Countdown

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Alleluia, Come O God, Most High, O Antiphons, prudence, teach, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, wisdom

Today starts the last week before Christmas and in addition to the shopping frenzy and the excitement of those waiting for the visit of Santa Claus, Christian ritual has its own traditional countdown known as the O Antiphons. On each day both in the gospel acclamation at Mass (the “Alleluia verse”) and at evening prayer (Vespers) there is a call to Christ to “Come!” Each day uses a different symbolic title for Jesus and pleads with God in a different way to bless and save us through the agency of Jesus. These are ancient verses, beautiful and worthy of reflection as we wait. Today we begin.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence!

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Streaming Thoughts

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Alleluia, Christian, daffodils, displacement, faith, Happy Easter, Holy Week, Palm Sunday, refugees, resurrection, Risen Christ, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence

So here I am, back as promised, to wish you a Happy Easter. It’s a little late in the day but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to say that throughout the past week I was creating blog posts in my mind that, unfortunately, only made it a couple of times to print. Now we are in a different season altogether. It’s a sunny 65 degrees (F) here in upstate New York and the daffodils have come bursting to flower – very different from the cloudy, cold touring weather of two days ago. Holy Week is over, for which most people are grateful. It’s hard to think of all that violence and pain, after all. Much nicer to sing “Alleluia!” and rejoice in the Risen Christ.

On Thursday I was struck by two competing images that had a significant effect on my reflection about what was going on in the life of Jesus and friends as it related to the here and now. I was at a park known for its vast expanse of spring flowers – acres and acres of color in different configurations with hundreds – maybe thousands – of people exclaiming about the beauty and creativity of what was before them. Everyone was so uplifted; I thought of the crowds on Palm Sunday as Jesus entered Jerusalem to their shouts of praise. As I was leaving, the throng pouring through the gates made me think of a stream of refugees as I could hear many languages and see a diversity of  faces, all beautiful faces, moving toward an exit – toward home (?).

It would be a stretch to try to draw a direct line from one of those images to the other. I guess my thoughts were all background to the reality that life – although a series of moments – is also a wholeness where wild rejoicing and violence sometimes intertwine and where situations can change abruptly, leaving us to look for solutions which are sometimes very hard to find – or even impossible.

Even as we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, we know that there are hordes of people suffering from violence, being forced from their homelands and refused, in some cases, a safe place of refuge. How are we to reconcile this reality with the core of Christian faith? How can we rise when our brothers and sisters are still held down?

I remember a poem from long ago that began: Easter people everywhere, shining Jesus love…” That seems the only answer to my question right now. I need to be listening for what I can do to alleviate the pain of displacement that is so vast in our world. And while I’m listening, I need to be radiating love to all those who need to know that resurrection is possible – not in a simplistic way (There are no simplistic soluntions in this complex world) but in the only way we can proceed: in hope and love and trust and willingness. And in solidarity – never separating ourselves from those who need us and count on us to transmit our reasons for hope to them.

I wonder what I would have written if I had started on Thursday and been successful at posting then – and on Friday and yesterday. Would today’s words have wiped away the recognitions that appear above? Is it ever that way for us? Can we ever let go of the reality of yesterday in order to let in today? But how do we hold both? Ah, therein lies the rub…and it will take more than today to settle on a response. Maybe that is a task for the Fifty Days of Easter…

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Would You Say?

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Alleluia, captives, Good News, Jesus, love, message, poor, sent by the Lord, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

As I read the gospel acclamation for this morning (the “Alleluia verse”) which said, “The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives” (LK 4:18), a question passed through my mind. If you were the one being sent by the Lord, I heard, what would be your message to the poor and the captives? In the following of Jesus, that is perhaps a great question for us. How do I – how do you – see the “good news” of God? What glad tidings do we have to share with the world, particularly for the benefit of those most in need?

My answer would certainly include the concept of love made concrete, but how would that look? Although it will take more than today to adequately answer that question (probably the rest of my life in actuality…), I can’t imagine putting it off now that it was such a clear message. Small steps may be all there are today, but small is, I trust, enough for God. It’s about keeping the intentional consciousness of the question before my eyes and heart. May God bless the effort!

Music Is Power!

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Alleluia, ancient songs, balm, cosmic dance, global consciousness, music, psalm 149, singing, singing for joy, spiritual power, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

Like many people in this rather dismal month – both meteorologically and politically – I haven’t spent much time “singing for joy,” as the psalms often say. I was reminded of that by Psalm 149 this morning. In fact, each of the last five psalms in the Psalter begins with the word Alleluia! (italicized here to remind us that it is impossible to say or sing that word in a manner grumpy or dull). The line that piqued my attention read (in alternative translation) “Never stop singing, for music is power.” (vs. 6) Reading the attached commentary pushed me even further toward reflection on the power of music to lift the spirits of those who sing. Here’s what I read:

…the spiritual power of music is able to accomplish things that appear impossible to the rational mind. Music has strange effects upon the minds and hearts of human beings…Has beauty ever “cut to the heart” of your own soul? Has music ever “stricken” you so that you simply cannot remain any longer in a particular state of being or consciousness? (Ancient Songs Sung Anew)

I grew up with music and singing in my home and my church. It is an integral part of all rituals, be they weddings, funerals or holiday events. When I’m driving, if I choose to break the silence that more and more becomes important when I am alone, my choice of CD is not random; I always opt for what will be of greatest benefit to my spirit. And it isn’t just for me. I remember the effect of the “We Are the World” concert many years ago that was so powerful to so many and brought us back to global consciousness whenever we heard the theme of the event and were motivated to join the “cosmic dance,” as Thomas Merton urges us.

