tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941027189658860317.post2143532613189871966..comments2010-11-24T07:34:15.012-06:00Comments on If I can help somebody as I pass along...: Lenten Series #11: The (Black) ChurchRevMAHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10936782782909228893noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941027189658860317.post-37766175995780858762010-03-01T09:33:19.805-06:002010-03-01T09:33:19.805-06:00By the way, that's the Psalm! In the older int...By the way, that's the Psalm! In the older interpretations, 'Jerusalem' is interpreted as the city of God, but as in within yourself ('the Kingdom is within you') so the idea is that once you have been humbled (a broken and contrite spirit) and restored by God (in terms of the city of the soul) then will your sacrifices be acceptable (your works. 'offer young bulls/bullocks upon your altar') <br /><br />In another note entirely I can recall a certain number of uses of this Psalm in Orthodox worship: <br /><br />1. It occurs both in the 3rd hour (9 am) and in Compline (after-dinner) services as one of the psalm-readings (usually at the beginning of the service,) <br /><br />2. It is part of the midnight hour or Nocturne,<br /><br />3. It is chanted or spoken after the reading of one of the Resurrection gospels in Matins, <br /><br />4. it is part of the rite of confession, at least on the side of what prayers a person ought to say, <br /><br />5. and it is spoken by the deacon while he does a great censing, that is, when he '<em>censes the world</em>' - he goes in a big circle around the whole nave (where the people are) and censes all of the icons and people.<br /><br />In his exposition on the Psalms to Marcellinus, St. Athanasius writes (c. 4th c): [taken from <a href="http://www.monachos.net/forum/showthread.php?4055-Patristic-commentaries-on-the-psalter-and-odes" rel="nofollow">Monachos</a>]<br /><br /><em>For he who reads those books is clearly reading not his own words but those of holy men and other people about whom they write; but the marvel with the Psalter is that, barring those prophecies about the Saviour and some about the Gentiles, the reader takes all its words upon his lips as though they were his own, and each one sings the Psalms as though they had been written for his special benefit, and takes them and recites them, not as though someone else were speaking or another person's feelings being described, but as himself speaking of himself, offering the words to God as his own heart's utterance, just as though he himself had made them up. Not as the words of the patriarchs or of Moses and the other prophets will he reverence these: no, he is bold to take them as his own and written for his very self. Whether he has kept the Law or whether he has broken it, it is his own doings that the Psalms describe; every one is bound to find his very self in them and, be he faithful soul or be he sinner, each reads in them descriptions of himself.<br /><br />It seems to me, moreover, that because the Psalms thus serve him who sings them as a mirror, wherein he sees himself and his own soul, he cannot help but render them in such a manner that their words go home with equal force to those who hear him sing, and stir them also to a like reaction. Sometimes it is repentance that is generated in this way, as by the conscience-stirring words of <strong>Psalm 51</strong> [in the LXX Psalm 50]; another time, hearing how God helps those who hope and trust in Him, the listener too rejoices and begins to render thanks, as though that gracious help already were his own.</em><br /><br />A lot of words here, but a worthy topic! In what time can we say Jesus' words are not true, 'O, you faithless and perverse generation!' But <a href="http://chesterton.org/qmeister2/wrongtoday.htm" rel="nofollow">I go with Chesterton (allegedly)</a> on interpreting this one:<br /><br /><em>The Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, "What’s wrong with the world today?" and Chesterton responded simply,<br /><br />"Dear Sir,<br /><br />I am.<br /><br />Yours, G.K. Chesterton."<br /></em>Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4941027189658860317.post-42431338735132269242010-03-01T09:33:07.501-06:002010-03-01T09:33:07.501-06:00Oh! That's the Psalm.
A few thoughts.
1. Ch...Oh! That's the Psalm. <br /><br />A few thoughts.<br /><br />1. Christians when oppressed politically tend to benefit religiously. The standard of devoutness practiced prior to Constantine led the followers of Donatus into error (the Donatists) who thought that if you had apostasized you were done, and if a priest was not personally holy he could not administer sacraments. They were deceived by the situation, wherein to lack a high level of devotion meant to fall away; pagan life was in active resistance to Christian life. Likewise, if we look at the level of faith of Americans - take the Puritans for example, who muddled off into Unitarianism when they became prosperous in New England. When times were hard at the beginning, they were very faithful as a people. So I think we can look at the state of any group of Christians and despair because of their disrepair, but sometimes it is the fruit of them attaining a better standing in the world. <br /><br />2. <a href="http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/namesofjesus/jesus_-_the_paraclete" rel="nofollow">Father Tom Hopko says</a> that all of the true prophets of God did not just prophecy against the people in their faithlessness, but also stood as an advocate on their behalf, seeking help for them despite their errors. (This is why what Jonah does is not well received by God.) It even goes so far for a prophet to be willing to shed his own blood on their behalf. One thing about MLK, if we're talking about prophetic roles, is that while I don't know about various political things he supported, in the end I think his heart was on the money; it wasn't just about black people or a particular segment or even just the Christians in our country, but it was about those within the physical bounds of America itself, and 'even unto the shedding of blood.' As prophetic as charismatics tend to be at least outwardly, can they compare to that act itself? In my experience (and it is probably more limited than yours) it is mostly about being seen saying correct and predictive things, more than interceding for your fellow Christians. <br /><br />This Sunday's gospel was the story of the men who lowered their friend through the roof of a house so they could meet Jesus; it is <em>their</em> faith that helps the man; they act as intercessors on his behalf.Ephrem Antony Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00032465992619034619noreply@blogger.com