Thursday, May 30, 2013

Visitation: The Intentional Encounter in Faith



The story of the Visitation between Mary and her relative Elizabeth in the Gospel according to Luke is a moment of beauty and of mystery. It is, at heart, the story of an encounter…but what a complex encounter: between a very young mother-to-be and a very old mother-to-be, between the herald of the Word Incarnate and the One he heralds, between the mystery of birth and the mystery of death and resurrection, between the Old and the New in every way.

This encounter points to the potentiality of holiness in all our encounters. The Feast of the Visitation recalls this dimension of our identity to consciousness. What gets lost so often is our intentionality: we forget that we have been given the Holy Spirit in baptism, and that this Spirit reaches out to others—other members of Christ’s Body, and to the Image of God found buried in those who are not yet members of that Mystical Body. It is this intentionality we celebrate today, the intention, the faithfulness that allows both Mary and Elizabeth to transcend their own partial understanding of the sacredness of their encounter. Elizabeth honors Mary as Blessed, and Mary praises God in the words of the Magnificat.

In St. Ambrose’s commentary on Luke, we find these words about the Visitation, and about the power of God working through humans to give glory to God even as we are exalted in him:
Let Mary’s soul be in each of you to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let her spirit be in each to rejoice in the Lord. Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we all bring forth Christ in faith. Every soul receives the Word of God if only it keeps chaste, remaining pure and free from sin, its modesty undefiled. The soul that succeeds in this proclaims the greatness of the Lord, just as Mary’s soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior. In another place we read: Magnify the Lord with me. The Lord is magnified, not because the human voice can add anything to God but because he is magnified within us. Christ is the image of God, and if the soul does what is right and holy, it magnifies that image of God, in whose likeness it was created and, in magnifying the image of God, the soul has a share in its greatness and is exalted.
Amen!

Collect of the Visitation
Father in heaven, by your grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

A Week in Prayer



Over the centuries a tradition developed in the Church of attaching specific days to important aspects of the Christian faith. The following prayers, taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, provide a miniature “tour” of a number of the themes and figures associated with this ancient custom. Use them at some point in the day—either as part of your regular prayers, or independently. They may serve as a good place for further prayer or reflection.

This custom of offering a daily “memorial” is simply one more way that Classical Anglicanism offers for living the Liturgy, and for deepening our own appropriation of the Biblical and Creedal faith, “once delivered to the saints.”

Sunday:

The Resurrection
Almighty God, who through your only‑begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life‑giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.


Monday:

The Holy Trinity
Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace to continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


Tuesday:

The Holy Angels
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.


Wednesday:

The Holy Apostles
Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Or

St. Joseph
O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Thursday:

The Holy Spirit
Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Or

The Holy Eucharist
God our Father, whose Son our Lord Jesus Christ in a wonderful Sacrament has left us a memorial of his passion: Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of his Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of his redemption; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.


Friday:

The Holy Cross
Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony and shame of the cross for our redemption: Give us courage to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.


Saturday:

The Blessed Virgin Mary
Father in heaven, by your grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Or

For All Baptized Christians
Grant, Lord God, to all who have been baptized into the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, that, as we have put away the old life of sin, so we may be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and live in righteousness and true holiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Trinity Sunday: Do we share the gift of Life in God or hoard it to ourselves?



Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you." (John 16:12-15)

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The beauty and glory of Trinity Sunday is, for me, overwhelming. God, who is beyond all human comprehension, has chosen to disclose to us—fragile creatures—something of the very Divine Nature in sharing with us the Mystery of the Holy Trinity. This Sunday is, above all, a celebration of this gift, and of our call to participate in and share that life, that glory (Romans 5:2).

The Gospel today recalls Jesus’ words to his disciples as he was preparing to go to the Cross, there to glorify the Father through his self-offering “for the life of the world.” In these precious, waning moments, he leaves them—for the third time on this night—with the promise that the Spirit of Truth would come to dwell with them. By this Spirit, the Church would be free to live the Gospel and to share the Risen Life of Christ through all the ages, down to this very moment in this very church, for this very community.

The Holy Spirit has called us together this day. We cooperated, of course—but the Spirit initiated. The Holy Spirit opens our mouths and minds in prayer, adoration, and learning. The Holy Spirit, whom we invoke at the beginning of the Liturgy with the prayer “Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name,” constantly brings us to Christ, never pulling us away from Him.

