Theirs Is the Kingdom of Heaven

Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
All Saints' Day

The Beatitudes
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:1-12



FOR ALL THE SAINTS
Text: William W. How
Tune: SINE NOMINE, Ralph Vaughan Williams,

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

All Saints, All the Time

The feast of All Saints is still several days away, but already the festal playlist is looping nonstop in my head.

Yesterday morning it was “For All the Saints.” Today it was “Sing with All the Saints in Glory” (to the tune MISSISSIPPI, not HYMN TO JOY, by the way). “Jerusalem, My Happy Home” and “Behold a Host Arrayed in White” have received ample playtime on the mental airwaves as well. I'm listening to WCEG…All Saints, all the time.

I found a new old one last night as I wandered through my hymnal looking for eucharistic hymns appropriate to the day. J. K. Wilhelm Loehe, the nineteenth-century German pastor, penned the text of “Wide Open Stand the Gates,” which the Lutheran Service Book sets to JERUSALEM, DU HOCHGEBAUTE STADT, a tune also used for another hymn appropriate to the day (“Jerusalem, O City Fair and High”).

Loehe’s text echoes Revelation 7, the first reading appointed for All Saints:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?"

I answered, "Sir, you know."

And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

"they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

The hymn also calls to mind the words of our liturgy:

Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious Name, evermore praising you and saying:

Holy, holy, holy Lord God of power and might:
Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed are You, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have had mercy on those whom You created and sent Your only-begotten Son into our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. With repentant joy we receive the salvation accomplished for us by the all-availing sacrifice of His body and His blood on the cross.

Gathered in the name and the remembrance of Jesus, we beg You, O Lord, to forgive, renew, and strengthen us with Your Word and Spirit. Grant us faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood as He bids us do in His own testament. Gather us together, we pray, from the ends of the earth to celebrate with all the faithful the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which has no end. Graciously receive our prayers; deliver and preserve us. To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

We will formally celebrate All Saints this Sunday, and I’m guaranteed to have the festal soundtrack playing nonstop in my head until then—at the least. But the wonderful thing about our worship is that it makes every Sunday an All Saints Sunday as we weekly join our praises together with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and pray for the divine gathering of Christians from the ends of the earth to celebrate with all the faithful the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which has no end.

It may not be WCEG, but it’s All Saints, all the time.

Wide Open Stand the Gates
Text: J. K. Wilhelm Loehe, 1808-72; tr. Herman G Stuempfle, Jr.
Tune: JERUSALEM, DU HOCHGEBAUTE STADT

Wide open stand the gates adorned with pearl,
While round God’s golden throne
The choirs of saints in endless circles curl,
And joyous praise the Son!
They watch him now descending
To visit waiting earth.
The Lord of Life unending
Brings dying hope new birth!

He speaks the Word the bread and wine to bless:
“This is My flesh and blood!”
He bids us eat and drink with thankfulness
This gift of holy food.
All human thought must falter—
Our God stoops low to heal,
Now present on the altar,
For us both host and meal!

The cherubim, their faces veiled from light,
While saints in wonder kneel,
Sing praise to Him whose face with glory bright
No earthly masks conceal.
This sacrament God gives us
Binds us in unity,
Joins earth with heaven beyond us,
Time with eternity.

The Son Sets You Free

Twenty-Fourth Sunday After Pentecost (A)
Feast of the Reformation

The Children of Abraham

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

John 8:31-36

EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Complete Cantata (BWV 80)

Performers : Barbara Schlick (Soprano), Gérard Lesne (Countertenor), Howard Crook (Tenor), Peter Kooy (Bass)
Director : Philippe Herreweghe

PART I
1. Choral : Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott
2. Aria : Alles, was von Gott geboren



1. Chorus [Verse 1] (S, A, T, B)

A mighty fortress is our God,
A sure defense and armor;
He helps us free from ev'ry need
Which us till now hath stricken.
The ancient wicked foe,
Grim is his intent,
Vast might and deceit
His cruel weapons are,
On earth is not his equal.