So today I will urge myself and everyone to “sing praise to God with timbrel and harp” so as to remember that music can be a great balm to the soul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alleluia in the Ordinary

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Alleluia, calm fears, Christ, Easter, insights, normal, path of rejoicing, psalm 118, rainy days, reiterate message, resolve, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

After all the trumpets and Alleluia! of the past 24 hours most people are re-setting their inner scheduling devices that will bring their minds back to “normal.” It’s rather ironic that today is gloomy, dark  and rainy – and in our part of the world really cold. Nevertheless, the verse before the gospel for today proclaims (with gusto, I imagine): This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it! (Psalm 118:24) I take that as a reminder that staying with a “mountaintop experience” where we have come to deep insights or great resolve about bettering our spiritual lives, i.e. putting the Easter message into practice, is unrealistic. Rather what I need to remember is that rainy days are days that the Lord has made and we need them as well as the sunny ones to keep us awake.

The seasonal cycle in Church life is instructive as well. We have 50 days of the Easter season to delve the post-resurrection narratives where wonderful stories of Christ deepen the reality of how we are to live. Jesus has passed the torch to his disciples but stays around during their first days in the new reality to calm their fears, to reiterate his message of love and unity and to grow their confidence in their ability to follow no matter the consequences. So my plan is to take a deep breath, repeat the psalmist’s message to myself and grab my raincoat for my continued walk on the path of rejoicing.

 

 

 

 

 

Pentecost!

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access lives of holy people, Acts of the Apostle, Alleluia, Pentecost, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the great feast of Pentecost which many Christian churches consider the “birthday of the Church.” There are more reading choices than on almost any day in our lectionary – including the selection from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, that talks about it as the day when all the different groups who spoke different languages heard the apostles speaking in their own and understood (often a challenge of pronunciation for the lector!). One can really catch the importance of the day by reading all of the texts for the vigil and for today – 16 in all, counting the “ALLELUIA!” verses. For me, the most poignant of all that shone out from the collection is the plea of the gospel acclamation that I have known since childhood that calls out, Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love!

May it be so! Alleluia!

Alleluia!

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Alleluia, Easter, Jesus, John, Peace, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today, as often in the Easter season, there is an alternate refrain for the psalm response to the readings in the lectionary. It is simply the word Alleluia! (sometimes seen as Halleluiah as in the Hebrew Scriptures). As I read, I was conscious of the repetition of this familiar word every few lines and of the casual way that I sometimes say it – as well as the fact that it has become part of the lexicon of our times to express relief at a good result of some effort or the end of a task or a successful search for a lost item. I got to wondering how often in those cases there is any consciousness of the etymology of the word as an imperative to praise God or simply the action of doing so.

That same wondering stayed with me as I heard the words of Jesus in John’s gospel (14:27-31): Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid… We use the word peace a lot these days. I myself am fond of it as a ‘sign-off” for some e-mails. In the same sense as the call to praise the Lord, I see the use of the word peace as a reminder to work toward a state of peace as well as the hope of finding it in our hearts. Jesus was clear that what he was talking about was not an easy peace; the world is not a peaceful place. If we can come to a place of peace in our hearts, however, we will be more likely to effect a sense of peace in our small corner of the world and thereby add to the peace of the whole. Perhaps a way to begin would be to wake up each morning with an Alleluia! (Halleluiah! if you prefer) on our lips as a reminder to be thankful for blessings received and all that is good in life. Tape the word on a wall or mirror if necessary until it becomes habit. Whatever it takes…

God’s peace be with you!

Christmas Blessings

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Alleluia, blessings, Christ Child, Christmas, harmony, justice, light, love, Peace, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

From all that has been read and will be said in churches everywhere as people come to celebrate the coming of the Christ child into the world, I choose to focus this morning on the Alleluia verse for the Mass during the day of Christmas.

A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations, and adore the Lord. For today a great light has come upon the earth! Alleluia!

May this light be evident in our living, not only today but as we go forward into a new year. May this light be the light of peace and harmony, restoring a broken world and showing us how to better treat one another and ourselves in love and justice.

Blessings of Christmas to all!

O Root of Jesse’s Stem…Come!

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Alleluia, antiphon, God's love, Isaiah, Jesse, King David, Magnificat, Messiah, miracle, prophecy, roots, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

By Sr. Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ

Today’s “Alleluia” verse, which also appears in evening prayer as the antiphon to the Magnificat (Mary’s Song) says O Root of Jesse’s Stem, sign of God’s love for all his people, come to save us without delay! 

This is a reference to the verses in the prophet Isaiah which promise (IS 11: 1,10) that the Messiah Israel waited for would be a descendent of Jesse, father of the great King David. This was the lineage of Jesus. When a tree dies and is cut back, there sometimes remains a root that eventually puts out a tender branch. Although it seemed that the ancestral line of King David had disappeared, the prophecy was seen to be fulfilled in a very unexpected way.

For me, this lesson is often manifested in plants which seemingly have fulfilled their lifespan but in the spring put forth a new shoot, an unexpected miracle that reminds me of the creative power of life and the love of God.