December 25, 2021
Dear Friends of Lavish Mercy,
With deep gratitude, Sister Renee
Merry Christmas to you all over the world! Special greetings to our many friends in Australia, Great Britain, Ireland and the USA!
Thank you for your participation with and encouragement for Lavish Mercy. Each day, I offer grateful prayers for each one of you. But especially on Christmas, I pray that you and your loved ones will be blessed with the abundance of God’s Lavish Mercy.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with unbounded hope:
Music: O Oriens – Gloriae Dei Cantores
December 23, 2021
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 25, Malachi, and pieces of the treasured Lucan infancy narratives.
If we listen to the silence, we can hear the whole world – whether they recognize it or not – straining toward the wonders of Christmas. All the earth’s people yearn for the hope, the peace, and the love which we, as Christians, celebrate in the Birth of Jesus Christ.
And suddenly there will come to the temple
Malachi 3: 1
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, the Holy One is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
Our psalm response encourages us to look up – so that we might see the approach of this blessing.
Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Luke 21:28
So many things occupy our attention, certainly every day, but especially around the holidays. These pressures and responsibilities can pull our focus away from the deeper realities of our spirit. They can cause us to miss the true meaning and blessing of Christmas. We might need, as Zechariah did, a serious nudge to begin attending to and trusting our spiritual insights – our “angels”.
Thinking about that kind of trust, I am reminded of a Christmas Eve seventy or more years ago. I was a very little girl but old enough to worry that, if I weren’t asleep when Santa came, I would get no presents! But I just couldn’t fall asleep no matter how tight I shut my little eyes!
My mother, realizing that the adult ruse to get me to sleep had had the totally opposite effect, came to my bedside to calm me. “Mommy”, I said – close to tears, “I just can’t go to sleep no matter how hard I try. Santa is going to fly right over our house.”
Hugging me, my mother assured me that Santa had already stopped by our Christmas tree and left his gifts – that I didn’t have to worry. I was not convinced. So Mom took me to the window and told me to “LOOK UP”! She pointed to the starry sky and asked me if I could see Santa flying off in his sleigh.
Mom took a real chance with that question, but it worked! I said, ” Yes! Yes! I see him!”. And the amazing part is that I really did. As a matter of fact, when I think of my mother’s love, I can still see him today in my heart’s memory.
When my mother told me to look up, she didn’t expect me to see Santa in the cold blue sky. She wanted me to see hope, feel love, and be at peace. And by wanting it for me, she gave it to me.
God wants those gifts for us this Christmas and throughout our lives as well. We are invited not to look past, but deeply into and beyond the realities of our lives – to see the gifts hidden in their darkness.
Sometimes we can feel that our life is a bit like the sleepless agitation I experienced so long ago. But in prayer, we can call on God to come and calm us, to point out the blessings flying all around us, to settle us by that Holy Presence of Love which is the true gift of Christmas.
Poetry: The House of Christmas – G.K. Chesterton
There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost – how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky’s dome.This world is wild as an old wives’ tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.
Music: Jewels – Barbara McAfee
As we pray today’s antiphon – O Rex Gentium, O King of All Nations, let’s open our minds and hearts to all the world’s people. May we pray especially with and for all refugees, migrants and homeless sisters and brothers. May we become the change we desire for them, just as Christ became flesh for us.
Poetry: O Rex Gentium – Malcolm Guite
O King of our desire whom we despise,
King of the nations never on the throne,
Unfound foundation, cast-off cornerstone,
Rejected joiner, making many one,
You have no form or beauty for our eyes,
A King who comes to give away his crown,
A King within our rags of flesh and bone.
We pierce the flesh that pierces our disguise,
For we ourselves are found in you alone.
Come to us now and find in us your throne,
O King within the child within the clay,
O hidden King who shapes us in the play
Of all creation. Shape us for the day
Your coming Kingdom comes into its own.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray:
Music: Winter Cold Night – John Foley, SJ
(Lyrics below)
Winter Cold Night – John Foley, SJ
Dark, dark, the winter cold night, lu-lee-ley
Hope is hard to come by, lu-lee-ley
Hard, hard, the journey tonight, lu-lee-ley.
