I will sing to my God a new song: O Lord, you are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible. Let all your creatures serve you, for you spoke, and they were made. You sent forth your Spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist your voice. For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters; at your presence the rocks shall melt like wax, but to those who fear you you will continue to show mercy. --Judith 16:13-15 吟詠新詩稱揚上主，* 高呼祂的聖名。 祂是消除戰爭的天主，* 祂的名號是上主。 我們要歌頌上主，* 高唱新歌讚美天主： 上主，祢實在偉大，實在光榮， * 祢的德能超羣出眾，戰無不勝。 願祢所創造的萬物都服事祢，* 因爲祢一發言，萬物造成。 祢一噓氣，一切形成，* 祢一出命，無人抗拒。 羣山基礎隨水流動，* 磐石在祢面前，像蠟熔化。 祢對敬畏祢的人， 仍然大發慈悲。 Cantábo Deo meo hymnum novum:† Dómine, magnus es tu et clarus,* mirábilis in virtúte et insuperábilis. 14 Tibi sérviat omnis creatúra tua,* quóniam dixísti, et facta sunt, misísti spíritum tuum, et ædificáta sunt,* et non est, qui resístat voci tuæ. 15 Montes enim a fundaméntis agitabúntur cum aquis,* petræ autem a fácie tua tamquam cera liquéscent. Illis autem qui timent te* propítius adhuc eris. --Judith 16:13-15
Long faces cannot proclaim Jesus
(Vatican Radio) The Holy Spirit is the "author" of Christian joy and to proclaim the Gospel we need to have joy in our hearts gifted us by the Spirit of God. There is a certain understanding of Christian life that is marked by sadness, but long faces cannot proclaim Jesus. Joy alone and praise of God are the only way to advance the Gospel. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta. Emer McCarthy reports:
Pope Francis began by commenting on the daily readings. The first reading, from the prophet Zephaniah, contains the exclamation "Rejoice! Cries of joy, the Lord is in your midst. " The second, from the Gospel, tells the story of Elizabeth and her son that "rejoices" in the womb on hearing the words of Mary. The Pope noted, "it all speaks of joy, the joy that is celebration." Yet, he continues, "we Christians are not so accustomed to speak of joy, of happiness", "I think often we prefer to complain". Instead, it is "the Holy Spirit that gives us joy":
"It’s the Spirit that guides us: He is the author of joy, the Creator of joy. And this joy in the Holy Spirit gives us true Christian freedom. Without joy, we Christians cannot become free, we become slaves to our sorrows. The great Paul VI said that you cannot advance the Gospel with sad, hopeless, discouraged Christians. You cannot. A certain mournful behavior, no? Often Christians behave as if they were going to a funeral procession rather than to praise God, no? And this joy comes from praise, Mary’s praise, this praise that Zephaniah speaks of, Simeon and Anna’s praise: this praise of God! "
And how do we praise God? We praise Him by coming out of ourselves, we praise Him "freely, like the grace that He gives us is free," said Pope Francis. This pushes us to an examination of conscience on how to pray to God, said Pope Francis, who then turned to those present with a question:
"You here at Mass, do you give praise to God or do you only petition God and thank God? Do you praise God? '. This is something new, new in our new spiritual life. Giving praise to God, coming out of ourselves to give praise; spending a little bit of time giving praise. But ‘this Mass is so long!’ If you do not praise God, you will never know the gratuity of spending time praising God, the Mass is long. But if you go with this attitude of joy, of praise to God, that is beautiful! This is what eternity will be: giving praise to God! And that will not be boring: it will be beautiful! This joy makes us free. "
The model of this praise, and this joy, is once again the Mother of Jesus "The Church – recalled Pope Francis – calls her the "cause of our joy," Cause Nostrae Letitiae. Why? Because she brings the greatest joy that is Jesus ":
"We need to pray to Our Lady, so that bringing Jesus give us the grace of joy, the joy of freedom. That it give us the grace to praise, to praise with a prayer of gratuitous praise, because He is worthy of praise, always. Pray to Our Lady and say to her what the Church says:Veni, Precelsa Domina, Maria, tu nos visita, Lady, thou who art so great, visit us and give us joy. "
--Pope Francis
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/05/31/pope_francis:_long_faces_cannot_proclaim_jesus/en1-697158
of the Vatican Radio website
OVERCOMING SPIRITUAL DISAPPOINTMENT
Over the years, I've discovered two very simple, yet powerful, antibiotics for the spiritual blues. Neither requires hours of study or days of labor. Neither will cost you a fortune—not even a single dime. Yet, when it seems as though God has abandoned you, put the two together and you will discover a formula filled with hope.
I. GOD INHABITS PRAISE
The biggest cure for spiritual disappointment is praise. When we feel God is not with us, that he's absent, that he's let us down, or when we feel our spiritual lives aren't clicking, we need the discipline of praise! Whenever I'm down, praise helps me give thanks in advance for the good that is going to come. Start thanking God for the victory ahead for you in every downer situation you're in. Praise his awe-inspiring attributes. Praise him for loving you as a Father. Thank him for his trustworthiness. Praise him for answering your prayers.
