Peace

Combining Psalm 85 and Mark 6:

The place where truth and kindness meet
and justice joins itself to peace,
where truth springs up and right rains down,
is in your body, pierced and crowned.

For you made the divided one;
all earth and heaven in you join.
In you, O Lord, our peace is made.
Help us in making peace today.

With walking stick and sandal-shod,
we go to seek the reign of God.
Our money will not pave the road,
so free our shoulders from that load.

O Shepherd, lead us on the way
and give us words to tell your praise.
Give us still more the grace of tears
to name our weaknesses and fears.

And give us mercy over all:
Forgive us as we fail and fall,
then lift us, ever lift us up
to drink again the saving cup.

You are the way; you are the road,
but we have still so far to go.
Help us to choose the better part
and draw yet closer to your heart

for there alone does justice meet
and kiss its sister, truest peace.
Lord, show us mercy once again,
and grant salvation's sweet Amen.

Justitia et pax – Brescia – Pinacoteca Tosio-Martinengo – 13-4-2002 By anonymous – Own work, Giovanni Dall’Orto, 13-4-2002, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=641316

Calling

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Mark 1:14-20

When Christ comes walking on the sands,

the ocean cheers in swells:

The seas need not become like land;

they are made more themselves.



The rivers do not cease to flow:

Like justice, they roll down.

The strength of waves is made Christ's road

where every falsehood drowns.



The builders shall not leave their work

but find their cornerstone,

and shepherds know their truest flock

in pasturing God's own.



So, fishers, come and mend your nets

to follow him today,

for you shall cast them in his steps

where deeper waters play.



Not for the harvest of the dark

that dwells beneath the waves,

but for the bounty of the hearts

arising from their graves.



Come, listen for the savior's voice.

It is for this he came:

To call you into heaven's joys

by calling out your name.

Tissot, James, The calling of Peter and Andrew. – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2007, 00.159.56_PS1.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10195832

What Voice?

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.
He went around all of Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness among the people.
Matthew 4:12-23

What voice could call them from the waves,
those eager fishermen,
but yours, O Christ, the voice that saves,
and make them cast again?
Not in the shallows of the sea
or in its stormy depth,
but in the crowded city streets
for souls that gasp for breath.

What words could call them from their lives,
the pattern of their days?
The living Word of God, the Christ:
For you they left their ways.
Not for a net of knotted rope
to trap their prey within,
but for your words of love and hope
they followed to the end.

What call could lure us after them,
with echoes ringing true?
O Savior, call us once again!
Draw us to folow you!
Not by the rule of iron rod
or by threat of hell,
but by the living love of God
draw us, Emmanuel!

We Plowed the Fields and Planted

“Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, ‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'”
Luke 17:5-10

We plowed the fields and planted;
we waited for the rains.
We did as you commanded—
O God, what have we gained

but dirt beneath our fingers
and sunburns on our backs,
an even fiercer hunger
for all the world yet lacks?

We worked on, even knowing
the harvest still could fail.
We labored through the growing—
O God, to what avail

but tenderness for seedlings,
and hope for future years,
and mercy in our weeding,
despite the weight of fears?

The seasons stretch out farther
than all our days gone past,
to threshing after harvest—
O God, when shall we rest

but when the bread is broken
and laid before the least?
God, help us in the working
and call us to the feast.

Brooklyn Museum – The Sower (Le semeur) – James Tissot – overall – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2006, 00.159.119_PS1.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10195964

If You Will Not Take Up Your Cross

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:25-33

If you will not take up your cross,
you cannot my disciple be,
says he who fell down under his
'til helped by  Simon of Cyrene.

If you don't hate your kith and kin,
you cannot follow after me,
says he who loved his Father still 
and sought his will in everything.

O kings and princes, build your tow'rs,
but count your bricks before you start:
The splendor of your earthly pow'rs
cares nothing for a longing heart.

Arrange your armies in the field,
if you would best a stronger foe—
or else you must to conquest yield
and sue for mercy evermore.

I am no king or mighty prince—
O Christ, can I your foll'wer be?
I cannot bear the weight of this
unless your mercy carries me!

I cannot wrestle with you here
and win the right to love my own,
but let your mercy draw us near
as one to worship at your throne!

Carrying the Cross, from the Gelati Gospels MSS By Anonymous – Center of MSS (Tbilisi, Georgia), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4297073

You Send Lambs

Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
‘Peace to this household.’
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

You set us barefoot in the world
to walk along its dusty streets,
not hunters sent to slay the wolves,
but lambs sent out to bring them peace.

