Celtic Odyssey

Loving God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Child, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when Christ shall come again in glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through the One who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

All loving and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Child, the Ruler of rulers and Chief of chiefs; Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under your most gracious rule; through Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit; one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

I AM bending my knee In the eye of the Father-Mother who created me, In the eye of the Child who died for me, In the eye of the Spirit who cleansed me, In love and desire. Pour down upon us from heaven The rich blessing of Your forgiveness; You who are uppermost in the City, Be patient with us. Grant to us, Saviour of Glory, The fear of God, the love of God, and God’s affection, And the will of God to do on earth at all times As angels and saints do in heaven; Each day and night give us Your peace. Each day and night give us Your peace. ~~~ Carmina Gadelica (adapted)

Blessed God, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” ( John 14.6-7 ) From these words, people often take Jesus to mean that he is the only way to heaven. But, last night (or early this morning, however one wants to take it) in the sacred place between evening and morning, I saw this in a different way. What if ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ refers to the image or understanding of God and not how to get to heaven? That is, what if Jesus was saying (and it seems to me that this could be the case), ‘God’s way of acting, of doing, of loving, and caring, is seen through my way of acting, of doing, of loving, and caring. God’s life is seen in my life; in the way that I treat others and love them and my ways of non-violence and justice and peace and reconciliation. God’s true image is seen in me - the way I live and act ...

O God, whose blessed Child came into the world that the works of the devil might be destroyed and we might be made children of God and heirs of eternal life; Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as Christ is pure; that, when Christ comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like Christ in your eternal and glorious realm; where Christ lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Earlier this month, my Abbott, Dr Andy Fitz-Gibbon, posted a blog reflecting on the prophet Jeremiah and ancient Israel in exile. I didn’t reply to that post because the book I read for this month’s reflection dealt with just that topic: Hopeful Imagination - Prophetic Voices in Exile , by Walter Brueggemann (you can also get the paperback version here ). In the book, Brueggemann looks to three prophets during Israel’s exile in Babylon - Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah (2Isaiah actually). The book is a great read and is very helpful for those people who are feeling that they are in some kind of exile right now (and, if you are a Christian, Brueggemann feels that one should feel that way). In the introduction, Brueggemann stated, ‘The governing metaphor for this literature is that of exile . In this brief definitive period in Old Testament faith pastoral responsibility was to help people enter into exile , to be in exile , and depart out of exile ’ (pg 11). With that as his foundation, B...