In Psalm 22, David starts with a prayer of disappointment but moves into praise:
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel."
God inhabits praise!
II. GOD INHABITS HISTORY
The second cure for spiritual disappointment is history. Review your own history, and review the history of the people of God. Review the story of your own beginning with Christ and incidents where you were sure of his faithfulness. Then when you pray, think of Abraham, Moses, David, the story of Jesus, and the birth of the church.
I often look back on the long up-and-down history of the church and God's people, the many struggles and trials. Yet, through it all, God consistently kept his promises. When I consider such history, it propels me past feelings of hopelessness—because I begin to sense the bigger picture of God's vision.
After questioning God in Psalm 22, David starts into the history of Israel and how God has graciously watched over his people. He continues with a clear picture of Christ's death and resurrection.
There's a powerful lesson in David's formula. First, we are honest before God. Then, we remember what God has done in our lives, in the history of all his people. Then, we look forward to God's ultimate redemptive plan. When we pray like this, we may even feel like we are in a "thin place"—here our earthly lives draw nearer to heaven. God will meet us where we hurt and help us see more clearly through the fog. God always inhabits history!
At some point in all our lives, we will face spiritual disappointment. But when we are honest with ourselves and with God, when we cry out to him, when we praise him and remember his work in our lives and in the story of his people, an amazing thing happens. We stop focusing on ourselves and our own disappointments and start focusing on God . . . never forgetting the promise in Romans 8:28: "We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
(Howard Butt, http://www.thehighcalling.org/Library/ViewLibrary.asp?LibraryID=4984&WID=380&T=H&SID=12675)
O Jesus, only love of my heart,
I wish to suffer what I suffer
and all Thou wilt have me suffer,
for Thy pure love
not because of the merits I may acquire,
nor for the rewards Thou hast promised me
but only to please Thee,
to praise Thee,
to bless Thee as well in sorrow as in joy.
(Blessed Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light, p 124)
11 "Dignus es, Domine et Deus noster,
accipere gloriam et honorem et virtutem,
quia tu creasti omnia,
et propter voluntatem tuam erant et creata sunt".
9 ..."Dignus es accipere librum
et aperire signacula eius,
quoniam occisus es et redemisti Deo in sanguine tuo
ex omni tribu et lingua et populo et natione;
10 et fecisti eos Deo nostro regnum et sacerdotes,
et regnabunt super terram".
12 ..."Dignus est Agnus, qui occisus est, accipere virtutem et divitias et sapientiam
et fortitudinem et honorem et gloriam et benedictionem".
You are worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power;
for you made all things, and it is by your will that they existed and were created.
You are worthy, Lord, to receive the book and open its seals,
for you were killed, and with your blood you have ransomed people
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and made them rulers and priests for God;
and they will rule over the earth.
The Lamb is worthy, who was killed, to receive power and riches and wisdom,
strength and honour, glory and blessing.
(Revelation 4:11; 5:9,10,12)
The ancient principle, Contemplata aliis trádere (hand on to others the fruits of prayer) ... concerns in the first place the one who 'hands on', the preacher or servant of the Word: he is entitled to communicate--uniquely and exclusively--only contemplata, thoughts passed through prayer.
(John Paul II, Be not afraid, p 34)
4 Quando video caelos tuos, opera digitorum tuorum,
lunam et stellas, quae tu fundasti,
5 quid est homo, quod memor es eius,
aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum?
6 Minuisti eum paulo minus ab angelis,
gloria et honore coronasti eum
7 et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius:
8 oves et boves universas,
insuper et pecora campi,
9 volucres caeli et pisces maris,
quaecumque perambulant semitas maris.
10 Domine, Dominus noster,
quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra!
When I see the heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars, which you set in their place –
what is man, that you should take thought for him?
what is the son of man, that you should look after him?
You have made him but one step lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honour;
you have set him over the works of your hands.
You have put everything beneath his feet,
cattle and sheep and the beasts of the field,
the birds in the air and the fish in the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the waters.
How wonderful is your name above all the earth,
O Lord, our Lord!
(Psalm 8:4-10)
2 Bonum est confiteri Domino
et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime,
3 annuntiare mane misericordiam tuam
et veritatem tuam per noctem
4 in decachordo et psalterio,
cum cantico in cithara.
5 Quia delectasti me, Domine, in factura tua,
et in operibus manuum tuarum exsultabo.
6 Quam magnificata sunt opera tua, Domine:
nimis profundae factae sunt cogitationes tuae.
7 Vir insipiens non cognoscet,
et stultus non intelleget haec.
It is good to praise the Lord,
and to sing psalms to your name, O Most High,
to proclaim your mercy in the morning
and your faithfulness by night;
on the ten-stringed lyre and the harp,
with songs upon the lyre.
For you give me joy, Lord, in your creation:
I rejoice in the work of your hands.
How great are your works, O Lord,
how immeasurably deep your thoughts.
The fool does not hear,
the slow-witted do not understand.
(Psalm 92:2-7)