We Lift Up Our Hearts to the Lord

Dear Friend,

Peace and all good be yours!

In our Advent parish retreat this week, Sister Patricia and Father Jude had us reflecting on the psalms, those poem/prayers so integral to our Sunday worship. They spring from the heart of their composer in those moments when, as one author put it, the soul is moved by great forces and ordinary speech no longer suffices.  

On Monday night, Father Jude helped us explore the monumental impact of the Babylonian exile on the people of Israel. This devastating experience of tragic loss was a “great force” if ever there was one and it produced dozens of the songs of lamentation we find in the psalms.

This weekend for the fourth Sunday of Advent, we hear a portion of Psalm 80, described by commentators as a communal song of lament. It concludes with the plea “give us new life and we will call upon your name!” In a time of loss and defeat a community is reaching out to the source of its strength and guidance. We might hear this as a plea to the Holy Spirit, whom we name in our creed as “the Lord, the giver of life”…

Last Saturday about thirty volunteers turned out to construct the Christmas creche on the front lawn of the Mission and the next day, for the first time in two years, the community gathered for coffee and donuts after the Sunday Masses. Humble and humbling signs of new life and hope. This week also brought news of the loss of beloved community members and friends. In the words of Psalm 80, we have been planted “as a vine” and we wait in hope, even with tears, for our full fruitfulness to be revealed. We stand with the psalmist as we lift up our hearts to the Lord!

Gratefully,

Fr. Dan OFM, Pastor