December 4. 2021

Healing

An excerpt from Luke 1: 76-79 (NRSV)
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Reflection from Bryan Cones:
For many years I prayed this part of the Song of Zechariah (John the Baptist’s dad) and presumed it was about Jesus’ cousin, John, who ate locusts (bugs!) and honey in the wilderness. This Advent, I’m not so sure. What if the “you” – “you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways” – means me! What if God is calling each of each of us to be Advent prophets? (Hopefully without the bug eating.) Could God be saying to us this Advent: “You be my messenger!” What knowledge of salvation might we share today? What light might we carry “to those who sit in darkness?” As I look at the “Maestras of Peace” mural (pictured), I wonder how I might join the witness of such holy women as one of God’s Advent prophets.

Artisit: Juana Alicia; Bergman; Miranda, Boone; Edythe, 1938- ; Maestra Peace Mural, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/ 3922802370

For further study and prayer, the readings assigned for today are:
Luke 1:68-79; Malachi 4:1-6; Luke 9:1-6

Music:
“Os Justi” by A. Bruckner, sung by the StGs quartet

“Os justi meditabitur sapientiam ...
Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius:
et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus.”

(The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom ...
The law of his God is in his heart: and his feet do not falter.)

Link to listen to the music