02 January 2007

Lectio Divina: From Isaiah 62

You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and *give him no rest* until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth. (Is 62:6,7)

To put the Lord in remembrance.

Is it to remember God or to remind Him?

The prophet teaches us: "yes."

Similarly then in the Eucharist, done "as the remembrance" of our Lord. Is it that we remember in the Eucharist the self-giving King of Calvary? Of course, but is it also that we remind the Father of the self-giving of His Son? Of course!

Thus the Church always makes her prayers "through Christ our Lord." We make the remembrance commanded, both to us and to our loving God. Not implying, of course, that He ever forgets or could forget, but rejoicing always that when God remembers, He acts in mercy.

"Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead
Your death is now my life indeed,
For You have paid my ransom." LSB #555, vs. 6

Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him. And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord, and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

Glory to You, Holy Father, for the gift of Your Son, who ever pleads His ransom of us before Your throne as our Advocate! Glory to You who have given us so perfect a salvation! Glory to You who call us to remember that mercy and to rejoice in reminding You of it constantly! Glory to You forever!

2 comments:

Rev. Paul T. McCain said...

Yes, great reading from the OT this morning. I was reminded of the blessing and duty of the ministry when reading:

"On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen all the day and all the night they shall never be silent."

Never!

Anonymous said...

Is this not what the Holy Scriptures call "supplication?"

Tom Fast

PS--Thanks for the great New Year resolutions you offered on an earlier post. I have taken your advice to heart. Also, I'm really looking forward to CPH's coming "breviary" where the entire ministerium has the potential to be tied together in a regular rythm of Word and prayer. What a great blessing that will be. CPH is doing great things these days, imho.