O Emmanuel, Who loved us so that You took our flesh, come, open our eyes to see You here ever near, ever within us.
As Earth turns – in so many ways – to greatest darkness, light the candle of Your Indwelling deep within our longing hearts.
As Mary knew your Closeness, let us know You.
As Joseph held You in mutuality of trust, let us hold You and be held by You.
Be born again in the love that we return to You by loving one another well and tenderly.
Cleave us to Your Brilliant Light though hidden in life’s puzzling shadows, God with Us, God ever with Us!
O Emmanuel, come be with us on our longest nights. Let us lean soft into You on our hardest days.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
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:
O Key of David, O Blessed Freedom, Who unlocks the secret of eternal life within our hearts!
Come absolve the sad incarcerations shackling us!
We hold ourselves and one another captive by our fears, our greed, our terrible need to control Your power within us.
We are afraid of Love, because once released in us, Love asks for everything… … for everything to be unbound, unbarred and given to Your Unrestricted Grace, in flesh named “Jesus”.
Love asks us to become like You, but we are locked in smaller dreams.
O Key of David, come free our dreams with Yours.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
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.
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: “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.’“
Hebrews 10: 5-7
by Brother Mickey McGrath
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.
How we need to lean on You, to be upheld by You, to be embraced by You,
Compassionate Lord, who leads us through a life that can be unbearable alone.
We pray, with longing hearts, that You uplift all the fallen – whether those in pain, or loss,confusion, or the sad distress we inflict upon ourselves and one another.
Adonai, Beautiful One, set a fire before us, as You did for Moses.
Lead the way for us with Flame of Love and Light of Faith into your outstretched Mercy.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
Music: Great Advent – O Adonai – Gloriae Dei Cantores
Around us, and at times within us, there is a foolishness that has forgotten You.
There is a shallowness that skims this sacred well of life on the thinest surface of our pretenses, our distractions, our frightened preoccupations.
Take us to the depth where Your Wisdom dwells within us.
There let us find: peace undisturbed by circumstance; justice fed by lavish mercy; Love beyond boundaries, beyond definition, beyond imagination, beyond time.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
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.
First, each one is a title for the Messiah.
Second, each one refers to Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming of the Messiah.
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.
Aunt Peg on Her Wedding Day to Uncle Frank – 1929
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:
O, Frank!
how blessed am I to be so loved
how good you are to show that love so clearly
how grateful I am that you share your life with me
please know how much I love you in return
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:
17 December: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
18 December: O Adonai (O Lord)
19 December: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
20 December: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
21 December: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
22 December: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
23 December: O Emmanuel (O God With Us)
As we approach the opening of these profound prayers, let’s prepare our hearts to experience God’s tremendous love.
O Beloved God
how blessed am I to be so loved
how good you are to show that love so clearly
how grateful I am that you share your life with me
please know how much I love you in return
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!
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Isaiah and Luke who both offer us passages in which God self-describes in displays of omnipotence and tenderness.
In Isaiah, we meet the powerful Creator Who dispenses both justice and mercy.
In Luke, we meet the merciful Savior Who tenderly uses that power to heal.
With our psalm response from Isaiah, we voice our longing to be healed by God’s infinite power – a power which finds the world’s brokenness, seeps into it like rain, transforms it with love.
Poetry: I Rain by Hafiz
The poem came to mind when I prayed the verse: Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
I rain Because your meadows call For God.
I weave light into words so that When your mind holds them
Your eyes will relinquish their sadness, Turn bright, a little brighter, giving to us The way a candle does To the dark.
I have wrapped my laughter like a gift And left it beside your bed.
I have planted my heart’s wisdom Next to every signpost in the sky.
A wealthy one, seeing all this, May become eccentric,
A divinely wild soul transformed to infinite generosity
Tying gold sacks of gratuity To the dangling feet of moons, planets, ecstatic Midair dances, and singing birds.
I speak Because every cell in your body Is thirsty For God.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 34 and its tender verses. They remind us that God has a special love for those who suffer, who are poor, who are humble. That special love allows us to be joyful even in difficulty. It invites us to depend on God when things are roughest for us.
I will bless the LORD at all times; praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad.
Psalm 34: 2-3
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit are saved. The LORD redeems the lives who serve with love; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in God.
Psalm 34: 19,23
In our first reading, the prophet Zephaniah reveals a key promise. After all is said and done, God will remain with those who keep faith. Scripture scholars refer to these faithful ones as “the remnant people” – those whose faith is so strong that it cannot be dislodged from God.
These “remnant people” are the ones who are found ready and waiting when the Savior is born. They are people like Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Anna and Simeon.
As we approach the Christmas Promise, may we be among the awaiting faithful too. May we look to the Lord for whom we waited and be “radiant with joy”!
Poetry: Radiant from “In the Arms of the Beloved” by Rumi
Lose yourself, Lose yourself in this love. When you lose yourself in this love, you will find everything.
Lose yourself, Lose yourself. Do not fear this loss, For you will rise from the earth and embrace the endless heavens.
Lose yourself, Lose yourself. Escape from this earthly form, For this body is a chain and you are its prisoner. Smash through the prison wall and walk outside with the kings and princes.
Lose yourself, Lose yourself at the foot of the Holy One. When you lose yourself before the Holy you will become the holy.
Lose yourself, Lose yourself. Escape from the black cloud that surrounds you. Then you will see your own light as radiant as the full moon.
Now enter that silence. This is the surest way to lose yourself. . . .
What is your life about, anyway?— Nothing but a struggle to be someone, Nothing but a running from your own silence.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with the beautiful, humble Psalm 25. Pastor Christine Robinson interprets the prayer in this way:
I put my trust in you, O God, as best as I am able. May I be strong. May I not be afraid May all who open their hearts hear your voice and know your love. Lead me, teach me, help me to trust.
