Please find my hOlybytes at dasis.medium.com

Hello friends! 

It is a new season and time for a refresh. Each week I will publish a reflection on my journey in relation to the scriptures for the upcoming Sunday. And occasionally, even a drone may sneak into the picture!

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Grace, Grit and Gratitude,

Debra

Psalm for Sunday 15 January 2023

 

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Psalm 40:1-12

 I waited patiently upon the Lord; *
he stooped to me and heard my cry.

 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; * he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.

 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God; *
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the Lord.

 Happy are they who trust in the Lord! *
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.

 Great things are they that you have done, O Lord my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us! *
there is none who can be compared with you.

 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! *
but they are more than I can count.

 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure *
(you have given me ears to hear you);

 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required, *
and so I said, "Behold, I come.

 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me: *
'I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in my heart."'

I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation; *
behold, I did not restrain my lips;
and that, O Lord, you know.

Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; *
I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.

You are the Lord;
do not withhold your compassion from me; *
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever.

Reflection   Why should I attend Church?: Ruminations of a recently retired priest.

Last night I dipped my toe in a stream of holy water while attending Evening Prayer at Church of the Holy Faith. With one hand wielding his oxygen backpack Mark shuffled his way through the lighting of candles, took his place as officiant and asked me, the only other person present, “Are you familiar with Evening Prayer?” Nodding yes I asked, “Rite I or II?” Raising a solitary finger Mark began the service for two, “From the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same…” 

A moment’s respite in the ancient words quickly gave way to raucous as my heart summoned my roiling head to rest rather than wrestle with the arcane sexist language. From the law written “deep in my heart” I heard, “Be still and know that I am God,  born in the light of this well wrought poetry. Let the letters be ladders rather than stumbling blocks.“ Recalling a year with the great congregation from which only weeks ago I retired I heard myself “speak of your faithfulness,” promoting the practice of “putting our heads in our hearts.” Perhaps I should listen to my own counsel? Sighing I settled on the blue kneeler cushion.  I am almost embarrassed to confess, I felt welcomed home. 

“I waited patiently upon the Lord; he stooped to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;  he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure. He put a new song in my mouth…” 

Like sweet honey slathered on a stone, the responsive reading of the psalms, the mingling of two voices saying the Magnificat and St. Simeon’s song silenced my head, sweetened my heart and set me to “depart in peace.”

Which stands me square in the wake of the question, “Why should I attend Church?” Excusing my hesitating head my heart sings, “Because Church is a holy “other” place. Unlike secular spaces construed to confirm my power, pleasure or position, Church puts me in my proper posture, a nameless creature among numberless others, knees bent before the Mystery, wrought by the work of the people (liturgia), that cannot be captured in words.”

The fact of the matter is this. It is I who is captured by words! “God he. God the Father. Thou. Thy. Mankind.” Rite I language. Why do I balk?  Must the words be stumbling blocks? Rather than meeting each word as a rung on a soaring ladder, aping my ancestors my toes curl and cling to the fettle thing. Admitting I am mired in the clay of the desolate pit I cry, “O God, where can I go from here?”

Thanks be to the Psalmist’s song. “ I waited patiently upon the Lord; he stooped to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;  he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure. He put a new song in my mouth …” 

Today I cease my search for a Church that looks, feels and speaks like me.  Today I stop my futile attempts to feed my heart with reason when it craves mystery. The One, Holy and Living Mystery put a new song in my mouth and this is what I sing.

“I love to do your will, O my God; your law is deep in my heart. I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation at Church of the Apostles. I did not restrain my lips… I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance. I have not concealed your love from the people. Now it is time for me to find my proper place in the heart of a different great congregation and wait patiently to hear my new song.

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Gospel text for Sunday 8 January 2023

Matthew 3:13-17        Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Many people who come after Jesus, most notably the writers of the Christian gospels and other religious officials, spill buckets of ink insisting we believe certain things about Jesus. But John the Baptizer ‘came before’ Jesus pointing the way of repentance. And Jesus comes before us, embodying the way of living in right relationship with God, all people and creation. 

The question true Christians face is not, “What do we believe?” It is, “How are we living?”The clue to answer this question is hidden in plain hearing, in Jesus’ response to John’s hesitation to baptize him. And Jesus says, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” We are meant to live in fulfillment of all righteousness.

What does righteousness look like? Let’s begin with what it is not. Righteousness is not an abstract moral code nor a mark of religious piety. Righteousness is not about belief. Righteousness is right living.  It is an attribute of God and as beings created in the image of God, righteousness must also be an attribute of each one of us. Righteousness means living in right relationship with God, all people and creation. As righteous people we are faithful, truthful, humble, and make choices for the good of all people (even at our own expense). 

It is important to understand that the writer of Matthews gospel is interested in Jesus’ identity. This is evidenced in the baptismal narrative when a voice from heaven addresses the crowds, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” But Jesus has a different agenda and I would argue it is Jesus to whom we must listen. Jesus’ life and ministry is nothing if not a gleaming example of how to live in right relationship with God and all people. This is righteousness. 

Which brings us to Jesus’ other weighty word,  ‘fulfillment.’ To fulfill is to make real and carry out. It  presumes there has been an order or instruction that is to be performed and perfected. When Jesus says, “for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness,” we understand the instruction to be performed and perfected is righteousness, living in right relationship with God and with all people. 

The radical twentieth century social activist Dorothy Day who founded the Catholic Worker Movement writes, “All are called to be saints but all are not called to be extraordinary.” Day continues, “God expects something from each one of us that no one else can do. If we don’t do it it will not be done.” *  Each one of us is uniquely gifted to do what only we can do  by living in righteous relationship with God and all people.

Earlier in Matthew’s text we hear John the Baptist excoriating the outwardly religious folk, “You brood of vipers! … Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” (Matt 2.7-8) John’s message is clear. It is not enough to step into the river and be baptized. It is not enough to go to church on Sunday and resume life as usual on Monday. Our actions must make real the mark and mission of our baptism, otherwise the ritual is empty as a fist full of air. 

Empty rituals can not fulfill a life of righteousness. Kings’ Cake at Epiphany parties, exotic vacations even lavish liturgies and baptismal rites may be titillating but they do not fulfill a life of righteousness. We are meant to use our lives to embody and express God’s promise of dignity and love for all people. 

So, how will you answer the call to be an ordinary saint today? How will you do the one thing that no one else can do to fulfill your life of righteousness?

• Shawn Madigan, CSJ, ed., Mystics, Visionaries & Prophets: A historical Anthology of Women’s Spiritual Writings (Minneapolis, Fortress Press) p332.

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