Devotion for today: “You are my helmsman, O God”

A poem by Saint Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament

The barque of my life sails along

Amid darkness and shadows of night,

And I see no shore;

I am sailing the high seas.

The slightest storm would drown me,

Engulfing my boat in the swirling depths,

If You Yourself did not watch over me, O God,

At each instant and moment of my life.

Amid the roaring waves

I sail peacefully, trustingly,

And I gaze like a child into the distance without fear,

Because You, O Jesus, are my Light.

Dread and terror is all about me,

But within my soul is peace more profound than the depths of the sea,

For he who is with You, O Lord, will not perish;

Of this Your love assures me, O God.

Though a host of dangers surround me,

None of them do I fear, for I fix my gaze on the starry sky,

And I sail along bravely and merrily,

As becomes a pure heart.

And if the ship of my life sails so peacefully,

This is due to but one thing above all:

You are my helmsman, O God.

This I confess with utmost humility.

O my God, I love You.

Sister Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament, Cracow, October 20, 1937

Taken from her Diary (1322)

Devotion for today: The Eucharistic Rite: leading people to their reception of Christ in the Eucharistic

Yesterday we began our look at the Eucharistic Rite by examining the introduction and concluding prayers surrounding the recitation of the Our Father. This part of the Mass not only includes the Our Father, but also the Rite of Peace, the Agnus Dei and other preparatory rites. All are designed to lead us to our reception of the Holy Eucharistic, the only food we will ever need to keep our spiritual fervor alive. Now we move into the Rite of Peace. The priest begins this with the words:

“Lord Jesus Christ, who said to the apostles, Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, Who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.”

Remember, we can have the peace of Christ in our lives only when our wills are united to His, and when we firmly believe that everything in our lives can be faced and handled if Christ is truly the Lord of our lives. If not, no peace of lasting concern is possible. It will always be something elusive we seek in secular ways, and we will always end up empty. As the Eucharist we will soon receive is the only “food” we will ever really need, so, too, the peace of Christ is the only peace that will last forever in our lives, even when the world turns us completely on our heads! Remember the words guiding the pontificate of John Paul II: Be not afraid!

Scripture for reflection: John 14:27:  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Genesis 15:1: After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield,  your very great reward.”

Edward Sri tells us in his book “The Mass” (Ascension Press, 2011):  Many people seek the security and peace of this world, which is a peace based on success, on everything going well, on avoiding problems and suffering. But this kind of peace is quite fragile and fleeting. It is dependent on external circumstances that can easily change…. To base one’s life on these shaky foundations does not bring real peace at all. It breeds insecurity. Christ, however, offers us a deeper, longer lasting peace – one that the world does not give. When we allow Jesus to be the foundation of our lives and live according to his plan for us, he gives us an internal, spiritual peace that can withstand life’s many disappointments, trials and sufferings. This is the kind of peace of heart that also builds true unity within marriages, families, communities, parishes and nations. And this is what the priest prays for at this moment in the liturgy.

Psalm 91

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shade of the Almighty, Say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress, my God in whom I trust.”  He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare, from the destroying plague, He will shelter you with his pinions, and under his wings you may take refuge; his faithfulness is a protecting shield. You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day,  Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon. Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come. You need simply watch; the punishment of the wicked you will see. Because you have the LORD for your refuge and have made the Most High your stronghold, No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent. For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You can tread upon the asp and the viper, trample the lion and the dragon. Because he clings to me I will deliver him; because he knows my name I will set him on high. He will call upon me and I will answer; With length of days I will satisfy him,

and fill him with my saving power.

Devotion for today: The Embolism: a prayer for deliverance, peace, mercy and hope

I Chronicles 29:11

"Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

We have now arrived at the point in the Mass where we recite the Our Father, the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. Since we will be covering it in detail in another series of blogs, I will leave it for now. However, I think it is most worthy to spend a few minutes looking at the words with which the priest introduces the Our Father. Here is one commentary on the wording and changes recently made:    

  In the revised translation of The Roman Missal, there are no changes to the familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer as we pray them at Mass. But you will notice changes to the words with which the priest introduces the prayer: “At the Savior’s command / and formed by divine teaching, / we dare to say.” This introduction reminds us of why we pray: because through the Gospel, Jesus has invited us to pray to the Father as he does. The more we are “formed,” shaped by his teaching, the more we will make the words of this prayer our own, asking for the needs of the day, and praying for the coming of God’s kingdom. . http://www.st-anthonys.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=120.

 It is good for us to ponder these words and ask ourselves at this point in the Mass if we really do believe we are truly formed by God’s teaching, or are we just saying words. The Our Father is so familiar to us that we may be tempted to recite it without remembering that it was by Jesus’ command that we offer this prayer to “Abba” literally translated, “Daddy”. Every word in it is put there by Jesus for a reason, for us to believe God can and will meet our needs and help us enter His kingdom.

The final part is called the Embolism, and here are a few thoughts on that:

…the final part, proclaimed by priest and people, rightly calls us to offer glory and praise to God, under whose authority, rule, and power we disciples live. Following the Lord’s Prayer is the Sign of Peace. God’s kingdom, rule, and power is one of peace, of true communion with and among human persons.

Only the Triune God can give us the peace, communion, and “daily bread” we need. http://www.smmcam.org/romanmissal/20TheLord'sPrayerandtheEmbolism.pdf

The embolism (the short prayer inserted between the Lord’s Prayer and the doxology) has also changed slightly, as the priest adds to the Lord’s Prayer a petition for peace. “Graciously grant peace in our days, / that, by the help of your mercy, / we may be always free from sin / and safe from all distress, / as we await the blessed hope / and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. http://www.st-anthonys.org/index.cfm?load=page&page=120

A Prayer Belonging to the People:  While the invitation to pray the Lord’s Prayer is made by the priest-celebrant, the Prayer itself belongs to the people and is sung or recited aloud by all.  Because it is a prayer belonging to the people it should never be sung by the choir alone or by a soloist.   The Embolism:  At the end of the Our Father, the priest prays an additional prayer known as an “embolism” a term used in liturgy to identify a text which expands a portion of a prayer.  The embolism following the Lord’s Prayer is an expansion on the petition deliver us from evil, and, while it reiterates that prayer, it also introduces a note of peace and hope of the Lord’s second coming.  The people respond to the embolism with the words of an ancient doxology which dates back to the very early Church and is even found in manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew:  For the kingdom,  the power and the glory are yours, 

now and forever. The translation of the embolism has been altered somewhat in this edition of the Roman Missal.  One of the more significant of these alterations is the replacing of the word “anxiety” (that we may be freed from all anxiety) with the word “distress” so that the embolism now reads:  we may be . . . safe from all distress.  The bishops agreed that because “anxiety” is a term defined today by its use in the contemporary language of psychology, it may have too limited or specific a meaning in today’s world.  “Distress” was the word selected as a more comprehensive description of human

fear and pain of body and mind. http://www.archny.org/media/yearformass/25%20BI-YFM%20Taught%20by%20Our%20Saviors%20Command%20-%20The%20Lords%20Prayer.pdf

Any of us who have felt distress will love to say this prayer. “Keep us safe from all distress” makes me picture a child’s confidence in his daddy that no distress will befall him while his daddy is around.  I also love the final words we, the people, utter: For the kingdom, the power and the glory are Yours, now and forever.” Setting aside all doubts and pride, we prepare for communion by admitting we are powerless without God’s grace.

Prayer: The Our Father

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.