Oddwalk Ministries

Category: reflection

christmas, holiday, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, Joy, Justice, ministry, prayer, quote, reflection

The Work of Christmas

It’s a busy few weeks for me (Orin) right now, yet it is my week for a Jesus-Justice-Joy post.  In the midst of my busy-ness, occasionally my thoughts turn to why it is I am so busy, with a follow-up question of whether I see in all the things I do a building of God’s reign, or, if you like, am I going about the Lord’s work?

This poem, pictured, has been a dear one to me ever since I became aware of it some years back. As we are just two days past the Church’s celebration of Christmastide, I thought it appropriate to share with you all today.  May we all take a second to see if we are, in all we do, building a world filled with Jesus, with Justice, and with Joy.

 

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Maker of All Things

I (Orin) am a privileged and joy-filled composer today.

First, yesterday, the 9:30 J&A choir took my “An Advent Fantasia” for a spin (their first time with it) this morning, and sang it warmly and well. [ GIA: https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/an-advent-fantasia-print-g8785 ] Shrine peeps may remember this from some years back. The combined choirs at the 11pm Christmas Eve mass will sing it as their first prelude too.

Then, yesterday afternoon, the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus beautifully sang my newest creation (like, from Dec. 3-5 of this year), “Maker of All Things” as the encore to the program “Fulfillment: An Irish Christmas.” My original Christmas text, which I posted on Facebook a couple days ago – with pseudonym provided by Philip Barnes – and an arrangement of the Irish melody SLANE (“Be Thou My Vision,” etc.). I’ll share audio here when I can.

My wife Erin, when she attends SLCC concerts, will, to help keep herself engaged, scribble little notes in the program as the concert progresses. The text of my piece was on the back cover of the program, next to which you can see her surprise in her purple notes – I hadn’t told her about any of this, and she hadn’t noticed anything (here or in the program) until PB started announcing it to the audience.

She also pointed out afterward something that had somehow slipped my mind – we sang “Lord of All Hopefulness” (another SLANE text) at my dad’s funeral and at the little memorial for both Mom and Dad here in STL these past few months. A little temporary amnesia allowed for a little “God-wink” today.

“Hope of the nations, and hope of each heart:
Dwell in us, love us, and never depart.”

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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We Cannot Do Everything

The wreath, with a candle marking each week of the season, is a traditional symbol of the Advent. (CNS photo/Lisa A. Johnston, St. Louis Review)

This morning, I (Orin) was briefly interviewed by Matt Reichert, who hosts the NPM Ministry Monday podcast, and is co-host of the great “Open Your Hymnal” podcast on Catholic liturgical music. Matt is reaching out to several parish music directors – who this time of year have 12 or 14 irons in the fire – to ask them, “What do you do to remain sane during Advent?” It’s such a busy time for folks in church music, so the question and the podcast episodes could not come out at a better time. It will likely be split into two parts, with my part likely airing a week from today, or possibly in the next one. We’ll be sure to let you know!

One of the things we briefly talked about was a few lines from what is commonly known as the “Oscar Romero Prayer,” even though he didn’t write it. Check the endnotes at the link above:

This prayer was first presented by Cardinal Dearden in 1979 and quoted by Pope Francis in 2015. This reflection is an excerpt from a homily written for Cardinal Dearden by then-Fr. Ken Untener on the occasion of the Mass for Deceased Priests, October 25, 1979. Pope Francis quoted Cardinal Dearden in his remarks to the Roman Curia on December 21, 2015. Fr. Untener was named bishop of Saginaw, Michigan, in 1980.

The line that came up is this:

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

For me, it’s very freeing, perhaps even joyful, this particular sense of liberation. I, and we, do the best we can with the time, energy, and resources available to us, knowing that we can’t do it all – and that there is a broad Christian community who is also working very hard to build the reign of God on earth.

If you don’t know the whole prayer, please do take a moment to read it and pray it, perhaps even make it a daily part of your advent spirituality.

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By marriage, I am saying…

Today, Orin and Erin celebrate their 14th wedding anniversary!  Here’s a photo of them on that fateful day.

Marriage, as a sacrament, can be described lots of different ways.  Here are a few ways that I (Orin) like to think about it.

1 – By marriage, I am saying to my spouse that one of my life’s tasks is to make sure she gets to heaven.  That can take a lot of different forms, of course – helping her avoid sin, urging her to pray, etc.

2 – By marriage, I am saying to my spouse that her needs come first, over mine.  This facet is of course a difficult one for most any married person to live; I am no exception.  But, if I am to show the world by my marriage that I love Erin the way Christ loves us, I must be willing to sacrifice my very self for her.

3 – By marriage, I am saying to my spouse that I want to bring forth life with her.  While we have not been blessed with children (not yet anyway, nor do we suspect anything at the moment), there are lots of ways that we bring forth life, both with each other and in the world.  In fact, I’ve often wondered if perhaps the many ministries in the Church I have, especially with youth, are not more possible because of my particular family circumstance.

If you have a person in your life to whom you are married – or are considering that step with – might I suggest you take a moment to think on and pray with the three facets above, and see what the Lord might be calling you to next in your relationship.