That Holy Spirit, which might be said to share with us the gaze between Christ and the Father, transforms this morning from mere “moments of time” to direct participation in the Kingdom of God itself, the first-fruits of what Christ promised to us when he said: “The Kingdom has come near you.”

When we were baptized, the Holy Spirit came very near; indeed,  he made a home in us, allowing us to acquire “the mind of Christ,” to think in accordance with him, and so to live in communion with the Father. It is a continuous experience of giving and receiving, loving and serving. The Trinity is shown in this way to be dynamic, full of the action of love and service, not static and reserved.

This and every Eucharist is a participation in the fullness of life by receiving nourishment in the very Body and Blood of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, we reclaim the loving gaze of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—so powerfully evoked in Rublev’s famous Old Testament Trinity icon. Here, too, there is a dynamic giving and receiving—and not only of ideas or words, but of flesh, food, faith. It is a meal of participation in the Life of God so that we can radiate that Life to others.

And this brings me to my point about the dynamism of the Trinity. Our God has chosen to disclose something of himself, his own inner life, to us: are we going to disclose that life to others? Are we going to open the doors of our hearts to this knowledge so deeply that we allow it to pass through us to others? It is so tempting to heap up treasures for ourselves (James 5:3) rather than as gifts to share with those who need them. Doing this is a hypocritical betrayal. If God is generous with us, how can we afford not to be generous with others?

How often do we use the eyes of faith when we encounter people in times of trouble, anxiety, loss—or when the gods they have worshipped are revealed to be powerless? Do we then offer them only worldly cures, when what they need is a spiritual renewal, access to life in God? Do we open up the treasure-store of our own experience of God, gently applying the medicine of compassion and service while speaking in the power of the Spirit? Or, do we think of mystical life of the Trinity as another consumer product, “one among many,” which may not be a flavor appealing to others?

Why do we, who receive water from the river of life so freely from God, build a dam behind which we can sail our boat placidly? If we do this, we confess we never really understood the gift, the love we have received from the hand of Christ himself.

We in the Church must cease this club mentality. We must be eager to find ways to serve the physical and spiritual needs of others in unison—not pitting them against each other. We must desire above all else to communicate the life of the Trinity, wherein all people may be “guided into all the truth,” both eternally in heaven, and in the many trials of this present life.

The Trinity we celebrate, we honor, we glorify today in this Eucharist and in the Solemn Te Deum we sing at its conclusion, is not a beautiful artifact we take down each year and dust before putting it back on the liturgical shelf. It is the central fact of our existance, a call, a gift. Like a live coal, the Trinity burns the hearts of all who share in it, urging us ceaselessly to communicate the love of God for us and through us—to the ends of our lives, our world, and the ages.

Amen.

Friday, May 24, 2013

A Litany of the Holy Spirit for Embertide



This litany, taken from the Cuddesdon Office Book, is one of the main tools I use each Embertide. While it was written for clergy (or those about to be ordained), much of it is easily adaptable to lay members of the Church.

In spite of its being written in older style English (or, perhaps, because of it being so), I think this litany works as a sort of prolonged meditation on the ways in which we know, honor, and receive guidance from the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. I encourage you to pray it slowly, taking time between petitions. You might wish to take some time in silence afterwards, either simply to stand before God, or to journal your own response to what is revealed through this prayer.


A Litany of the Holy Spirit
(Especially for use at the Embertides)

Lord, have mercy upon us.
            Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

O God the Father, of heaven;
            Have mercy upon us.
O God the Son, Redeemer of the world;
            Have mercy upon us.
O God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter;
            Have mercy upon us.
O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three Persons and one God;
            Have mercy upon us.