You are gracious to us, O God You guide us, you forgive our clumsy ways You help us prosper.
When I am sad and anxious I school my heart to trust I act with integrity and uprightness And hope to feel your touch in my heart. May it be so for all the peoples of the earth Who call you by many names.
Psalms for the New World – Christine Robinson
The psalm anchors our other readings today to suggest a theme of searching for Light in the darkness. Certainly, this was the quest of St. Lucy whose memorial we also mark today.
Lucy is the patroness of the blind. She was a brave young woman, martyred during the persecutions. Her name meaning “Light”, she has been venerated for millennia as one who can bring clarity and insight to places of darkness.
In our first reading, we hear the first messianic prophecy of the Bible. It is offered by a source perhaps unfamiliar to us — a teller of the future, Balaam.
Balaam is a diviner in the Torah (Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers. Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor.King Balak of Moab offered him money to curse Israel (Numbers 22–24), but Balaam blessed the Israelites instead as dictated by God. Nevertheless, he is reviled as a "wicked man" in both the Torah and the New Testament. (Wikipedia)
That story is the one we read today, and it contains a beautiful prophecy to be fulfilled fifteen hundred years after its utterance:
The utterance of Balaam, son of Beor,
the utterance of the man whose eye is true,
The utterance of one who hears what God says,
and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
enraptured, and with eyes unveiled.
I see him, though not now;
I behold him, though not near:
A star shall advance from Jacob,
and a staff shall rise from Israel.
Sometimes we just need to be pointed toward that star, don’t we? We kind of “see God – but not now; behold God — but not near”. It’s not always easy to believe, to trust.
We all have painful situations, unanswered hopes, lingering fears. Let us bring them out of the shadows today with the help of St. Lucy and our Brilliant God who made the stars to give us hope.
As the year moves closer to its time of deepest darkness, may we know God’s brightness in our hearts. May we sense God lighting, once again, the dark places in our lives and in our world — leading us to a “Christmas Resurrection”.
Prose: from The Seaboard Parish by George Macdonald
The world ... is full of resurrections... Every night that folds us up in darkness is a death; and those of you that have been out early, and have seen the first of dawn, will know it - the day rises out of the night like a being that has burst its tomb and escaped into life.
Today, in Mercy, we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, Advent’s joyful midway pause.
Advent was originally, like Lent, a time of fasting. Midway in the fast, the Church took a break from its rigors and rejoiced prematurely for the coming Christmas.
I remember going, as a grade schooler, with my mother to buy two candy bars on the Saturday before Gaudete (because most stores were closed on Sunday back then!) After Sunday Mass, we would hold a sort of “sweetness ceremony”, delighting in our choices. Mom’s was always a Milky Way. My choice ran with the fads, sticking for a few years on Rollos – remember them?
The Church has its own “sweet ceremony” on Gaudate Sunday. Pink vestments worn for the liturgy indicate joy, as do the uplifting readings.
In our first reading, Zephania tells us that “the Lord will rejoice over us with gladness!”
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
Zephania 3:14
In a reassuring blessing, Paul tells us, “Don’t worry. Be happy!”
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4: 4-7
Even serious John the Baptist seems to tingle with expectation of the coming Savior. He’s just a little more taciturn in his proclamations.
John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Luke 3: 16-17
In our terribly commercialized holiday world, let’s stop and remember the true cause of our hope and celebration.
What gives your heart real joy as we approach the holy celebration of Christmas?
What is the sacred delight you long for in your heart and soul?
Let’s make a deeper effort this week, which will require so much bustle of us, to settle our hearts on God – remembering that God’s sweet presence with us is what this whole season is about.
Poetry: The Flower by George Herbert
How fresh, oh Lord, how sweet and clean Are thy returns! even as the flowers in spring; To which, besides their own demean, The late-past frosts tributes of pleasure bring. Grief melts away Like snow in May, As if there were no such cold thing.
Who would have thought my shriveled heart Could have recovered greenness? It was gone Quite underground; as flowers depart To see their mother-root, when they have blown, Where they together All the hard weather, Dead to the world, keep house unknown.
These are thy wonders, Lord of power, Killing and quickening, bringing down to hell And up to heaven in an hour; Making a chiming of a passing-bell. We say amiss This or that is: Thy word is all, if we could spell.
Oh that I once past changing were, Fast in thy Paradise, where no flower can wither! Many a spring I shoot up fair, Offering at heaven, growing and groaning thither; Nor doth my flower Want a spring shower, My sins and I joining together.
But while I grow in a straight line, Still upwards bent, as if heaven were mine own, Thy anger comes, and I decline: What frost to that? what pole is not the zone Where all things burn, When thou dost turn, And the least frown of thine is shown?
And now in age I bud again, After so many deaths I live and write; I once more smell the dew and rain, And relish versing. Oh, my only light, It cannot be That I am he On whom thy tempests fell all night.
These are thy wonders, Lord of love, To make us see we are but flowers that glide; Which when we once can find and prove, Thou hast a garden for us where to bide; Who would be more, Swelling through store, Forfeit their Paradise by their pride.
Music: Gaudete in Domino sung by the Schola of St. Meinrad Abbey (Latin and English lyrics below)
Gaudete in Domino semper iterum dico gaudete. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. Dominus prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis sed in omni oratione et obsecratione cum gratiarum actione petitiones vestrae innotescant apud Deum. Et pax Dei quae exsuperat omnem sensum custodiat corda vestra et intellegentias vestras in Christo Iesu [Domino nostro].
Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus [our Lord].
Lavish Mercy 