Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

December 9, 2009

Gaudete, gaudete, Christus est natus
Ex Maria, virgine, gaudete!
Some say, that ever ’gainst that season comes
Wherein our Savior’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long:
And the, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm;
So hallow’d and so gracious is the time.
---Wm. Shakespeare---

Gaudete!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Christ is born of Virgin Mary, Rejoice!

This Sunday we celebrate the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of the pink candle; the Sunday to Rejoice, traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday.

Gaudete Sunday is a day to lighten up on self-examination, and rejoice in the coming of our savior. It reminds us that what all creation has been waiting for is fast approaching – that great event when Immanuel, God with us, is born in a manger. Our first reading from the prophet Zephaniah tells us to sing aloud, shout, and rejoice, because the Lord has redeemed his people.

Gaudete Sunday also reminds us to rejoice in the not-yet reality of this earth’s full redemption when Christ returns. For until the day when every person is fed and clothed and knows that they are loved by God; until the day when the earth is at peace, we wait. We wait expectantly, actively, prayerfully, and in the meantime, the joy and hope of the incarnation lights our path.

But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah
Too small to be among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
One who is to be ruler in Israel?
Whose origin is from of old,
From ancient times.
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
By the strength of the Lord, his God;
And they shall remain, for now his greatness
Shall reach to the ends of the earth;
He shall be peace.
---Micah 5:1,3---

Praying the Hours: Sext

Some Thoughts on Acedia

This week we look at the sixth hour of prayer known as Sext.

Prayers at noontime are meant to revive what may be a lagging attention to the Spirit. They are also meant to refresh us.

In the desert, where abbas and ammas gathered to deepen their life in Christ, the noonday time was a time fraught with the temptation to stop caring about the purpose of the solitary life and to lapse into apathy. The term used for that easy slide into spiritual naptime was called acedia, also known as the "devil of the noonday".

We can see why in the desert climate this would be so. High noon with no shade can make even the most energetic and committed person long for a cool drink and a place to rest.

Acedia refers to a different order of longing. Acedia is about giving up and forgetting about the gifts of grace which have been showered upon us. The sufferers in Dante's Inferno (Canto 8), fixed in the slime cry out their own experience of the "noon day devil."

"Sullen were we in the sweet air that is gladdened by the sun, carrying lazy smoke within our heart..."

This is a beautiful description of acedia, I think. It takes spiritual commitment and discipline to continue to turn toward God, when I am weary of the struggle, when I don’t feel like spending the energy, or when I am not confident that God is present.

We can take encouragement from the reality that all praying persons have this experience from time to time.

"St. Teresa of Avila says that we must keep the fire of our love going. We have no wood when we are in the state of aridity and darkness, but must we not at least cast in a few small straws? Surely Jesus can keep that fire going all by Himself! Nevertheless, He likes to see us feeding it a little."

St. Theresa reminds us that it takes very little effort to continue to offer ourselves in prayer. We cast on to the embers of our heart a few straws-Christ turns our offering into a crackling fire. Willingness is the key when confronted by acedia.

So the hour of Sext, noonday prayer, keeps the fire of prayer tended. The Spirit of noonday prayer breathes upon the embers of our desire so that the flame of longing for God is never extinguished.

Pray at noon, and morning and evening prayer will be brighter and deeper and richer.

Blessings,
Debra

Daily Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer

This Week at St. James

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For Matt Rogers, our Postulant
For those who are deployed and their families.

In Closing:

What Adam’s disobedience cost,
Let holy scripture say:
Ourselves estranged, an Eden lost,
And then a judgment day:
Each day a judgment day.
 
An Ark of Mercy rode the Flood;
But we, where waters swirled,
Rebuilt, impatient of the good,
Another fallen world:
An unrepentant world.
 
And now a Child is Adam’s heir,
Is Adam’s hope and Lord.
Sing joyful carols everywhere
That Eden is restored:
In Jesus is restored.
 
Regained is Adam’s blessedness;
The angels sheathe their swords.
In joyful carols all confess
The Kingdom is the Lord’s:
The glory is the Lord’s!

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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