O Holy Spirit, who at the beginning didst move upon the face of the waters;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration holy men of old spake as they were moved;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, power of the highest, that didst overshadow Mary;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, through whom the holy Child Jesus waxed strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, who didst descent like a dove, and lighten upon Christ our Lord, at his baptism;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, of whom Jesus was led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, eternal Spirit, through whom Christ our Priest and Victim offered himself without spot to God;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, who on the day of Pentecost didst descend upon the Apostles in the likeness of fiery tongues;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, by whom we have been brought out of darkness and error into the clear light and true knowledge of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, by whom the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, by whom we were new-born in Baptism;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, who didst strengthen us with they sevenfold gift at Confirmation;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, who makest intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered;
            Have mercy upon us.
O Holy Spirit, by whom the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts;
            Have mercy upon us.
By thy eternal procession from the Father and the Son;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
By thy glorious work in the mystery of the Incarnation;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
By thy lighting as a dove upon Jesus at his baptism;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
By thy descent in likeness of fire on the day of Pentecost;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
By thy life-giving power and might;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
By thine all-powerful intercession;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
By thy continual abiding in the Church;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From all sin;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From presumption and despair;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From impenitence and hardness of heart;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From impurity, whether of mind or body, and from all that has ever defiled thy temple within us;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From the spirit of thoughtlessness and levity;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From the spirit of covetousness and self-seeking;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From the lust of honor and pride of life;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From deafness to they call and warnings;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From neglect of thy graces and inspirations;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
From that sin against thee which has no forgiveness;
            Deliver us, O Holy Spirit.
 [In our preparation for the work of the ministry;
            Help us, O Holy Spirit.
In the solemn hour of Ordination;
            Help us, O Holy Spirit.]
In our dealings with souls committed to our charge;
            Help us, O Holy Spirit.
In success and in failure;
            Help us, O Holy Spirit.
In the solemn account that we must one day give;
            Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.
We sinners do beseech thee to hear us, O Holy Spirit, that it may please thee to guide thy holy Church universal into all truth, and to fill it with thy love;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That, as we live in the Spirit, we may also walk in the Spirit;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may mortify the deeds of the body;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That with sincerity of purpose we may aim in all things at God’s greater glory;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That, in all our thoughts, words, and words, we may be confirmed more and more to the life and passion of the Lord Jesus;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may be gentle, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may ever reverently handle and devoutly receive the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may be enabled to shew forth thy light in the world, and be holy examples to the flock of Christ;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may be filled with thy sevenfold gift; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness, and the spirit of thy most holy fear;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That in our ministry we may not care to please, nor fear to displease, any but him who has called us to his service;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may count not our lives dear unto us, so that we may finish our course with joy, and the ministry received of the Lord Jesus;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may ever be mindful of that solemn account, which, for ourselves and others, we must one day give at the judgment-seat of Christ;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
That we may have grace to persevere unto the end;
            Hear us, O Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit;
            We beseech thee to hear us.
Lord, and Giver of life;
            We beseech thee to hear us.
Thou who didst descend at Pentecost;
            Have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.
            Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Our Father, &c.
V. The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost;
R. He shall teach you all things.

Let us pray.
God, who didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people by the sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savor, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of thy faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before thee for all members of thy holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and godly serve thee; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen

[And these prayers may be added or used as alternatives.

Let us pray for those who are to be ordered Priests.

O God, great in power, unsearchable in understanding, wondrous in counsels toward the children of men; Fill, we beseech thee, with the gift of thy Holy Spirit those who at this time humbly desire thy holy office of the Priesthood; that thy may be worthy to stand before thy holy altar unblameably, to announce the word of thy truth, to offer gifts and spiritual sacrifices unto thee, and to renew thy people in the laver of regeneration; that at the second coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, thin only-begotten Son, thy may go forth to meet him, and by thy multitude of thy mercies receive their reward: through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray for those who are to be ordered Deacons.

O Lord, our God, who by thin own presence dost shed the abundance of thy Holy Spirit on those who are set apart by thine inscrutable power, to become ministers and to serve thy spotless Mysteries; Keep thy servants who humbly desire the holy office of Deacon, that they may hold the mystery of the faith in pure conscience, with all virtue; enable them to discharge according to thy good pleasure the office assign to them by thy mercy; and fill them with thy holy and life-giving Spirit, with all faith and love, all power and sanctification. For thou art our God, and to thee we render glory, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

We pray and beseech thee, O Lord, in thy love and goodness: Send out from the height of thy holy dwelling-place, on all these thy servants for whom we have now made supplication unto thee, the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, the Holy, the Lord, the Giver of life, who spake in law and prophets and apostles, who is everywhere present and filleth all things, and worketh by his sovereign choice in whom he will, sanctifying them after thy good pleasure; that thy great and holy name may be glorified through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.]

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.