Season of the Soul: Lent 2

Lenten Theme:
What is a fool for Christ
Fool Prayer
by Beth McLean
inspired by the Ash Wednesday Liturgy
from A Prayer Book fro Australia.

Lord, make me a 'fool' for you.

Lord, as I set out into this Lent season,

help me to let go of the things that weigh me down.

Let me believe in the love you have for me.

A love deeper than I can imagine.

Transform me

Readings

Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18

Psalm 27

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Luke 13:31-35

Psalm 27
A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked came against me

To eat up my flesh,

My enemies and foes,

They stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army may encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war may rise against me,

In this I will be confident.

4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,

That will I seek:

That I may dwell in the house of the LORD

All the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD,

And to inquire in His temple.

5 For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

6 And now my head shall be lifted up

above my enemies all around me;

Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice!

Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.

8 When You said, “Seek My face,”

My heart said to You,

“Your face, LORD, I will seek.”

9 Do not hide Your face from me;

Do not turn Your servant away in anger;

You have been my help;

Do not leave me nor forsake me,

O God of my salvation.

10 When my father and my mother forsake me,

Then the LORD will take care of me.

11 Teach me Your way, O LORD,

And lead me in a smooth path,

because of my enemies.

12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;

For false witnesses have risen against me,

And such as breathe out violence

13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

That I would see the goodness of the LORD

In the land of the living.

14 Wait on the LORD;

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart;

Wait, I say, on the LORD!

The following commentary is from a Jewish perspective and relates to the recitation of the Psalm 27 at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Why is this psalm an important part of the spiritual preparation for the High Holidays?
By Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal
Why was Psalm 27 added to the liturgy preparing us for the High Holidays?

What follows is a modern interpretation of how this psalm evokes the many nuances of our relationship with God,

all of which come to the fore during the High Holidays.

Elul is the month of preparation and shofar blowing. The name of the month has been understood to be an acronym for the Hebrew verse "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine." During Elul we read Psalm 27, "To David - the Lord is my light," twice daily. This practice is relatively new, evidently some 200 years old. But it is a wise practice, even essential.

The first half of the psalm bespeaks assurance. The psalmist, while describing the enemy from a distance (from whom will I be afraid), approaching (as evil men come near), preparing (should an army besiege me), and attacking (should war come against me), nevertheless is calm, above all danger, sacrificing and thanking the Lord. The opening structure reflects both the growing threat and its total disappearance. The first three verses increase numerically: two parallel phrases of five words each, then six, then seven (that number hinting at completion). There follows the central word of the psalm, One. Facing all these threats, the psalmist feels the peace of unity, and throughout this first half the reader senses no doubt, no real threat.

How strange it is that the second half of the psalm depicts a world so totally opposite. (Many scholars even conclude that these are separate psalms!) Here we find a desperate search, a constant request, a pleading before the Holy One ("do not hide Your face ... do not thrust [me] aside ... do not forsake me, do not abandon me"). The author is abandoned by parents and surrounded by enemies. At the apex of this section, the psalmist cries out in agony, with a sentence he cannot finish, for it depicts the worst of all: Had I not the assurance that I would enjoy the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living .... His faith is his sole remaining thread connecting him to the land of the living. If he did not have this faith, then ...

But the two psalms are indeed one. Hebrew roots carefully repeated in the two halves testify to unity, as does the clear inclusion: the name of God opens and closes the first half (The Lord is my light ... a hymn to the Lord) and the second (Hear O Lord ... look to the Lord).

Throughout the second half, the reader hears the echo of the central term: One. The psalmist cries out, demands, asks and pleads that his two worlds are one. I, the sufferer, depressed to the ultimate limits, am that same I who trusts, who is safe, who sits in the presence of the Lord.

For us, this is ideal preparation. Before we can approach repentance or the joy of the Holiday, we must honestly confront again our own faith and belief. Ever since our father Abraham, we have anticipated the rewards of God's protection, but too often we have seen our trials and tribulations as challenges to our faith. The psalmist testifies once again that love of the Holy One is achieved, not by closing one's eyes, but, even as with less significant loves, through effort, honesty, and open confrontation.

The psalm demands oneness, reflecting an integration of most difficult circumstances together with security. The psalmist is model, puzzle, and challenge to us, for he did not hide from life's troubles on one hand, and yet lives within a framework of faith on the other. Reciting this psalm demands that twice a day we struggle with ourselves and our faith, in expectation that we will arrive at the Days of Awe ready for repentance, ready to celebrate on the holiday with a full heart before the Lord.

In Elul, we renew our faith through search, as is also reflected in the modern midrash on this psalm, "One have I demanded of the Lord, that I shall seek: I seek only that forever I will demand the one, demand the oneness, demand the unity, from the Lord."

Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal is president of

Melitz, the Center for Zionist Jewish Education, Jerusalem.

To-day's O Antiphon - Saturday

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver,

the Expected of the nations and their Savior.

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

*************

O Lord Jesu Christ,

Who wast foretold as the king

in whom God would manifest his presence,

Who should reign in righteousness,

bringing peace and happiness to all peoples;

Thou art Thyself indeed Emmanuel,

the very Son and Word of God made man:

Come, we pray Thee, by Thy grace, and reign over us,

so saving us from our spiritual enemies

and from the hand of all that hate us,

that we may serve Thee without fear

in holiness and righteousness

all the days of our life.

