With Longing for the Coming of God's Kingdom

I'm continuing to make progress on this little Advent Jesse Tree, which (hopefully) I'll be able to complete on Saturday in time for the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  It has been a fruitful exercise to meditate on the four scenes from the Old Testament in each corner of the image and the center image of the Mother of God and Jesus from the New Testament.

I pray best, I've learned over the years, with a brush or a pencil in hand, and this Advent is no exception.  The selection of these four scenes from the Old Testament are quite traditional and were understood, in the medieval approach to the exegesis of scripture, to be types or pre-figurements of the mystery of the Incarnation.

Which all might seem so far removed from the desperate plight of so many brothers and sisters in our world during these days of Advent. But each of these scenes are of deliverance and salvation: Daniel, in the perilous darkness of the lion's den.  The three holy youths cast into the fiery furnace.  The Lord telling Moses that God has heard the cries of the Hebrews in bondage in Egypt; and the promise of the Lord to Gideon to break the yoke of Midian, who for seven years plundered and ravaged the Israelites after they entered the Promised Land.

It is in that context, of our need for deliverance and our longing for coming of God's kingdom of justice, mercy, righteousness and peace, that we turn our eyes in expectation and hope to the holy Mother of God, Mary and her son, Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

With longing for the coming of God's kingdom, may we continue to persevere in interceding in every way for all those crying out in need during these days: for the people of Aleppo, Syria and Iraq; for persecuted Christians and all those who reviled and hated for who they are, what they look like or who they worship; for refugees and migrants in their distress and great need, and for our threatened environment and all of creatures, so wonderously made by the Creator, who inhabit it.

Praying Together In The (For Now, Metaphorical) Fiery Furnace

 For us as a human family and for the plants, animals and ecosystems and climate which we received as a gift from the Creator when He placed us as stewards on this beautiful world we call home, we are facing an unprecedented crisis: global warming and the consequent climate change.

 NASA scientists just a few days ago reported that this year, 2016, was the hottest year in the past millenium, and temperatures will continue to rise, even if we repent in time and end our reliance on fossil fuels.

Thursday, September 1st is World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, originally an initiative of Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the Orthodox Church.  Pope Francis last year invited Catholics and other religious believers and people of good will to join Orthodox Christians in praying each year for our world and the environment that is our common home.

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace propose this introduction for the Holy Hour for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation:
"Despite our sins

and the daunting challenges before us,

we never lose heart.

“The Creator does not abandon us;

he never forsakes his loving plan

or repents of having created us…

for he has united himself definitively to our earth,

and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward.”*                            

Let us pray today, and indeed throughout the year,

for the grace to show mercy to our common home."  

Prayer may seem inconsequential in the face of a threat of truly biblical proportions, but then again, prayer is always the biblical response when faced with catastrophe.  It is easy to forget that the beautiful canticle calling on all creation to praise God was sung by the three youths in the fiery furnace. (Daniel 3:57-88)

So in the fiery furnace of our own era (and our own making, unfortunately), let us pray!

On September 1st in Juneau, there will be two prayer events:

-- Holy Hour with Benediction  5:30pm-6:30pm at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

-- Interfaith Prayer Service, 7:00pm-8:00pm at Northern Light United Church, sponsored by Alaska Interfaith Power and Light.

Everyone is invited, everyone is welcome, at both events.