2. Aria (B) and Chorale [Verse 2] (S)

(B)
All that which of God is fathered
Is for victory intended.

(S)
With our own might is nothing done,
We face so soon destruction.
He strives for us, the righteous man,
Whom God himself hath chosen.

(B)
Who hath Christ's own bloodstained flag
In baptism sworn allegiance
Wins in spirit ever more.

(S)
Ask thou who he is?
His name: Jesus Christ,
The Lord of Sabaoth,
There is no other god,
The field is his forever.

(B)
All that which of God is fathered
Is for victory intended.


PART II
3. Recitativo : Erwäge doch
4. Aria : Komm in mein Herzenshaus
5. Choral : Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär



3. Recit. (B)

Consider well, O child of God, this love so mighty,
Which Jesus hath
In his own blood for thee now written;
By which he thee
For war opposing Satan's host, opposing world and error,
Enlisted thee!
Yield not within thy spirit
To Satan and his viciousness!
Let not thy heart,
Which is on earth God's heav'nly kingdom,
Become a wasteland!
Confess thy guilt with grief and pain,
That Christ's own soul to thine be firm united!

4. Aria (S)

Come in my heart's abode,
Lord Jesus, my desiring!

Drive world and Satan out,
And let thine image find in me new glory!
Hence, prideful cloud of sin!

5. Chorale [Verse 3] (S, A, T, B)

And were the world with devils filled,
Intending to devour us,
Our fear e'en yet would be not great,
For we shall win the vict'ry.
The prince of this world,
How grim may he be,
Worketh us no ill,
That is, he is destroyed.
One little word can fell him.


PART III
6. Recitativo : So stehe dann
7. Duetto : Wie selig sind doch die
8. Choral : Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn



6. Recit. (T)

So stand then under Christ's own bloodstained flag and banner,
O spirit, firm,
And trust that this thy head betrays thee not,
His victory
E'en thee the way to gain thy crown prepareth!
March gladly on to war!
If thou but God's own word
Obey as well as hearken,
Then shall the foe be forced to leave the battle;
Thy Savior is thy shield.

7. Aria (A, T)

How blessed though are those who God hold in their voices,
More blessed still the heart which him in faith doth hold!
Unconquered it abides, can deal the foe destruction,
And shall at last be crowned when it shall death defeat.

8. Chorale [Verse 4] (S, A, T, B)

That word they must allow to stand,
No thanks to all their efforts.
He is with us by his own plan,
With his own gifts and Spirit.
Our body let them take,
Wealth, rank, child and wife,
Let them all be lost,
And still they cannot win;
His realm is ours forever.

Jesus Teaches About Two Kingdoms

Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost (A)

Paying Taxes to Caesar

Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"

"Caesar's," they replied.

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Matthew 22:15-22



Holy God, We Praise Thy Name
Text: Latin, 4th century; German version, Katholisches Gesangbuch, Vienna, 1774
Translation: Clarence A. Walworth, 1820-1900, alt.
Tune: Grosser Gott

Holy God, we praise Thy name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee.
All on earth thy scepter claim,
All in heaven above adore Thee.
Infinite your vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.

Hark! The glad celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising;
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising,
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
"Holy, holy, holy Lord!"

Lo, the apostolic train
Join Thy sacred name to hallow;
Prophets swell the glad refrain,
And the white robed martyrs follow;
And from morn to set of sun
Through the Church the song goes on.

Thou art King of Glory, Christ;
Son of God, yet born of Mary.
For us sinners sacrificed,
As to death a Tributary,
First to break the bars of death,
Thou hast opened heaven to faith.

Holy Father, holy Son,
Holy Spirit, three we name Thee,
Though in essence only one;
Undivided God we claim Thee
And, adoring, bend the knee
While we own the mystery.

