Blessed is he who comes... (Part One)

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest."

(The Benedictus from the Holy Communion Service)

 

Once I'd made the connection that the Benedictus at the end of the Sanctus was a quotation from the crowds on 'Palm Sunday', and then made the connection that those crowds were quoting from Psalm 118, I found it quite enriching to have Psalm 118 in the back of my mind while saying or singing the Benedictus in church. Presumably the crowds who quoted from this Psalm saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the Psalm. And presumably if they saw him as the fulfilment of the Psalm, they were saying they recognised him as the long awaited Messiah.

 

The Benedictus is such a brief couple of sentences but when you have the whole of Psalm 118 in the back of your mind, for me at least, it really enriches what I'm saying or singing at this point of the Eucharist. I guess one of the things I'm doing at this part of the service is acknowledging my belief that Jesus was / is the Messiah, and praising God for Jesus' role in the salvation of the world. (I understand that 'Hosanna' literally originally meant "Save, we pray" which in Christian usage came to mean something more like "Praise God who saves!")

 

 

Psalm 118 (NRSV)

¹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! ²Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” ³Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” ⁴Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” ⁵Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. ⁶With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? ⁷The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. ⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. ⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. ¹⁰All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! ¹¹They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! ¹²They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! ¹³I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. ¹⁴The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. ¹⁵There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; ¹⁶the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” ¹⁷I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. ¹⁸The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. ¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. ²⁰This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. ²¹I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. ²²The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. ²³This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. ²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! ²⁶Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. ²⁷The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. ²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. ²⁹O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Holy, Holy, Holy

 

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,

God of power and might.

Heaven and Earth are full of  your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

 

(The Sanctus from the Holy Communion service)

This 'song' is an important part of the Eucharist and we're invited to sing it along with all the angels. Just before we sing or say the Sanctus, the priest says, "Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your great and glorious name, for ever praising you and saying..."

 

In Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah records how he saw the Lord sitting on a throne, and around Him he saw angels. The angels cried to each other, "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory." Isaiah immediately becomes very aware of his smallness and uncleanness. An angel touches a burning coal to Isaiah's lips and reassures him that he will be cleansed from his sin, and the passage ends with Isaiah offering to go wherever God sends him.

At the Sanctus, I see an invitation to us to enter something of Isaiah's experience - to be humbled by God's greatness and purity, a God so great and pure that one "holy" isn't enough to describe Him. Just like a burning coal is put to Isaiah's lips in order to purify him, we're about to receive Jesus in the Holy Communion on our lips and this has a healing and cleansing effect in us. Then, just like Isaiah offers himself to be sent out by God for His purposes, the Eucharist ends with us being sent out to live and work to His praise and glory. At an even deeper level, the way we join in with the angels' song at this moment in the service lifts us out of time and space, and somehow puts us in place where Heaven and Earth and all time are overlapping. It's not just the visible congregation singing this song and celebrating this Eucharist. Something deeply mystical is happening. Maybe that's why I sometimes get goosebumps when singing the Sanctus!

Prayer of Preparation

 

 

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

 

(Prayer of Preparation, Common Worship)

The Eucharist (an overview)

Here's a little collage I made of the general pattern of the Eucharist.

1. Confession for not being as loving as we ought to have been. Thanking God for His assurance of forgiveness and receiving that forgiveness.

2. Praising God for who He is and for what He has done (and is still doing) in the world.

3. Reflecting on Bible passages and through them, encountering the Living Word (Jesus) himself.

4. Praying for others - for the Church, for the world, for what's been in the news, for our local communities, for anyone who is suffering or unwell, for those who are dying or grieving, and for the souls of those who have died.

5. Remembering Jesus' words and actions the night before he died. Remembering the crucifixion and it's meaning for the world. Then receiving Jesus in the Holy Communion and renewing/deepening our intimacy with him.

6. Being sent out into the world to love and serve God and others.