Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 66 – a psalm which, according to scripture scholar Roland Murphy, mixes two genres:
- A thanksgiving song of the community:
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
Psalm 66: 1-3
sing praise to the glory of God’s name;
proclaim God’s glorious praise.
Say to God: “How tremendous are your deeds!”
- A thanksgiving song of an individual:
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
Psalm 66: 16-17
what God has done for me.
When I appealed to God in words,
praise was on the tip of my tongue.
Psalm 66 reminds us that we come to know,
love and serve God
both as individuals
and within the community of faith.
Our union with God is deepened at both fountains.
Today, we celebrate the feast of Clare of Assisi who praised God through a life of service shaped by a radical understanding of holy poverty.
We become what we love
Clare of Assisi
and who we love shapes what we become.
If we love things, we become a thing.
If we love nothing, we become nothing.
Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ,
rather it means becoming the image of the beloved,
an image disclosed through transformation.
This means we are to become vessels of God’s
compassionate love for others.
Poetry/Prayer: As we pray to live lives of love and compassion, may St. Clare’s blessing encourage us.
Go forth in peace,
for you have followed the good road.
Go forth without fear,
for the One who created you
has made you holy,
has always protected you,
and loves you as a mother.
Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.
Music: Let the Love that Dwells in Your Heart – Poor Clare’s of Arundel
Lavish Mercy 