Friday 8 November 2024

Today is Friday the 8th of November in the 31st week of Ordinary Time. Juliano Ravanello sings, Attende Domine: ‘Look down, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned against thee.’ Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi Ad te Rex summe Omnium redemptor Oculos nostros Sublevamus flentes Exaudi Christe Supplicantum preces Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi Dextera Patris Lapis angularis Via salutis Ianua caelestis Ablue nostri Maculas delicti Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi Rogamus Deus Tuam majestatem Auribus sacris Gemitus exaudi Crimina nostra Placidus indulge Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi Tibi fatemur Crimina admissa Contrito corde Pandimus occulta Tua Redemptor Pietas ignoscat Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi Innocens captus Nec repugnans ductus Testibus falsis Pro impiis damnatus Quos redemisti Tu conserva Christe Attende Domine et miserere quia peccavimus tibi Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. To Thee, highest King, Redeemer of all, do we lift up our eyes in weeping: Hear, O Christ, the prayers of your servants. Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. Right hand of the Father, corner-stone, way of salvation, gate of heaven, wash away our stains of sin. Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. We beseech Thee, God, in Thy great majesty: Hear our groans with Thy holy ears: calmly forgive our crimes. Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. To Thee we confess our sins admitted with a contrite heart We reveal the things hidden: By Thy kindness, O Redeemer, overlook them. Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. The Innocent, seized, not refusing to be led; condemned by false witnesses because of impious men O Christ, keep safe those whom Thou hast redeemed. Hear us, O Lord, and have mercy, because we have sinned against Thee. Today’s reading is from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Philippians 3:17-4:1 Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. It's all too easy to develop blind spots. We can absorb worldly values unthinkingly and fail to be true to Christ. The Lord is full of understanding and forgiveness. We know that. A brave thing to say to God is: show me my blind spots! Show me where I do not see things as you see them, Lord. Dare you make that prayer? When we come to God with a prayer like that, God is understanding, gentle, and full of kindness. We are not loved because we’re good at this! Spend a moment resting in this certainty: with all your blind spots and imperfections, you are utterly loved . . . Jesus turns everything upside down. Worldly glory becomes shameful; his shameful death becomes glory, and so on. As you listen again to this passage, notice all the mentions of the word ‘glory’. In the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, he offers a petition to be said at the beginning of each hour of prayer: “Ask God for the grace that all your intentions and actions be purely for the service and glory of God.” What an aspiration. Are you brave enough to ask for that grace? That all your intentions and actions be purely for the service and glory of God . . . Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.