Joe the Plumber, Poster Boy for the McCain Campaign

I knew something didn't seem quite right when I first watched the "Joe the Plumber vs. Barack the Taxocrat" segment on the news the other night. But what could be more blue-collar-American than a plumber? And what could be a better rags-to-riches, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps American Dream story than a blue-collar plumber who now clears $250,000 a year? And who better to critique the Obama tax plan?

But I don't know Joe the Plumber from George the Garbageman, so I imagined he must be a Horatio Alger story come to life. Why, even the moniker "Joe the Plumber" evokes the standard Algerian protagonists of such classic dime novels as Ragged Dick, or Street Life in New York with the Bootblacks; Frank Fowler, the Cash Boy; Paul, the Peddler, or the Fortunes of a Young Street Merchant; and Joe the Hotel Boy, or Winning Out by Pluck.

As we all know from last night's debate, Joe the Plumber has experienced another such transformation, this one political, as he became Joe the Plumber, Poster Boy for the McCain Campaign. The candidates dropped Joe the Plumber's name two dozen times during their debate. McCain was intent on using Joe the Plumber's story to prove his point that Obama wants to sock it to small business owners, who despise the Democrat's plan to execute the economy by lethal taxation. Just ask Joe the Plumber. He knows.

Except...he doesn't.

Joe the Plumber isn't a small business owner. He just works for one. Joe the Plumber doesn't clear $250,000 a year. ("Not even close," he says.) He just wants to. Someday. Today, Joe the Plumber isn't even a licensed plumber. He hopes to take over his boss's existing plumbing business one day, which will cost about $250,000. He admits that even then he will be in no danger of becoming a Platinum Patron of the Barack Obama Share-the-Wealth Foundation.

This morning, ABC's Diane Sawyer asked Joe the Plumber if he knew he would be a "major part" of the debate last night. "Oh, no, no. No one's contacted me as far as if I was going to be on the debate or as far as my name being used."

You would think McCain would want to check out his new six-shooter before showing up at the 08 Corral at high noon with it holstered at his hip. You would think. But you'd be wrong.

Poor guy.

Joint Statement from Texas Bishops on Abortion

From Bishops Vann and Farrell of the Forth Worth and Dallas dioceses:

Therefore, we cannot make more clear the seriousness of the overriding issue of abortion – while not the “only issue” – it is the defining moral issue, not only today, but of the last 35 years. Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, more than 48 million innocent lives have been lost. Each year in our nation more than one million lives are lost through legalized abortion. Countless other lives are also lost through embryonic stem cell research. In the coming months our nation will once again elect our political leaders. This electoral cycle affords us an opportunity to promote the culture of life in our nation. As Catholics we are morally obligated to pray, to act, and to vote to abolish the evil of abortion in America, limiting it as much as we can until it is finally abolished.

Read the whole statement.

A Boy, a Girl, and an Apple

I'm still incredulous. What a story!

In the beginning, there was a boy, a girl and an apple.

He was a teenager in a concentration camp in Nazi-controlled Germany. She was a bit younger, living free in the village, her family posing as Christians. Their eyes met through a barbed-wire fence and she wondered what she could do for this handsome young man.

She was carrying apples, and decided to throw one over the fence. He caught it and ran away toward the barracks. And so it began.

Continue reading...

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost (A)

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'

"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.

"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

Matthew 22:1-14

Audio File: Ach! Ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe
(Complete Cantata. Requires RealPlayer.)

ACH! ICH SEHE, ITZT, DA ICH ZUR HOCHZEIT GEHE
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantata BWV 162

1. Aria (B)
Ah! I see now,
As I go to join the marriage,
Bliss and mis'ry.
Spirit's bane and bread of life,
Heaven, hell, and life and death,
Heaven's rays and hellfire's burning
Are together.
Jesus, help me to survive now!

