Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:8-10
Today’s powerful Gospel passage follows on yesterday’s theme of rejoicing. Don’t we all know how it feels to lose or misplace something that’s very important to us? How many times in my life have I said my three Hail Mary’s and the Prayer to St. Anthony!!!
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: In prayer, I have often placed myself beside the woman of the coins, to assess her emotions as she searches and then finds. Note the essential dimension of her discovery – she gathers her friends and REJOICES! She teaches us that faith expresses and enriches itself in community.
Poetry: Homemaker God – Irene Zimmerman, OSF
The Homemaker God has come to my house to search for the lost coin of me which I, in my miserly morning, thinking this frugal and wise and worthy of praise and grace, hid in a safe “good place.”
The Homemaker God has taken her broom and swept from attic to basement, moved cupboards and dressers, stripped beds, emptied drawers— now she’s checking each pantry shelf for the silver coin of myself.
The Homemaker God will find me, I trust— she knows how to raise dust.
Music: O Breath of Life, Come Sweeping Through Us” by Bessie Porter Head (1849–1936)
Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.” Luke 13:18-19
These poetic words of Jesus paint a picture of heaven filled with humility, hope, vitality, possibility, and Divine hospitality. Our hearts are the gardens where God plants this mystical seed! Amazing!
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray to have a holy longing for the heavenly seed God’s offers us. We pray to be loving gardeners of God’s indescribable gifts of faith, hope, and charity.
Poetry: God’s Garden by Dorothy Frances Gurney
The Lord God planted a garden In the first white days of the world, And He set there an angel warden In a garment of light enfurled.
So near to the peace of Heaven, That the hawk might nest with the wren, For there in the cool of the even God walked with the first of men.
And I dream that these garden-closes With their shade and their sun-flecked sod And their lilies and bowers of roses, Were laid by the hand of God.
The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth,– One is nearer God’s heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth.
For He broke it for us in a garden Under the olive-trees Where the angel of strength was the warden And the soul of the world found ease.
Thus says the LORD: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel… … They departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble. Jeremiah 31:7;9
Jeremiah was a pretty gloomy prophet because he lived in pretty gloomy times. Nevertheless, Jeremiah understood the nautre of “joy” – that heartfelt recognition that God abides with us, loves us, and heals us no matter our circumstances.
We have all met peole whose joy, despite difficulty, astounds us. Their faith inspires us, and their strength invites us to tap into that deep, unquenchable river of grace in our own hearts.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray for the gift of that deep joy which is rooted in relationship with God, and sustained by persevering faith.
Poetry: Unholy Sonnet II – Mark Jarman
Half asleep in prayer I said the right thing
And felt a sudden pleasure come into The room or my own body. In the dark, Charged with a change of atmosphere, at first I couldn’t tell my body from the room. And I was wide awake, full of this feeling, Alert as though I’d heard a doorknob twist, A drawer pulled, and instead of terror knew The intrusion of an overwhelming joy. I had said thanks and this was the response. But how I said it or what I said it for I still cannot recall and I have tried All sorts of ways all hours of the night. Once was enough to be dissatisfied.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Luke 12:35-37
Jesus wants us to be uniquivocally attuned to his presence – to be vigilant for him in all life’s circumstances, even death.
When I imagine “vigilance”, I think of my cat Mary. It may seem like a crazy comparison but those of you who have cats will understand. If Mary heard a critter somewhere in our pantry, she would freeze at attention sometimes for hours. She knew what she wanted, and she was vigilant to access it.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We pray to have an unwavering desire and vigilance for God’s Presence in our lives.
Poetry: from Jubilate Agno – Christopher Smart (1722-1771)
Jubilate Agno (“Rejoice in the Lamb”) is a religious poem written between 1759 and 1763. It is a long poem divided into four sections. His section of Jeoffry is just part of his larger desire to give a “voice” to nature, and Smart believes that nature, like his cat, is always praising God but needs a poet in order to bring out that voice.
If you are not a cat lover, you probably will not read the whole segment, but do go to the bolded section about halfway through to see a connection with “vigilance”.