Star, guide, hope, hide
our poor, winter cold night.
And on earth peace, good will to men.
Lean, lean, the living’ tonight, lu-lee-lay.
Star seems darker sometimes, lu-lee-lay.
Unto you is born this day a Savior.
Pain, yes, in the bornin’ tonight, lu-lee-lay.
Star, guide, hope, hide
our poor, winter cold night.
For the following prayer with our O Antiphon, let’s begin by placing before us anything that is locked, closed off, chained, frozen within us and in our world. Let us place all these things before God’s mercy, grace and omnipotence as we pray:
Poetry: Dropping Keys – Hafiz
The small woman
Builds cages for everyone
She knows,
While the Sage,
Who has to duck her head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.
Music: O Key of David – Michael Hegeman
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings offer a harmonious exultation of Mary, beloved Mother of Jesus.
The prophet Micah foretells the time “when she who is to give birth has borne.”
Even the ancient voices spoke of Mary, long before time knew her name. Their hope depended on her cosmic “Yes”, long before she spoke her first childlike word.
Hebrews speaks of the Body of Christ, that physical place where the grandeur of God took flesh, that tabernacle woven of Mary’s own body and blood, that temple made possible by her “Fiat”.
When Christ came into the world, he said:
Hebrews 10: 5-7
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.’“
The Gospel gives us two loving women, Elizabeth and Mary, rejoicing in God’s power manifested in their lives. They need no proclamations, executive orders, bills, or injunctions. Just a soft greeting, a leap within, a confirmed trust carried in each other’s eyes.
This poem by Mark Strand captures their moment for me. These two women had waited with all Creation for the redeeming Messiah. Now it was about to happen within their lives:
The Coming of Light
Even this late it happens:
the coming of love, the coming of light.
You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves,
stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows,
sending up warm bouquets of air.
Even this late the bones of the body shine
and tomorrow’s dust flares into breath.
Music: Agni Parthene (Greek: Ἁγνὴ Παρθένε), rendered “O Virgin Pure”, is a Greek Marian Hymn composed by St. Nectarios in the late 19th century. The dulcet melody is sung here in both Greek and English. Lyrics are below.
O Virgin Pure by St. Nectarios
Refrain: O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
O Virgin pure, immaculate/ O Lady Theotokos
O Virgin Mother, Queen of all/ and fleece which is all dewy
More radiant than the rays of sun/ and higher than the heavens
Delight of virgin choruses/ superior to Angels.
Much brighten than the firmament/ and pure than the sun’s light
More holy than the multitude/ of all the heav’nly armies.
O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.O Ever Virgin Mary/ of all the world, the Lady
O bride all pure, immaculate/ O Lady Panagia
O Mary bride and queen of all/ our cause of jubilation
Majestic maiden, Queen of all/ O our most holy Mother
More hon’rable than Cherubim/ beyond compare more glorious
than immaterial Seraphim/ and greater than angelic thrones.O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.
December 18, 2021
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray:
Music: Great Advent – O Adonai – Gloriae Dei Cantores
December 17, 2021
Friday of the Third week of Advent
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray:
Music: Who Has Known – John Foley, SJ
O the depth of the riches of God;
and the breadth of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
For who has known the mind of God?
To Him be glory forever.A virgin will carry a child and give birth,
and His name shall be called Emanuel.For who has known the mind of God?
To Him be glory forever.The people in darkness have seen a great light;
for a child has been born, His dominion is wide.
For who has known the mind of God?
To Him be glory forever.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we stand on the edge of the magnificent “O Antiphons”!
Tomorrow, December 17th, we will enter one of the loveliest times of the Liturgical Year – the proclamation of these powerfully beautiful verses leading us to Christmas.
