Te Deum Part 7 You overcame the sting of death, and opened the kingdom of all believers.
This weekend, at most Masses and throughout the week at the 5:15 p.m. daily Mass, we sing “Now Thank We all Our God” to the tune NUN DANKET by Martin Rinkart (1586-1649) and Johann Cruger (1598-1662) adapted by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and translated by Catherine Winksorth (1827-1878). In the second verse we sing, “O may this gracious God through all our life be near us. With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us. Preserve us in his grace, and guide us in distress and free us from all sin, till heaven we possess.”
To you, O Christ, we offer our praise, our very lives. We celebrate the great victory of our great King Jesus who overcame death and unlocked the gates of heaven to all who believe. This is our assurance in faith. If we believe, we shall be with the Lord for all eternity. In the meantime, we are the hands and feet of Christ. Like the apostles, we can bring the Good News to others. However, we need to know our limitations.
Jesus reminds us of this in the gospel we read this Sunday from Mark 1:21-28. Jesus reminds us of his divinity by driving out the unclean spirit. We need this divine help. His mission is extended beyond the capacity of our human capacity. When compared to all creatures in the universe, our humanity and time span on earth is short, the scope of our attention is small, but each of us are called to bring this Good News to those around us, and with divine help, drive out demons, by stamping out the evil around us. This begins by examining our conscience and strengthening our belief in God. This season of Ordinary time, gives us time to do this, with the season of Lent approaching quickly.
“Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.” (Psalm 95:6-7)