O Oriens, O Morning Star

~~~ Song of Songs 2:8-14 ~~~ Psalm 33 ~~~ 

~~~ Luke 1:39-45 ~~~

My lover speaks; he says to me,

“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one,

and come!

The beauty of being in love is the brightness of the your life.

Nothing is dull or ordinary, everything is more than it was before.

Love makes all things new.

The morning star breaks the darkness.

The morning star brings joy ever closer

 to all who would open their eyes.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

 those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

on them light has shined." Isaiah 9:2

The Morning Star brought great joy to Mary and Elizabeth.

They each carried within the wonder of new life.

The joy these two women carried within

exuded from every pore of the body.

I can just picture them singing and dancing together.

Our soul waits for the LORD...

For in him our hearts rejoice;

in his holy name we trust. 

What causes you to want to sing and dance?

What brings bright light into your heart?

It does not matter if you are young or old

something does bring you joy.

Make it a habit to record what brings joy into your heart.

Later this can serve as a reminder that you are Blessed.

The Morning Star rises first bringing light to the night sky...
eventually it out shines all of the other heavenly bodies.

Jesus, the Morning Star, possesses the
greatest of all brilliance.

Pray for God to shine forth his bright light on the darkness...
the darkness in our heart....
the darkness in our families...
the darkness in our communities...
the darkness in our country...
the darkness in our world. 

Come, O Morning Star,
shine your bright light into our darkest spaces.

Blessing of Joy
and Brightness from the Morning Star.

~~~Peace~~~
JOY
to the World!

Sing a New Song

~~~ Revelation 15:1-4 ~~~ Psalm 98 ~~~ Luke 21:12-19 ~~~

"...You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

Because of perseverance we too will be with the Lamb.
Because we persevere we will learn the new song of the Lamb
that was previously only known by the chosen few.

We will join the others standing on the sea of glass.
We will be given our very own harps to play.

We will join in the God's song playing God's harps.

"Great and wonderful are your works,
Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O king of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
or glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."

 

 

We are in the middle of the final week of ordinary time.

Advent is about to begin.

The birth of Jesus is heralded by people of all nations.

The three wise men, representing all peoples, will come to pay him homage.

A child will be born unto us...our infant who is our King.

 

The words of the song will ring out across the heavens...

Great and wonderful are your works

Lord God Almighty...

For you alone are holy.

 

Every time we join with the community and sing the Holy Holy

during Mass we are also joining with the heavenly chorus.

 

Our voices lift up to heaven giving him glory and praise.

We are rehearsing here on earth, as best we can, for the day

when we will be singing his praises for ever.

 

This Sunday sing even if you think you cannot sing.

God does not judge the quality of your voice,

but only whether or not you desire to sing his song of praise.

It is said that singing is twice praying...now you know why.

 

Sing to the Lord a new song!

In the Sight of Angels

The Feast of the Archangels:

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

 

~~~ Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 or Rev 12:7-12ab ~~~ Psalm 138 ~~~ John 1: 47-51 ~~~

 

Archangels are the highest level of angels.

Angels are 'messengers' derived from the Greek word 'aggelos'.

 

Certainly we are very familiar with the archangel Gabriel,

whom God sent to Mary in the Annunciation.

God also used an angel to assure St. Joseph that he should remain

with Mary in spite of her being with child.

 

Some report Angels to be mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament

and 165 in the New Testament.

As spirits, angels have no bodies so they can be present

and yet not seen by us.

 

I once heard a priest say that at each celebration of the Liturgy

angels surround the altar.

This to me is beautiful image when I think about even

the heavenly spirits praising God.

 

Archangels are so much more than the little cherubs we see on Valentine's day.

 

One day when I was teaching a little boy asked me if I believed in angels.

I told him yes. He then explained to me how he had seen an angel

while riding in the car one day. It was such a tender conversation.

He was speaking to me so innocently about his experience.

I think he was looking for someone whom he could safely confide in...

someone who would not make fun of him...

someone who also believed in angels.

 

I think we want to believe in angels.

I think for the most part angels maybe a real connection

between us and heaven.

I recently began visualizing my guardian angel

enveloping whatever vehicle I am riding in.

I happen to have a great fondness for Gabriel.

I feel safe having his wings enfolding the car or now the bus.

 

To me angels represent goodness. They were created by God.

They sing Holy, Holy, Holy forever praising God.

They are the heavenly hosts.

God entrusts his most precious messages for us

to his angels.

 

 

When Jesus saw Nathaniel 'under the fig tree' he made reference to angels.

 

"...You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

 

Can you imagine what a sight this will be...

angels everywhere as far as the eye can see singing and praising God.

 

I wonder what angel voices will sound like when we do get to hear them.

 

I believe there are more than enough angels for us to each have our own.

I am beginning to be more aware of my angel...conscious of its presence.

 

If you have not given much thought to your angel

today is a good day to begin.

Lift up Your Voices

Sirach 47:2-11

Today in the first reading from Sirach we read the synopsis of David's victories. I would like to focus on these verses..."With his whole being he loved his Maker and daily had his praises sung; He set singers before the altar and by their voices he made sweet melodies. He added beauty to the feasts and solemnized the seasons."

We have David's love of music to thank for the liturgical music we enjoy today. We have David to thank for placing importance on singing as a vital part of our liturgical celebrations. David set an example for us of beautiful uplifting choral music. David saw that lifting our voices to praise God added beauty to our prayer experience.

The word meaning 'to sing' was one of the most commonly used words in the Bible. It occurs 309 times in the Old Testament and thirty-six times in the New Testament. Simply using words for prayer did not seem sufficient enough. Singing seems to mean more. Just think about your birthday...it is nice for your friends and family to wish you happy birthday, but when they sing the greeting to you it is more exciting.

We find the first mention of singing in the Bible after the crossing of the Red Sea. Israel has now been definitively delivered from slavery. This joyous occasion caused them to break into song. They believed in their salvation and in Moses. "Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord" (Exodus15:1).

St. Augustine says, "Singing is a lover's thing." The Holy Spirit is love, and it is he who produces the singing. He is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit who draws us into love for Christ and so leads to the Father. (The Spirit of the Liturgy, p 142 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger)

David was so filled with love that he was also filled with song. God had truly done great things for him. He knew from first hand experience that God's name was holy. Today our liturgical music draws from these same words of scripture written and sung by David so many years ago.

The love David felt for God providential care burst forth from him in song; just as it should burst forth from our souls during Mass. We are raising our voices together through the love we have for Jesus and the Eucharist.

St. Augustine has also been credited with the phrase, "He who sings prays twice."

Song is a natural part of who we are as creatures of God. Throughout the world we find in every culture similarities in the songs mothers sing to their young children. Lullabies it seems comes from the heart filled with love; so overflowing that it is released in sweet melodies.

So every time you have the opportuntiy to lift your voices to give praise to the Lord I hope you will participate. As you sing you join in expressing your heart felt love for the Lord.

Singing together in community is praying together.

I chose this orginal image of an icon of Mary we use for our Taize services.

How beautiful Mary's singing to her child Jesus must have been.

This kaleidoscope image captures the beauty of how our singing voices lift in prayer.

Join us for Taize next month.