July 30, 2021
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 81, a jubilant call to remember and celebrate our relationship with God.
Take up a melody, and sound the timbrel,
the pleasant harp and the lyre.
Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our solemn feast.
And this is to be done periodically and regularly as the reading from Leviticus so clearly stipulates. Each new effort at such praise renews us, gives us a fresh chance on our faith journey, and calls us more deeply to our part in the faithful community.
As young nuns, we were introduced to the practice of Retreat Sunday. The first Sunday of each month was a day of complete silence and prayer. I loved it! Many of us still practice it. It’s a chance to “Blow the trumpet at the new moon”, a revitalizing of our soul’s focus and our heart’s devotion.
I know many of my very busy readers – moms and dads and essential workers – just wish they could spend a whole Sunday in quiet prayer! But I hope you can find at least some time, on a regular basis, to give your soul this gift.
Instead of a poem:
Some extra music today: the trumpet highlight from Mahler’s Blumine. The Blumine movement was originally one of seven pieces of incidental music composed by Mahler in “two days” during June 1884, for a performance of Joseph Victor von Scheffel’s play Der Trompeter von Säkkingen (“The Trumpeter of Säkkingen”). The Blumine movement in the symphony contains little or no revisions from the original version, including its orchestration which utilises only a small section of the full symphonic orchestra which is used more fully in the other movements. The Andante movement begins and ends with a lyrical cantilena for the trumpet. August Beer described it as “a heartfelt, rapturous trumpet melody that alternates with melancholy song on the oboe. (Wikipedia)
Music: The reading from Leviticus made me think how all leaders describe their perfect kingdom and set the rules to achieve it. The song that came to mind is “Camelot”, where King Arthur pours out his hope for a beautiful world.
Certainly it’s not a religious song, but I think it is a spiritual one. Not only does it describe a perfect Creation, it – like Leviticus – tells us to remember our first hope so that we keep it alive. Of course, the fictional Camelot ended through human infidelity but our sacred “Camelot” endures eternally.
Lavish Mercy 