The Advent AntiphonsWith Scripture references and paraphrases.

By A.C.A. Hall, Bishop of Vermont.Milwaukee:

The Young Churchman; London: A.R. Mowbray & Co., n.d. but c. 1914

To-day's O Antiphon - Wednesday

O Key of David and Sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no man closes;

you close and no man opens.

Come, and deliver from the chains of prison

those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

++++++++++++++++

O Lord Jesu Christ,

to Whom is given the throne and sceptre of David Thy father over the house of Israel,

that Thou mighest extend his kingdom over all peoples:

Thou didst come in our nature,

as the Son of man forgiving sins,

dispelling sickness and loosing bonds:

to Thee now is committed all authority in heaven and on earth,

and the powers of hell cannot withstand Thy word:

Come, we pray Thee, by Thy grace, and through the instrumentality of Thy Church,

to loosen the prisoner from the chains of sin,

to enlighten with the glad tidings of Thy word all who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

that they may rejoice in the deliverance which Thou hast wrought.

The Advent AntiphonsWith Scripture references and paraphrases.
By A.C.A. Hall, Bishop of Vermont.
Milwaukee: The Young Churchman; London: A.R. Mowbray & Co., n.d. but c. 1914.

To-day's O Antiphon - Tuesday

O Root of Jesse,

you stand as a sign for the peoples;

before you kings shall keep silence

and to you all nations shall have recourse.

Come, save us, and do not delay.

+++++++++++

O Lord Jesu Christ, the new shoot from the hewn down stump of Jesse's line,

in whom all the promises should be fulfilled;

the champion of Thy people,

to whom the Gentile nations should turn in submission and obedience:

Thou hast come of the seed of David according to the flesh,

being born in obscurity of a maiden of the royal line;

Thou hast set up Thy holy catholic Church,

commanding Thine apostles to make disciples of all nations

and to train all peoples in obedience to Thy holy commandments:

Come now, we pray Thee, by Thy grace, and tarry not,

hasten the manifestation of Thy kingdom;

grant that Thy Church may continually be increased

by the gathering in of new children to Thee,

and perfected by the increasing devotion of those who have been regenerated.

The Advent AntiphonsWith Scripture references and paraphrases.
By A.C.A. Hall, Bishop of Vermont.
Milwaukee: The Young Churchman; London: A.R. Mowbray & Co., n.d. but c. 1914.

To-day's O Antiphon - Monday

Oh, how great are your works, Adonai! (Psalm 93)

O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel,

you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and on Mount Sinai gave him your law.

Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.

++++++++++++++++++

O Lord Jesu Christ,

Who as the Angel of the Lord

didst rule and guard God's people of old;

Who didst appear to Moses in the burning bush,

that told of Thy presence hallowing but not consuming,

and of Thy people's preservation through fiery trials;

Who didst give the Law in Sinai and majesty and awe;

Thou didst come to visit mankind oppressed

and didst redeem us therefrom

by the victory of Thy Passion:

Come, we pray Thee, now by Thy grace,

and with Thine outstretched arm deliver us

from the bondage of evil habits

from the crafts and assaults of Satan,

from the tyrrany of the world,

and the disorder into which our nature has fallen

Write in our hearts by Thy Spirit

the law in obedience to which we shall find our true freedom,

Thy law of truth and purity and love.

The Advent AntiphonsWith Scripture references and paraphrases.
By A.C.A. Hall, Bishop of Vermont.
Milwaukee: The Young Churchman; London: A.R. Mowbray & Co., n.d. but c. 1914.

To-day's O Antiphon - Sunday

O Wisdom,

you came forth from the mouth of the Most High

and, reaching from beginning to end,

you ordered all things mightily and sweetly.

Come, and teach us the way of prudence.

+++++++++++++++++

O Lord Jesu Christ,

who art the very Wisdom of God most high,

by whom He made the world, impressing on His creation

the reflexion of His own power and goodness;

Who dost uphold the world in its being and harmony,

as Thou reachest from one end to the other

mightily and sweetly ordering all things;

Who didst visit God's prophets and servants of old,

giving them ever fuller knowledge of His mind and will;

Thou in the fulness of time didst come forth in the incarnation,

clothing Thyself in our nature and living amidst our conditions,

to teach us the way of prudence--how to use the complex nature Thou hadst framed,

how to escape the snares and temptations by which we are surrounded,

how to attain the blessedness which Thou hast prepared for us.

Blessed be Thy Name for Thy teaching by word and by example,

for the testimony of Thine Apostles and the record of the Scriptures,

for the continual guidance of Thy Spirit and the witness of Thy Saints.
Come now, we pray Thee, by Thy grace

to Thy Church and people,

and teach us in our day and need

the way of prudence--how best to promote Thy Father's glory,

and extend Thy kingdom,

and win our perfect life,

as we so pass through things temporal

as not to lose the things eternal.

The Advent AntiphonsWith Scripture references and paraphrases.
By A.C.A. Hall, Bishop of Vermont.
Milwaukee: The Young Churchman; London: A.R. Mowbray & Co., n.d. but c. 1914.

The O Antiphons are coming

Beginning this Sunday, 17 December, the final week of Advent is enriched with the traditional 'O' Antiphons. You haven't heard of the 'O' Antiphons? They are part of the rich heritage leading up to the traditional Christian celebrations of Christmas. Poetry, art, prayer. They express this spiritual heritage in the deepest way. Read about them here.