weakest and
most vulnerable moments in our lives in which God’s grace is most profound.
“[The Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made
perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so
that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses,
insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for
whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9-10, New Revised Standard
Version Bible)
As
I begin this fourth volume of poems, I have had fifteen weeks of essentially
“sitting on my butt” reflecting on God’s grace in the past, and trying to
ascertain God’s grace in the present. This volume of poems will continue to
grow as I reflect on God’s presence in past events and attempt to seek God’s
presence in the here and now. I believe God to be more immanent rather than
aloof and transcendent. God is Emmanuel, “God with us.”
One thing that will always be consistent in my life’s story, is the immanent presence of God in my bride, Ruth. As I have said on numerous occasions, she is the greatest experience of God for me. In her embrace, I feel God embrace me. From her lips I hear God say, “I love you! I forgive you.” From her body, I have witnessed the creation of the world as she gave birth to our children. After all, this collection of poems is entitled: “The Book of Ruth.” Perhaps these poems will help readers reflect on the presence of God in their lives.
Robert
Charles Wagner
November
12, 2019
[1] The Lord Is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the
Twenty-Third Psalm, by Harrold Kushner,
Alfred A Knopf, New York, 2003. See Chapter Eight for an expanded
discussion of this.
When young, there is little retrospection. Life is an adventure, new experiences which we sample and taste as if at a smorgasbord, in which we are so busy living, we have no time for reflection.
When young, life is full of expectation: chasing dreams of a career, of spouse and children, seeking after and possessing that which we presume will support our expectations and dreams.
When young, consumed with life, dreams of God and that which is everlasting seem as far away as traveling to Mars. Eyesight is isolated to only the here and now, not to some galaxy far, far away.
Me, many, many years later.
When older, as life naturally slows, retrospection creeps into our lives often unwelcome. A lifetime of experience, our virtues and sins accumulate, like the scars we bear on our bodies and spirits. And, that galaxy that seemed so far, far away, is as close to us as our neighbor’s house.
When older, exciting vacation destinations to exotic places are replaced by the mundane visits to doctors, medical clinics and hospitals. The weddings and baptisms diminish replaced by a multiplying number of wakes and funerals not only of the ancient ones in our lives, but that of our siblings and friends.
When older, as we page through the brittle pages of old photo albums looking at pictures of children who became our parents, we realize that one day, memories of our lives will be confined to a fading picture of who we once were.
When older, life becomes that of waiting in line, grasping in our hands a numbered ticket as if waiting to be served at a market. The ticket we clutch holds the diagnosis which will unite us to the ancestors who preceded us, and wonder whether those upon whom we once gazed in photo albums, will greet us in person as we pass from this life to the next.
When older, we finally comprehend that much after which we chased when we were young was merely a passing fancy, a temporary diversion from that which is ultimately the goal of our lives, and hope, that we will experience the abundance of God’s mercy which Jesus preached, expanding upon our virtues and less focused on our sins.