For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry. For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him. For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way. For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness. For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer. For he rolls upon prank to work it in. For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself. For this he performs in ten degrees. For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean. For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there. For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended. For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood. For fifthly he washes himself. For sixthly he rolls upon wash. For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat. For eighthly he rubs himself against a post. For ninthly he looks up for his instructions. For tenthly he goes in quest of food. For having consider'd God and himself he will consider his neighbour. For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness. For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance. For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins. For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary. For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes. For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him. For he is of the tribe of Tiger. For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger. For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses. For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation. For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him he's a good Cat. For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon. For every house is incomplete without him and a blessing is lacking in the spirit. For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt. For every family had one cat at least in the bag. For the English Cats are the best in Europe. For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws of any quadruped. For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love of God to him exceedingly. For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature. For he is tenacious of his point. For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery. For he knows that God is his Saviour. For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest. For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion. For he is of the Lord's poor and so indeed is he called by benevolence perpetually—Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry! the rat has bit thy throat. For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus that Jeoffry is better. For the divine spirit comes about his body to sustain it in complete cat. For his tongue is exceeding pure so that it has in purity what it wants in music. For he is docile and can learn certain things. For he can set up with gravity which is patience upon approbation. For he can fetch and carry, which is patience in employment. For he can jump over a stick which is patience upon proof positive. For he can spraggle upon waggle at the word of command. For he can jump from an eminence into his master's bosom. For he can catch the cork and toss it again. For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser. For the former is afraid of detection. For the latter refuses the charge. For he camels his back to bear the first notion of business. For he is good to think on, if a man would express himself neatly. For he made a great figure in Egypt for his signal services. For he killed the Ichneumon-rat very pernicious by land. For his ears are so acute that they sting again. For from this proceeds the passing quickness of his attention. For by stroking of him I have found out electricity. For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire. For the Electrical fire is the spiritual substance, which God sends from heaven to sustain the bodies both of man and beast. For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements. For, tho he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer. For his motions upon the face of the earth are more than any other quadruped. For he can tread to all the measures upon the music. For he can swim for life. For he can creep.
Music: Les Matins – Oskar Schuster
The every-night monastic canonical hour that later became known as Matins was at first called a vigil, from Latin vigilia. For soldiers, this word meant a three-hour period of being on the watch during the night. Even for civilians, night was commonly spoken of as divided into four such watches: the Gospels use the term when recounting how, at about “the fourth watch of the night”, Jesus came to his disciples who in their boat were struggling to make headway against the wind, and Psalm 90 says to the Lord: “A thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a vigil in the night.”
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart in the company and assembly of the just. Great are the works of the LORD, exquisite in all their delights.
Psalm 111:1-2
Today’s Responsorial Psalm is a humble, beautiful prayer which places our heart in God’s awesome Presence. The passing events of this life, whether happy of sad, shrink in the realization of God’s generous Mercy.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We bring into God’s Presence our present circumstances, with their hopes, worries, regrets, and joys. We place them there, silence our hearts, and let the Mercy of God speak to us.
Poetry: The Garments of God – Jessica Powers
God sits on a chair of darkness in my soul. He is God alone, supreme in His majesty. I sit at His feet, a child in the dark beside Him; my joy is aware of His glance and my sorrow is tempted to nest on the thought that His face is turned from me. He is clothed in the robes of His mercy, voluminous garments— not velvet or silk and affable to the touch, but fabric strong for a frantic hand to clutch, and I hold to it fast with the fingers of my will. Here is my cry of faith, my deep avowal to the Divinity that I am dust. Here is the loud profession of my trust. I need not go abroad to the hills of speech or the hinterlands of music for a crier to walk in my soul where all is still. I have this potent prayer through good or ill: here in the dark I clutch the garments of God.
Music: Bach Cantata 156 – performed by Baroque oboist Leo Duarte
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; Whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another’s, shall behold him, And from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing. Job 19:26-27
In the midst of disorienting trial, Job retains his focus on God’s immutable power and mercy. Job’s confident faith has inspired believers to be patient in suffering and trust God’s accompaniment.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We ask for the grace to receive suffering in our lives with a Job-like confidence in God.
Poetry: Just Like Job – Maya Angelou
My Lord, My Lord, Long have I cried out to Thee In the heat of the sun, The cool of the moon My screams searched the heavens for Thee. My God, When my blanket was nothing but dew. Rags and bones Were all I owned. I chanted Your name Just like Job.
Father, Father, My life give I gladly to Thee Deep rivers ahead High mountains above My soul wants only Your love But fears gather round like wolves in the dark Have You forgotten my name? Oh, Lord, come to Your child. Oh, Lord, forget me not.
You said to lean on Your arm And I’m leaning You said to trust in Your love And I’m trusting You said to call on Your name And I’m calling I’m stepping out on Your word.
You said You’d be my protection, My only and glorious savior My beautiful Rose of Sharon, And I’m stepping out on Your word. Joy, joy Your word. Joy, joy The wonderful word of the Son of God.
