Hodie

It rings through the liturgy. The "today." How often the present tense is used! How often "now"! Think of the Hymn of the Day for the Feast of the Transfiguration:

O wondrous type! O vision fair
Of glory that the Church may share
Which Christ upon the mountain...

WHAT? You'd expect, "showed." But you get "shows!"

Which Christ upon the mountain shows
Where brighter than the sun He glows.

The joy of the liturgy is to make us witnesses by the power of God's word, to bring events into our present that happened long ago, so that we can see them, believe them, and live from them. The present tense runs through the hymns of the Church! Think of it:

"To you this night is born a child."
"As I hear far and near sweetest angel voices."
"Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light."
"Now in the manger we may see God's Son from eternity"
"Today He opens heaven again To give us His own Son."
"The Star proclaims the King is here"
"The Only Son from heaven, Foretold by ancient seers, By God the Father given, In human form appears"
"In silent pain the Eternal Son hangs derelict and still"
"Go to dark Gethsemane, All who feel the tempter's pow'r; Your Redeemer's conflict see, Watch with Him one bitter hour."
"A Lamb goes uncomplaining forth"
"Ride on, ride on in majesty! Hark! All the tribes 'Hosanna!' cry"
"Make me see Your great distress, anguish, and affliction."
"God the Father's only Son Now is buried yonder."
"O sacred Head, now wounded."
"Stricken, smitten and afflicted, See Him dying on the tree!"
"Upon the Cross extended see, world, your Lord suspended. Your Savior yields His breath."
"Jesus Christ is risen today, alleluia!"
"Christ the Lord is risen today!"
"Now is the victor's triumph won! Now be the song of praise begun!"
"Now all the vault of heaven resounds."
"Now after gloom and sadness, Comes forth the glorious sun."
"Today the grave has lost its sting. Alleluia!"
"Now is the triumph of our King!"
"Christ looks down upon His faithful, leaving them in happy tears"
"Christ by a road before untrod ascends unto the throne of God!"
"See, the Conqueror mounts in triumph!"
"Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious; See the Man of Sorrows now!"

So many more examples could be laid out, but see how clear it is that as confessed in these hymns, we've become witnesses to the events which Scripture brings and unfolds before our eyes - giving us the life of Christ as our very own for us to live in and through.

I've been thinking about how this ties so tightly to the task of evangelism - how essential it is to grasp that what we are inviting and summoning people into is nothing less than the life of Christ which the Word and Sacraments unfold for us as contemporary so that we might live in communion with Him.