St. Matthias Lutheran Church (ELCA)

Punctuated by Holy Presence

Once upon a time, actually more than once, it happened that I was chosen from amongst my peers to serve as chaplain of a particular group or organization. As I reflect on it I’m not sure that I had a whole host of competition for the job, but let me have my fantasy. The first time it happened to me it came as a huge surprise. I wasn’t sure what it meant – so I ran off to talk with my pastor. Then, so that I would have a second opinion, I wandered into a bookstore in the local mall where we liked to hang out. I pulled a book down from one of the shelves entitled, “Prayers,” since they told me that was what it meant to be chaplain – one who prays. I still have that book. In fact I have many books on prayer now. I’ve learned much from others about prayer, including pastors, ancient church fathers, mystics, and ascetics. From them and from my own discipline I’ve learned that time spent in prayer is quality time. It shapes the way we perceive the rest of our day, our world, and our lives. It was Martin Luther who said, “I have so much business [that] I cannot get along without spending three hours daily in prayer.”

I don’t know if there is a right amount of time to spend in prayer. Perhaps what is needed is as individual as we are. But I do know of those for whom a defined sequence of times for prayer punctuates their daily routine. “Ora et labora” is the Latin phrase meaning “prayer and work” which defines, according to the Rule of St Benedict, how religious persons are to live together in community. Prescribed therein is something called the Daily Office which calls the community together for prayer at seven specific hours of the day. When the psalmist said, “Seven times a day have I praised you” (Ps 119:64) St. Benedict believed that the sacred number seven constituted the appropriate number of times to come away from all other things and commit themselves to prayer. I have learned that there are variants in the schedule of daily prayer depending on which community or tradition you inquire. I am mindful of one Benedictine community in the rolling hills of Upstate NY just outside of Elmira that maintained a guest house where I was granted time and space for a Sabbath rest from the parish. Several things I recall about the place include the way meals were taken in silence in the small refectory while the appointed reader for the week nurtured those eating with spiritual reading. Another, and perhaps more profound, was the way that Compline or Night Prayer was concluded. From the Chapel, we were led by the abbot down a flight of stairs into the crypt or undercroft where the Magnificat or Canticle of Mary preceded our blessing and dismissal for the night. You will recall the humble response of Mary when informed by the angel that she had found favor with God and that she would conceive and give birth to a son. Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Following her visit with her cousin Elizabeth who was to give birth to John, Mary’s humility turned to joy and she erupted in song:

“My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; for he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:46-55)

Mary’s young life was punctuated early on by Gabriel’s announcement to her and from then on, humility, prayer, reflection and thanksgiving became the norm for her. In a like manner, our lives tend to look more like run-on sentences apart from the punctuation of God’s presence. My prayer for the faith community of St Matthias is that the light of Christ’s birth will punctuate the darkness of this world and flood your life with hope and the promise of God’s new and dawning day. Pastor Alan