You said that You would take me to glory To sit down at the welcome table Rejoice with my mother in heaven And I’m stepping out on Your word.
Into the alleys Into the byways Into the streets And the roads And the highways Past rumor mongers And midnight ramblers Past the liars and the cheaters and the gamblers On Your word On your word. On the wonderful word of the Son of God. I’m stepping out on Your word.
What advantage have workers from their toil? I have considered the task that God has appointed for us to be busied about. The Infinite One has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without our ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done. Ecclesiastes 3:9-11
Three thousand years ago, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, a writer called Kohelet meditated on God’s Mercy experienced over a lifetime. Like the writer, we may have done the same thing at various significant times in our lives.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We place our lives against the timepiece pictured above. We may pray over a specific time of challenge and grace. Or we may consider the whole pattern of mercy passing slowly yet constantly through our lives, like the ticking of a steadfast clock.
Poetry: XC Domine, refugium – Malcolm Suite In this poem, Guite refers to a poem by Philip Larkin which may be read here: https://allpoetry.com/Cut-Grass
XC Domine, refugium Malcolm Guite
A cosy comforter, a lucky charm? Not with this psalmist, for he praises God From everlasting ages, in his psalm.
A God of refuge –yes – and yet a God Who knows the death that comes before each birth, Who sees each generation die, a God
Before whom all the ages of the earth Are like a passing day, like the cut grass In Larkin’s limpid verse: ‘brief is the breath
Mown stalks exhale’. So we and all things pass, And God endures beyond us. Yet he cares For our brief lives, his loving tenderness
Extends to all his creatures, our swift years Are precious in his sight. In Christ he shares Our grief and he will wipe away our tears.
If Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. 1 Corinthians 15:12-14
Paul takes his listeners to the foundation of their faith – the Resurrection. Believing in it, we are freed from our greatest common fear – the fear of Death.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: In rising from the dead, Jesus changed Darkness to Light. Every dawn transforms our nights to Easter if we allow Christ to rise in us, making all things new.
Poetry: excerpts from The Exultet
O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!
O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld!
This is the night of which it is written: The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness.
Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment….
Simon, when I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; because she has shown great love. Luke 7:37-38;44-47
Mary (identified in John’s Gospel as Mary of Bethany) loves Jesus beyond words. Sensing that his Passion and Death are near, she pours out that love in silent tenderness.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: Prayerfully imagine the alabaster jar, holding it gently in your hands. It is fine and delicate, easily broken unless handled tenderly.
As we express our love for God and for God’s Creation, we carry it in delicate wrappings, like alabaster. Sometimes, we may doubt our capacity for love, faith, and hope. We may see our “sinfulness” rather than our spiritual strength.
But if we, like Mary, focus our hearts on God, and fearlessly pour our love over God’s Creation, our fragility becomes our strength.
Poetry: Anointings at Bethany – Irene Zimmerman, OSF
Solemnly, Mary entered the room, holding high the alabaster jar. It gleamed in the lamplight as she circled the room, incensing the disciples, blessing Martha’s banquet. “A splendid table!” Mary called with her eyes as she whirled past her sister.
She came to a halt at last before Jesus, bowed profoundly and knelt at his feet. Deftly, she filled her right hand with nard, placed the jar on the floor, took one foot in her hands and moved fragrant fingers across his instep.
Over and over she made the journey from heel to toes, thanking him for every step he had made on Judea’s stony hills, for every stop at their home, for bringing back Lazarus.
She poured out more nard, took his other foot in her hands and started again with strong, rhythmic strokes. She felt her hands’ heat draw out his tiredness, take away the rebuffs he had known —the shut doors, the shut hearts.
Energy flowed like a river between them. His saturated skin gleamed with oil.
But she had no towel!
In an instant she pulled off her veil, pulled the pins from her hair, shook it out till it fell in cascades and once more cradled each foot, dried the ankles, the insteps, drew the strands between his toes.
Without warning, Judas Iscariot spat out his anger, the words hissing like lightning above her unveiled head: “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
“Leave her alone!” Jesus silenced the usurper. “She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.”
The words poured like oil, anointing her from head to foot.
Music: Pour My Love on You – Craig and Dean Phillips
I don’t know how to say exactly how I feel And I can’t begin to tell you what your love has meant I’m lost for words Is there a way to show the passion in my heart Can I express how truly great I think you are, My dearest friend. Lord, this is my desire: To pour my love on You
Chorus: Like oil upon your feet Like wine for you to drink Like water from my heart I pour my love on you If praise is like perfume I’ll lavish mine on you Till every drop is gone I’ll pour my love on you.
Lavish Mercy 