March 20/Fifth Wednesday of Lent
“Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. . .
Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.” ~ Daniel 3.52, 54
Sometimes prayer flows easily from our hearts to God’s ears; other times, we stumble over our words, or hesitate to pray, our voices stilled by anxiety or doubt. In these moments of incapacity, we might consider reaching for the Bible, to let God pray through us and with us in the words of scripture, even and especially when we just don’t “have it in us” to pray. “If you think your heart cannot pray, then pray with your mouth, kneel down, fold your hands, speak loudly,” wrote Jesuit priest and theologian Karl Rahner in The Need and the Blessing of Prayer. Today’s exuberant song, drawn from a later Greek addition to Daniel, lends itself beautifully to “speaking loudly,” and embodies the relationship of God to humankind that is at the center of the Christian life. As we say the words aloud, we fall into the rhythmic refrain that governs these verses: “praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.” The repetition becomes a glorious chant, as the joy of God’s greatness is drummed into our fickle human hearts, and we take it up, newly aware of the grandeur of God. Moreover, that reliable refrain underscores the nature of God as the ever-present, reliable foundation for our lives. Twentieth-century British mystic Evelyn Underhill described God as “the changeless and absolute Life, manifesting itself in all the myriad nascent, crescent, cadent lives” that his creatures live. We may flux and flex continually during our earthly sojourn, but if we anchor ourselves in the divine glory, as this joyous refrain invites us to do, we will come to know, deep in our hearts, that our lives truly begin and end through God, and with God, and in God.
God of wisdom and truth, As I journey through the busy and splintering world, may I stay grounded in my love of you. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032024.cfm
To hear the Monks of Glenstal Abbey chant the Canticle of Daniel, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-zFOe7QYpA