2. Recit. (T)
O awesome marriage feast,
To which the king of heaven
To man his summons sends!
Is then the wretched bride,
The nature of mankind, not much too poor and worthless,
That God Almighty's Son to her be wed?
O awesome marriage feast,
How is our flesh come into such great honor,
That God's own Son
Hath it for evermore accepted?
Though heaven is his throne
And earth doth offer to his feet a footstool,
Yet would he kiss the world,
His bride and most beloved!
The marriage supper is prepared,
The fatted calf is slaughtered.
How glorious is ev'rything made ready!
How happy he whom faith now leadeth hither,
And how accursed is yet he who this feast disdaineth!

3. Aria (S)
Jesus, fountain of all mercy,
Quicken me, thy wretched guest,
For thou hast invited me!
I am faint, weak and sore laden,
Ah, enliven now my spirit,
Ah, how starved I am for thee!
Bread of life, which I have chosen,
Come, unite thyself to me!

4. Recit. (A)
My Jesus, let me not
Without a robe approach the marriage,
That on me fall thy judgment not;
With horror have I been a witness
As once the wanton wedding guest,
Without a robe appearing,
Rejected and condemned thou hast!
I know mine own unworthiness:
Ah! Give to me the marriage robe of faith;
Let thine own merits serve as mine adornment!
Give as my wedding garment
Salvation's cloak, the candid silk of chasteness!
Ah! Let thy blood, that noble purple, cover
The ancient cloak of Adam and all its sinful patches,
And I'll be fair and pure
And thee most welcome be,
And I'll right worthily the lamb's high feast be tasting.

5. Aria (A, T)
Now in my God am I made glad!
The pow'r of love so much hath stirred him,
That he hath in this time of grace
With simple favor put around me
The raiment of his righteousness.
I know he'll give, when life is over,
His glory's shining robe
To me in heaven also.

6. Chorale (S, A, T, B)
Ah, I have already witnessed
This his awesome majesty.
Soon now shall I be made lovely
In the shining heav'nly robe;
In a golden crown of glory
Shall I stand before God's throne there,
Gazing at that state of joy
Which no end can ever know.

Lifeguard on Duty

There's Always Next Year

There's an old radio commercial that I remember hearing as a boy in Illinois. I've long since forgotten the company or product it pitched, but one line stuck in my head these fifteen years. Toward the end of the spot a boy asks his father:

Was that before the Cubs and the White Sox were in the World Series every year?

Ah, if only.

A DYING CUB FAN'S LAST REQUEST


My wife told me she's glad that I don't fall apart when such sports tragedies strike. Of course I'm not happy about the Cubs repeat postseason meltdown, but what am I supposed to do? I'm a Cubs fan. We Cubs fans have been falling apart for a hundred years, and we're used to picking the pieces up and putting them back together again while quietly reminding ourselves that there's always next year.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME


There's always next year. Next year...that's the hard part. Losing I can handle. Disappointment I get over. But living without that baseball game in my radio for six months...that's hard. I guess I'll have to see what the Blackhawks are up to these days. I hear they're playing at Wrigley Field this winter.

The Parable of the Tenants

The Parable of the Tenants

"Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

"The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.

"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"

"He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
"'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Matthew 21:33-46

CHRIST IS THE WORLD’S REDEEMER
Text: attr. St. Columba, 521-97
Translation: Duncan MacGregor, 1854-1923, alt.
Tune: MOVILLE, Irish

Christ is the world’s Redeemer,
The lover of the pure,
The font of heavenly wisdom,
Our trust and hope secure,
The armor of his soldiers
The Lord of earth and sky,
Our health while we are living,
Our life when we shall die.

Christ has our host surrounded
With clouds of martyrs bright,
Who wave their palms in triumph
And fire us for the fight.
Then Christ the cross ascended
To save a world undone
And, suffering for sinful,
Our full redemption won.

Down in the realm of darkness
He lay, a captive bound,
But at the hour appointed
He rose, a victor crowned.
And now, to heaven ascended,
He sits upon the throne
Whence he had never departed,
His Father’s and his own.

Glory to God the Father,
The unbegotten One,
All honor be to Jesus,
His sole begotten Son;
And to the Holy Spirit,
The perfect Trinity,
Let all the worlds give answer,
Amen so let it be.