The great O Antiphons are Magnificat verses used at Vespers on the last seven days of Advent. They are also used as the Alleluia verse on the same days. The importance of the O Antiphons is twofold.
Each year, as I prepare for this sacred interval,
I am reminded of an old family story.
I have written about it before,
and I hope those of you who have heard it
won’t mind hearing it again.
I so loved my great-aunt Peg. She was that perfect mix of elegance and earthiness that both comforted and inspired.
Her husband, Uncle Frank, loved her totally. And to boot, he was a romantic which led him to proclaim that love often. One summer, in the 1950s, he surprised her with a second honeymoon trip to Niagara Falls.
Upon return, they visited us and Uncle Frank brought a movie of their trip.
Now, taking a movie and eventually showing it was quite an accomplishment in the ‘50s. Not only were the camera and lights cumbersome, so was the screening equipment.
But that effort on my Uncle Frank’s part yielded a long-lasting blessing for me. It came in a brief scene still indelibly etched on my mind.
Aunt Peg, dressed in her Sunday best, stood looking over the rail at the majestic falls, her back to the camera. There was no sound on the film, but you could tell Uncle Frank had called to her to turn around. Knowing him, my guess was that he said something like, “Peg, you are as beautiful as the falls!”.
Aunt Peg turns and clearly, despite the silent film, mouths a bashful response,
“O, Frank!”.
Those two words, given with a slight blush and demure smile, carried the whole story of their very special love. They were, in a sense, my Aunt Peg’s “O Antiphon”. And they left me, even at a young age, with such a profound message.
Every time I have thought of that short phrase over these nearly 70 years, this is what I hear:
As we prepare for this beautiful and sacred time, I once again think of my dear Aunt Peg standing in the glory of both the magnificent Falls and my Uncle Frank’s tremendous love.
We, dear friends, are standing in awe at the passage of time into eternity. Our God calls to us to turn around and look into God’s loving face. As we pause in silent, grateful adoration, the roaring thunder of life silenced behind us, we respond with awe:
As we approach the opening of these profound prayers, let’s prepare our hearts to experience God’s tremendous love.
Poetry: O Emmanuel – Malcolm Guite
O come, O come, and be our God-with-us
O long-sought With-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light.
Come to us Wisdom, come unspoken Name
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness
Come to be born, to bear us to our birth,
To touch a dying world with new-made hands
And make these rags of time our swaddling bands.
Music: O Divine Redeemer – Charles Gounod, sung by Jessye Norman
I have included the English lyrics below, although they are a little heavy for my purposes today. It is the beautiful imploring voice of Ms. Norman that I hope you will focus on as you play this music. The lyrics are really immaterial.
Ah, turn me not away, receive me though unworthy.
Ah, turn me not away, receive me though unworthy.
Hear Thou my cry, hear Thou my cry,
Behold, Lord, my distress!
Answer me from Thy throne,
Haste Thee, Lord, to mine aid!
Thy pity show in my deep anguish, Thy pity show in my deep anguish.
Let not the sword of vengeance smite me,
Though righteous Thine anger, O Lord!
Shield me in danger, O regard me!
On Thee, Lord, alone will I call!
O divine Redeemer, O divine Redeemer!
I pray thee grant me pardon, And remember not
Remember not my sins!
Forgive me!
O divine Redeemer! I pray Thee, grant me pardon
And remember not, remember not, O Lord, my sins!
Night gathers round my soul
Fearful, I cry to Thee,
Come to mine aid, O Lord!
Haste Thee, Lord, haste to help me!
Hear my cry, hear my cry
Save me, Lord in Thy mercy;
Hear my cry, hear my cry!
Come and save me, O Lord!
O divine Redeemer! O divine Redeemer!
I pray Thee, grant me pardon, and remember not
Remember not, O Lord, my sins!
Save in the day of retribution
From death shield Thou me, O my God!
O divine Redeemer, have mercy!
Help me Savior!
Lavish Mercy 