This week, I continue the series of homilies meant to help those in the pews of this place, and those in pews of different sorts in other places to understand a bit about the whys and wherefores of the revised Roman Missal: the texts which will be introduced this year in the Roman Catholic parishes of Canada.
The Gloria (or Glory to God) is among the most ancient hymns sung collectively by God's people, but how often do we truly listen to the words we speak or sing every Sunday? Do we ever stop to marvel at the great gift of tender love that God offers us every day, or do we take it for granted.
Listen in or read on. Perhaps this week's reflection will provide an impetus for us to truly become people of gratitude for gifts offered out of love.
When the choir sings
From a very young age, most of us are introduced to music. Whether through recordings and toys that hang inside our cribs, or from the calming tones of a mother who sings a lullaby, music has a way of speaking to infants in a way that very few spoken words can. As we mature, music can continue to influence who we become, even as adults. People listen to all kinds of music, but not all kinds of music are appealing to all people. If the music is unpleasant, we say that it is noise. If it is pleasing, it can be like the words of a love song sung for one's beloved. The prophet Isaiah uses this imagery when he recounts God's reflection about His creation. The words of today's first reading portray our God as deeply in love with His creation (that's us). Every day, God invites us to listen to the music of his voice, to be lulled by the tones of his lullaby, to believe that we are His beloved and that he would go to any length to show us the depth of His love.
Now, if I asked you all to sing a love song, right here, right now, some might come forward (at first hesitatingly) but others might very possibly run for the doors of the church, or at the very least politely refuse to demonstrate their musical talent, but what if we considered the fact that singing God's love song can take on a number of different forms. What if I went a bit further and suggested that at times there is beautiful music and at other times there is just noise? Consider for a moment that we human beings have it within our power to listen to the voice within, God's voice, the voice of reason, the voice of our conscience ... and we also have it in our power to ignore this voice. Have you ever noticed how often it seems that when we are listening, the music of life is melodic, and how often it happens that when we are not, this same music is discordant?
Ecologists tell us that there is much to concern us about the health of our planet. In recent years, there is much more talk about greenhouse gases, about finding eco-friendly solutions to our consumerist mentalities, and about preserving the delicate balance that nature needs in order to sustain itself. We ourselves are no different; God has been trying to tell us the same thing for a long time, but the words of the prophets were ignored by many. Even Jesus' teaching about the landowner who planted a vineyard and took such care to cultivate it didn't succeed in converting the hearts of the chief priests and the elders. Perhaps some of them did grasp his meaning, but I'm willing to bet that most of them were too caught up in their own concerns to pay any attention to the notes of the love song he was trying to play.
What about us? How often do we find ourselves worrying about all manner of things: dreams that we have for those we love, concerns because our plans don't always work out the way we envisioned them, worries about how to make ends meet. When the clouds of life close in, we have a choice to surround ourselves with its accompanying noises or to let our requests be known to God, and to trust that He is capable of helping us to hear the music. True, we must do our part, but faith in God allows us to do even small things with great love. Children in our parish are learning this lesson in a very tangible way today. They are preparing socks for the homeless of our community. These gifts will be offered to people our children have never met. Hopefully, they will accept them as tokens of love and signs that they are not alone.
In the concerns and actions of our daily life, God's music can be heard all around us, but nowhere can it be heard more clearly than when we gather in prayer and sing together the ancient hymn by which we praise him for his greatness. We recite or sing it together every week, but have we truly heard it? Listen again, and pay particular attention to words you may not have heard before: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.
Dear friends, let every act of ours be a gesture of giving glory to God. Let every word we speak be an echo of God's song of love sung in our hearts. Let everything we do be about giving glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Gloria (or Glory to God) is among the most ancient hymns sung collectively by God's people, but how often do we truly listen to the words we speak or sing every Sunday? Do we ever stop to marvel at the great gift of tender love that God offers us every day, or do we take it for granted.
Listen in or read on. Perhaps this week's reflection will provide an impetus for us to truly become people of gratitude for gifts offered out of love.
When the choir sings
From a very young age, most of us are introduced to music. Whether through recordings and toys that hang inside our cribs, or from the calming tones of a mother who sings a lullaby, music has a way of speaking to infants in a way that very few spoken words can. As we mature, music can continue to influence who we become, even as adults. People listen to all kinds of music, but not all kinds of music are appealing to all people. If the music is unpleasant, we say that it is noise. If it is pleasing, it can be like the words of a love song sung for one's beloved. The prophet Isaiah uses this imagery when he recounts God's reflection about His creation. The words of today's first reading portray our God as deeply in love with His creation (that's us). Every day, God invites us to listen to the music of his voice, to be lulled by the tones of his lullaby, to believe that we are His beloved and that he would go to any length to show us the depth of His love.
Now, if I asked you all to sing a love song, right here, right now, some might come forward (at first hesitatingly) but others might very possibly run for the doors of the church, or at the very least politely refuse to demonstrate their musical talent, but what if we considered the fact that singing God's love song can take on a number of different forms. What if I went a bit further and suggested that at times there is beautiful music and at other times there is just noise? Consider for a moment that we human beings have it within our power to listen to the voice within, God's voice, the voice of reason, the voice of our conscience ... and we also have it in our power to ignore this voice. Have you ever noticed how often it seems that when we are listening, the music of life is melodic, and how often it happens that when we are not, this same music is discordant?
Ecologists tell us that there is much to concern us about the health of our planet. In recent years, there is much more talk about greenhouse gases, about finding eco-friendly solutions to our consumerist mentalities, and about preserving the delicate balance that nature needs in order to sustain itself. We ourselves are no different; God has been trying to tell us the same thing for a long time, but the words of the prophets were ignored by many. Even Jesus' teaching about the landowner who planted a vineyard and took such care to cultivate it didn't succeed in converting the hearts of the chief priests and the elders. Perhaps some of them did grasp his meaning, but I'm willing to bet that most of them were too caught up in their own concerns to pay any attention to the notes of the love song he was trying to play.
What about us? How often do we find ourselves worrying about all manner of things: dreams that we have for those we love, concerns because our plans don't always work out the way we envisioned them, worries about how to make ends meet. When the clouds of life close in, we have a choice to surround ourselves with its accompanying noises or to let our requests be known to God, and to trust that He is capable of helping us to hear the music. True, we must do our part, but faith in God allows us to do even small things with great love. Children in our parish are learning this lesson in a very tangible way today. They are preparing socks for the homeless of our community. These gifts will be offered to people our children have never met. Hopefully, they will accept them as tokens of love and signs that they are not alone.
In the concerns and actions of our daily life, God's music can be heard all around us, but nowhere can it be heard more clearly than when we gather in prayer and sing together the ancient hymn by which we praise him for his greatness. We recite or sing it together every week, but have we truly heard it? Listen again, and pay particular attention to words you may not have heard before: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory. Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.
Dear friends, let every act of ours be a gesture of giving glory to God. Let every word we speak be an echo of God's song of love sung in our hearts. Let everything we do be about giving glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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