An unending source of comfort

The great commandment that Jesus mentions several times before He is taken away to be put to death is emphasized at the beginning and at the end of today’s Gospel (Friday of Week 5): This I command you: love one another. Three simple words at the end of the passage. (John 15:17).

The command is better explained at the beginning of the passage: Love one another as I love you. That has particular meaning for us as we continue our journey through the psalms asking the question, “How does he love us?” In light of the great commandment given above, our search takes on new immediacy. Whatever we discover about how God cares for us, that is what we must do to the best of our abilities. Sometimes we uncover things which are too far beyond our human capacities, but at all time and in all ways, we must seek to do whatever we can, whatever we are ready to do, and whatever the Spirit of God prompts us to do. Keep that in mind as we continue with this Psalm series over the weeks to come.

We are still looking at Psalm 23:

If I should walk in the valley of darkness

no evil would I fear.

You are there with your crook and your staff;

with these you give me comfort. (23:4)

·         Last week we studied a hymn which suggested that the staff becomes the Cross, and that may be our guide.

·         I remember when I was Pastor of our parish, and I could see from the altar so many people who were obviously in pain and who spent a good deal of time simply staring at the crucifix over the altar. That was what got them through the time of suffering they had to endure.

·         What might be your “valley of darkness?” Is it some experience that you got through and survived, or might it be something that you are actually going through right now? Look to the “crook and staff”---look to the Cross. Experience the comfort which God alone can give.

·         I remember a very difficult and painful time in my own life. I was at a concert in a Lutheran church. Behind the altar was a beautiful mosaic of Christ the good shepherd. During the concert, I became transfixed by looking at the mosaic, and it seemed to come alive, and Christ’s eyes were on me, and I sensed power and comfort coming from the image and entering my heart and soul, and I was filled with comfort and love so much so that the difficult time I was having simply came to an end right there in that lovely little church. (The music, by the way, was by J.S. Bach, to whom I often look as a patron.

·         Perhaps we are incapable of offering comfort to the power and the degree that Our Lord is able to do; but whenever we see another person in pain, Christ may use us to bring His comfort to that person. And when we read the stories in the news or on the Internet about people who are suffering, perhaps we can pause from our reading and hold those people up in prayer and ask Christ to comfort them. In this way, we are living in the space of Psalm 23.

We are moving very slowly through Psalm 23. And that is fitting, since it is so full of the love and care of our God. We continue on Sunday.

God bless you.

A day to exult and sing

For your meditation today I offer two passages from Isaiah which, I believe, go well together and enhance each other.

The first is from the liturgy of the 4^th Sunday of Advent and is designated as the Introit for the day. If is frequently left out, but its message is important for all of us on this day so close to the Christmas Feast because it is poetic expression of our yearning for the coming of Christ:

Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Savior (from Isaiah 45:8)

Notice that the gift from heaven comes to us from two different directions: from the heavens above but also from the earth below. Let the earth be opened and bring forth a Savior causes me to think of the Blessed Mother about to give birth to Jesus who will save us from our sins.

Here is the second passage, from Isaiah 49:13:

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;

break forth, O mountains, into singing!

for the Lord has comforted his people,

and will have compassion on his afflicted.

Heavens and the earth now exult, and the mountains break into song, for the prophecy of Isaiah 45:8 is being fulfilled. How do the heavens and the earth exult? And the mountains sing? Close your eyes and picture what your eyes cannot see; listen to the singing that your ears cannot hear.

What is the cause of the singing and the joy? The Lord has come to bring comfort to us his people. All those things you’ve been thinking about and praying for through our meditations this month, through the liturgy of the Church and through your personal and sometimes silent prayer. Comfort comes to all.

And you who are afflicted (which actually means all of us, for we all suffer from one affliction or another) are to receive the Lord’s give of compassion.

Before we close, let’s take a quick look at the word compassion: its Latin roots mean “suffer with.” Never forget that our God who is full of compassion is a God who looks upon our human state in all its glory and also affliction, and where we suffer, he too suffers with us.  It might be difficult to think of the Lord suffering during these days when we think of babe in the manger, yet, as one commentator has pointed out, the wood of the cradle will one day become the wood of the cross.

But for now, let us put that aside and rejoice, give thanks, give expression to our yearning, and, most importantly, remember that not just you but everyone around you is precious in God’s eyes, and honored, and loved. Show that to one another.

God bless you.

Speak tenderly to yourself

Every Advent I like to spend some prayerful time reading and re-reading a section of the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapters 46-55, which are often referred to as  “The Book of Consolation.”  If you haven’t discovered this beautiful section of the Bible, perhaps this Advent you can explore its riches.

Isaiah 40:1-2  immediately sets the tone: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to [Jerusalem] and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Once again, I encourage you to make the scriptural passages more personal and direct by changing the words in brackets to your own name.

Just a few things to notice from these opening verses:

·         The prophet is to speak tenderly. This is particularly important because so often we speak to ourselves in ways that are not tender, don’t we? Perhaps today you can spend some time speaking tenderly to yourself, and then as a result, perhaps you can find ways to speak tenderly to those around you.

·         “[her] warfare is ended.” Your warfare is ended. Where and how are you at war? With yourself? with others? The voice which speaks tenderly puts an end to the wars we wage.

·         “[her] iniquity is pardoned. Certainly, for serious matters we need to have recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but there are so many other matters in our life that God pardons almost before we even ask.

·         “that [she] has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” Historically, this addresses the exile of Israel which they were enduring at the time the passage was written. If we personalize it, however, we might think of the consequences of our sins of both omission and commission. When we sin, we are the ones who get hurt in one way or another, either immediately or in the long term. The passage might be saying to us, “OK. Enough of that.” Let the tender voice of the Lord reach through our darkness and bring light and healing where we need it the most.

We’ll continue with our reading of The Book of Consolation next time.

Blessed Advent to you.