The sheep are safely in your fold,
but all the ark must yet be filled
so you send lambs and make them bold
to call the beasts of wood and field,

of mountain height and open air,
of darkness under stone and sea.
To all you say, The kingdom's here,
through lambs your word has taught to speak.

To shorn and unshorn all alike
give us the courage, then, to go
that clean and unclean fill the ark
and all the world your mercy know.

We must not go out clothed in gold
or carried high above the dust,
but as you came into the world:
You walked the road as one of us.

To all who walk the dusty earth
or crawl or fly or swim its miles,
O loving shepherd, send us forth,
each one your peaceful kingdom's child.

Icon of the Seventy Apostles By Ikonopisatelj – http://chattablogs.com/aionioszoe/archives/70Apostles.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3536332

Peter I

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
He then said to Simon Peter a second time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Jesus said to him the third time,
“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time,
“Do you love me?” and he said to him,
“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger,
you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,
and someone else will dress you
and lead you where you do not want to go.”
He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
John 21:15-19

To the tune NON DIGNUS:

O Lord, you know I love you,
though human hearts are frail.
You know how I turned from you,
when all my courage failed.

You now how I denied you;
you saw when I turned back,
but now I sit beside you—
and will you take me back?

Oh, how can you believe me?
What promise could I keep?
But somehow you receive me,
and tell me feed your sheep.

So I will be a shepherd
and all the world my field,
as I have been a fisher
for all the seas would yield.

Forever I shall follow
where you have gone before.
I am reborn from sorrow,
because you love me, Lord.

William de Brailes, *Christ Appears at Lake Tiberias*, c. 1250. – Walters Art Museum: Home page Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18850975

Turtledoves

I have no kingdom to my name,
no crown upon my head,
nor can I offer pow'r or fame—
but I can give you bread.

I hold no sway in mighty lands;
no influence is mine.
Take just the labor of my hands
to work your will divine.

I have no wisdom in my soul
nor supernatural light;
no fortunes bend to my control,
but just a widow's mite.

I have no gold or frankincense,
if you would seek them here,
but take my life and take my death;
anoint them both with myrrh.

Come, take me as the offering
each moment pouring out,
for I have nothing else to bring
but all my heres and nows.

And though I have no fatted calfs,
I give you turtledoves.
I give you all I've ever have.
I give you all my loves.

Dove with an olive branch, Catacombs of Domitilla, Rome By Dnalor 01 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32603350Minolta DSC

Christ Within the Temple

Largely drawn from today’s readings, which juxtapose Isaiah’s purification with the miraculous catch of fish:

Christ within the temple,
touch my halting tongue
with your burning ember:
Purify my song.
Send me then to sing it
where sad silence reigns,
your compassion bringing
while I sing your name.

Christ upon the waters,
bless my empty nets
for the work your Father
now before me sets.
When I go to cast them,
I may work all night;
you alone can fill them
with your mercy bright.

Christ before the table
where the sinners dine,
give the bread you're breaking
to a heart like mine.
With the strength you've given
in the living bread,
I will go to serve them,
all who must be fed.

Christ out in the desert,
from the crowd withdrawn,
let your silence bless me
when I seek my own.
May your spirit soothe me
when I take my rest,
heart and mind renewing
with your holy peace.

Painting by H. Picou, 1850s (first miracle) By Henri-Pierre Picou – http://www.culture.gouv.fr, Photographer: © Cécile Clos, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10743525

The Spirit of the Lord Has Come

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
            The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
                        because he has anointed me
                        to bring glad tidings to the poor.
            He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
                        and recovery of sight to the blind,
                        to let the oppressed go free,
                        and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:14-21

The Spirit of the Lord has come
and filled the weary heart.
It whispers of what God has done,
and what has yet to start:
of captives given sweet release
and good news for the poor,
the bowed of all their burdens freed,
kingdom's open door.

The Spirit of the Lord has come,
the ancient hopes fulfilled,
to free the songs that fear struck dumb
and racing heartbeats stilled,
to take the blindfold from our eyes,
the fingers from our ears,
that we may see the morning rise,
the kingdom drawing near.

The Spirit of the Lord has come,
anointing those who hear,
who see the wonders God has done,
proclaiming God's own year.
Then let us rise up to proclaim 
and rise to meet the task
of healing in the Savior's name:
The kingdom comes at last!