Psalm 95:1-7a
"Reign of Christ" - Year A
I enjoy footnotes. The New Jerusalem Bible notes that the "rock of our salvation" can allude to "the rock that yielded water in the desert, Exodus 17:1 seq., or to the rock on which the Temple was built, 2 Samuel 24:18."
So, what would the rock refer to in the experience of your life? How do you make this psalm your own? (Don't forget to include the rest of the psalm that reminds us of the difficult parts of our life - where we tested and were tested.)
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/november2002.html
The Christian Community Bible finds the following prayer by P. Teilhard de Chardin to be fitting here.
In the distance, the sun has just illuminated the remote outline of the first Orient. Once again, under the changing cascade of its rays, the live surface of the earth awakens, shudders and begins again its amazing labor. O my God, I will offer you the desired harvest of this first effort. In my cup, I will present to you the sap of all the fruits which will be crushed today.
O Lord, I will bring to your presence the depths of my soul widely open to all the forces which, within a moment, are going to go up to every point in the world and converge toward the Spirit. In former times, the first fruits of the harvest and the best of the flocks were brought to your temple. The offering which you really seek, what you mysteriously need daily to satisfy your hunger, to quench your thirst, is nothing less than the development of the world urged by universal progress.
Receive, Lord, this whole Host which Creation, moved by your attractiveness, offers you in the new dawn. The bread, our effort, is not in itself, I know, more than immense decay. The wine, our grief, is only a dissolving drink. But in the heart of this formless mass, you placed - I am sure of it because I feel it - an irresistible and sanctifying desire which, from the wicked to the faithful, makes us all shout: "Lord, make us one."
What prayer would you raise? Can you sense "universal progress" and be present to the continuum "from the wicked to the faithful"? What imagery holds things together for you - Rock, Dawn, ...?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/november2002.html
Psalm 95:1-7a or Psalm 100
In the midst of life as usual there comes a choice about how to respond to the variety of experiences we have.
In the midst of whatever the disaster-of-the-day might be we can choose to see the hand of an avenging, punishing G*D at work or an opportunity in which the steadfast love of a G*D might be revealed through our response.
These Psalms push us to praise G*D. The choice here is whether we find some appropriate genuflection (an external response relationship directed toward G*D that we might be noticed and G*D might sometime or other come do us some good) or some communal interaction (an internal response relationship directed toward revealing G*D presence right here, right now).
Question of the day: What in the world does it mean to "praise" G*D? How much of this is G*D inflation and how much is G*D application?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/november2005.html
Psalm 95:1-7a or Psalm 100
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46
With the eyes of your heart enlightened, hope lives in you.
Hope that you will be unscattered and hope that you can help return folks who have been pushed out. Such hope rises to the surface, becoming conscious. From there it is but a matter of applying courage to implement it.
And so, at the end of a long year, we are left with hope. After all the disappointments, we are left with hope. Even in the presence of current and in the anticipation of judgments now and yet, we are left with hope.
- - -
hope revealed
shyly and boldly
pokes its head out
to reveal its heart
in deeds of loving kindness
a bit of feast here
a tun of fun there
a goodwill stop also
a visit when all seemed lost
so hope travels
as we have been done unto
we are thankful
thankful enough
to hope to do well
to do well unto
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html