Thursday, January 26, 2017

"Send us out to be your hands and feet." OT4

“Send us out to be your hands and feet.”

The gospel of the 4th Sunday of ordinary time continues to be taken from Matthew.  Today we hear from Jesus’ sermon on the mount where he shares the beatitudes.

The beatitudes have been reflected in the music we have sung the past 2 weeks of ordinary time.  Today, I have chosen Matt Maher’s Unwavering as a prelude.  Click here for the lyrics

The verses of unwavering point towards the beatitudes.  The refrain, which contains the songs title, speaks of God’s consistency.  The bridge (the words are at the top of this page) connecting the two relates to our call as Christians.

Maher’s music and ability to lead worship have made him a popular figure both in concert and Christian gatherings.  Here is an excerpt from an early interview:

“It (my life experience) has given me a heart for two things: One is to interact with culture more and another is to be a vehicle for unity. …I feel like there have to be people who are willing to just stand in the gap between Christian thought, and society. We are supposed to be in the world but not of the world.  My mandate as a Christian is not to retreat, but to be a light…. everybody is called to be a missionary wherever we are. The mission field has changed. The mission field is everywhere.”

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“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

Teresa of Ávila

Blessed to be at St. Mary’s,

Bruce



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