Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,
to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,
to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
This story is told of Pope Paul VI: On the Monday after Pentecost he went to the sacristy to vest for Mass. He was surprised to discover the sacristan had put out green vestments. When he was told he had agreed to changing the liturgical calendar and that we no longer celebrate the Octave of Pentecost, he burst into tears.
I wish we celebrated Pentecost as we do Christmas and Easter, with “a week of Sundays.” Perhaps, when the Church recalibrates the liturgy, she will reintroduce the Octave of Pentecost.
In the meanwhile, here we are again in the Ordinary Time of year. We’re fortunate to start this Eighth week with the beginning of the First Letter of Saint Peter. There is room for a world of commentary in this blessing.
Someone asked me recently, “Can you bless God?” I guess we do it all the time when we say, “Hallowed be thy name.” Saint Peter blesses God with the first words of his prayer, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.... Blessing God is like holding a mirror to the sun. It may not seem like we’re throwing much light back at the sun, nor does the Sun actually notice the faint gleam of our mirror. We can't suppose blessing God does much good for God, but then that’s not our call. The child who shares his desert with his father or mother may not be actually feeding his parent, but he will certainly please them.
... who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope... Everything begins with God’s mercy. How often I hear people worrying about whether they’re good enough for salvation, or whether they have done enough, or earned the right, or avoided enough sin. But it’s not about you! It’s about God’s generous, superabundant mercy. He has given us a new birth to a living hope. Quit your worrying about what you’re doing and pay attention to what God is doing.
Your “living hope” is not just a huge desire that things might get better. It’s that impulse of the Holy Spirit that drives you off your couch and into the world where you and your church actually make things better.
It happens, of course, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... As Saint Paul said, if he is not risen then your faith and hope are worthless and our beloved dead are the deadest among the dead for they were buried under false pretenses. But we have seen his glory and our prayers daily reaffirm us in our convicted faith. If I feel discouraged as I enter the prayer, relaxing in God’s presence I rise refreshed and ready. Thus do we experience our own immediate resurrection... to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,kept in heaven for you who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,Ordinary time sets us on that long road once again. Refreshed by the Easter Season, which will still ring in our ears as we celebrate Trinity Sunday and Corpus Christi, we tie our shoelaces, hoist our backpacks, hitch up our sagging britches and start walking toward
...a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
Ahhhhhh. A fresh drink from the well of hope!!!!! Thank you, Fr Ken. I love you.
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