What's Important

 

LECTIO:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

STUDIUM: 

This Lectio is actually the refrain of the hymn, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.”  I recommend that you listen to this hymn while you are in Adoration.  Wear headphones or earbuds, close your eyes and let your heart listen.

The background history is not necessary, but the hymn was written by Helen Lemmel, a Methodist missionary, in 1918.  The title of the hymn is “The Heavenly Vision,” but it is more commonly known by the first line of the refrain.  Here is the entire hymn:

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free!

Refrain:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more has dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

(Refrain)

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

(Refrain)

 

MEDITATIO:

Lord Jesus, You know where I live and what I do.  I live in the epicenter of the clergy sex abuse scandal.  Eyes on Jesus.  I volunteer in a prison where there were so many priests convicted of sex crimes that the staff jokingly referred to their housing block as “the rectory.” Eyes on Jesus. I know that the Church is a human institution as well as divine.  Priests are human. Eyes on Jesus.

My country is led by a president who advocates killing babies.  Eyes on Jesus. The world is full of violence.  Ukraine and Russia are at war.  The countries south of the Sahara are plagued with terrorists.  The Middle East is rife with insurgents.  India and Indonesia are oppressing Catholics.  The drug problem in Colombia and Mexico is so bad, it is called the Drug War.  And there’re more.  Eyes on Jesus.

All will pass, or not.  What of it?  Eyes on Jesus.

ORATIO:

Beloved, be with me.  Nothing matters, but You.  There certainly isn’t anything else to believe in.  People?  Country?  President?  Pope? Priest?  Only You, my Love, only You.

CONTEMPLATIO:

Eyes on Jesus.

RESOLUTIO:

Remember that all is transitory. Only God abides.

We Were There

 It was beautiful.  The last hymn at the noon Mass was astoundingly spectacular.  It was a noon Mass.  The last Mass of the day.  There was no choir, only a cantor and the organist, who just happens to have a beautiful voice.  The cantor leads the congregation in singing the hymns.  At least that's what the cantor is supposed to do.  The people don't cooperate.  Very few participate.  By the time, the last hymn is sung the people rush out to get to their cars.

However, this particular time, the congregation stayed in mesmerized respect.  The hymn was "were you there when they crucified my Lord."  It was composed by unknown slaves.  The first publication is credited to William Eleazar Barton.  In 1899 it is found in Old Plantation Hymns.  The Episcopal Church hymnal has it in 1940.

The cantor and the organist sang and people listened.  Very few left.  People stood there and listened.  They sang all four verses.  And people stayed in respectful, listening, attention.  On the last verse, the organ music ceased and just those two voices sang.  That's all you could hear.  If people weren't actively singing, their hearts surely were.