Celebrating Eastertide from Home: Wednesday in the 4th Week of Easter
In these worship resources,
we continue our journey in Eastertide.
“O generous love”
Reflection on Eastertide and ideas for celebrating this season from home
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis;
illuminet vultum suum super nos,
et misereatur nostri.
Psalm 66 (67):1
The Liturgy of the Word
Short Reflection
The opening of today’s psalm is well-known to many of us.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.
The Latin version of this verse has an extra line
et misereatur nostri.
This reinforces the opening of the psalm. It’s about the grace of God.
What is the grace of God?
It is the continual outpouring of God’s love, showering upon us: never-ending, generous, without limit, unconditional, gratuitous, undeserved.
In terms of the Holy Trinity, it is the Father’s sending of the Son to earth, in the fellowship (communicatio Spiritus Sancti) of the Holy Spirit; a continual cycle of love poured out for us. that we might share in God’s divinity.
What an overwhelming gift!
O generous love! That he who smote
in man for man the foe;
the double agony of man
for man should undergo.
Saint John Henry Newman
The ancient Greek word ἀγών translated in the hymn as “agony” could also mean “conflict”, “struggle” or “contest”.*
The new man (Jesus) has entered into the life of Adam (representing all humankind). His conquest over the ancient foe** won – he has redeemed us – we can join in the final stanza of Newman’s hymn:
Praise to the Holiest in the height
and in the depth be praise;
in all his words most wonderful,
most sure in all his ways.
In these strange times, we are invited to take the opportunity to become aware of God’s presence – God’s constant outpouring of love for us and all humankind, and so to become caught up in the virtuous circle of love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit – that as Christ shared in our humanity, so we might share in his divinity.
Pray for those who bring light into others’ lives.
Pray for essential workers.
Pray for us all.
May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us.
And show us his mercy.
* Anthony Gelston, The double agony
** See yesterday‘s short commentary (God’s time is the very best time)
Music for reflection *
An Eastertide hymn
1 Blest be the everlasting God,
the Father of our Lord!
Be God’s abounding mercy praised,
and majesty adored!
2 When from the dead he raised his Son,
and called him to the sky,
God gave our souls a lively hope
that they should never die.
3 There’s an inheritance divine
reserved against that day;
’tis uncorrupted, undefiled,
and cannot fade away
4 Saints by the power of God are kept,
till that salvation come
we walk by faith as strangers here,
till Christ shall call us home.
Isaac Watts, alt.
Alternative Eastertide Hymn (especially for the evening)
1 As spring buds forth your praise, O Christ,
We too proclaim you, Lord, enthroned:
For in your person we have passed
From exile to our Father’s home.
2 Compassion for our wintered earth
Brings forth a radiant world restored;
Flung open is the realm of life
To all whose life proclaims you Lord.
3 New growth springs up where all seemed dead;
Now open is the tomb once sealed.
The stone is rolled away that we
To resurrection life may yield.
4 With evening here, stay with us. Lord,
That Easter’s joy may never end.
In you our world can sing afresh;
In you our earth is sacrament.
Aelred-Seton Shanley
© 1999 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications,
3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60609-2523
from ‘Hymns for Prayer & Praise‘
The Lord’s Prayer
You can say this in any language you choose.
Here it is, in English, Latin and French.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in cælis;
sanctificatur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia tuum est regnum,
et potestas, et gloria, in saecula.
Amen.
Notre Père qui es aux cieux,
que ton nom soit sanctifié.
Que ton règne vienne.
Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offences
comme nous pardonnons aussi
à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,
mais délivre-nous du mal.
Car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire
pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.
Concluding prayer
O God,
whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people:
grant that when we hear his voice
we may know him who calls us each by name,
and follow where he leads;
who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Alleluia!
In these strange times, we are called to trust
Other resources
Acknowledgements
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Collects are from the Scottish Episcopal Church, 1982.
The hymn ‘As spring buds forth your praise, O Christ’ is taken from ‘Hymns for Prayer & Praise‘.
Images, unless otherwise stated, are by Alistair Warwick.
Image of the ἀγών from https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
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* You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud
