Year A - 20 Pentecost (Proper 24) - October 18, 2020

The Rev. Ken Saunders 

St. James Episcopal Church 

Greeneville, TN 

Year A - 20 Pentecost (Proper 24) - October 18, 2020

Isaiah 45:1-7
Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22

It’s no secret that this world values money… money from trade (the buying and selling) drives the economy and the economy drives wealth and world position and from wealth and position comes power. And if I could quote Voltaire, or possibly spider-man (who knows) “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Money is the world’s scorecard or marker, and people that don’t have it, want it… and people that have it want more of it. No wonder the scripture says, "where your treasure is… there your heart will be also." We tend to spend money on the things we value, the things that are important to us, the things that we need, and even the things we think we need. 

I helped lead a youth retreat some years back and it had pictures of people from different places in the world posed out on the front lawns of their homes with all their possessions. It was shocking to say the least,  to look at pictures from impoverished countries that had a few bowls and pots a bedroll and two goats and a bedroll… 

And then you look a the family from the United States… with so much STUFF in the yard, you couldn’t see the family…

Money and possessions, drive some of the biggest political issues and cause some of the biggest arguments and problems of our day.  Money and possessions and fighting over control of money and possessions cause war and violence and hatred… 

Money and possessions… No wonder how you use or treat money and possessions is mentioned over 800 times in Holy Scripture. Yet, the way some folks argue about what is in scripture and what isn’t you would think that sex or something else would top the list.

Jesus is confronted by 2 groups this morning, the Pharisees and the Herodians… The Pharisees we know are the religious elite. They were the ones who walked around “holier than thou” and thought they were keeping every letter of the law. They actively opposed the Roman Empire…

The Herodians on the other hand worked within the Roman Empire and supported Herod, who was the Jewish King but was basically Caesar’s puppet… The two groups were ideologically and politically opposed to each other, but had one thing in common… they both were out to get Jesus…

So they come up with a scheme to try to get Jesus to use his words against himself… After buttering Jesus up with praise for his regard for truth and no partiality they ask Jesus a question to try to trip him up…They ask, "is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" They thought they had him… but Jesus quickly catches onto their scheme…

And Jesus tells them that they are being hypocrites and he asks them why they are testing him… So Jesus asks to see the coin that is used to pay the Roman tax and they produce a Denarius… Then Jesus asks whose head is on the coin and who’s title… and they said the Emperor… Jesus then says, very confidently, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

It’s interesting that this scripture passage over the years has been put forth as Jesus acclamation that good Christians should pay taxes… but that’s not exactly what it’s saying. The reason it’s so confounding to both the Herodians and Pharisees is that it’s a deep dive, both politically and theologically into the aspects of paying and giving…

Paying and giving both to the Emperor, Caesar, (or what we give power in this world) and Paying or giving to God (who doesn’t trade in Caesar’s currency.)

Jesus’ question of whose head and whose title are on the coin has us look at some of the theological aspects… The image of a head or a person’s likeness that to whom you give power and authority with the title, “Caesar the divine” written on it, is none other than idolatry… So why not return the scorecard of this world to the tyrant that has his head plastered all over it. Jesus’ argument makes perfect sense.

But you can’t look at what Jesus says about the Emperor’s coin and ignore what he says about God. Remember he also says, "give to God the things that are God’s. Both the Herodians and Pharisees would know, as we well know and have been taught from the beginning that we belong to God.

We are made in God’s image and we walk around this earth and bear the image of God. So, are we giving to God those things that are God’s? 

As I said, God doesn’t trade in Caesar’s currency… Now, Cindy Painter and Doug Temple are both going to hate me saying this… right here in the middle of our pledge season. God doesn’t want your money! God doesn’t need your money. God wants you! God wants your life and love. God wants your praise and adoration. God wants your thankfulness and your attention. God wants your souls and bodies.

If everything in this world was created by God and every human being bears the image of God then God already owns it all. What we do with our life, our money, and our stuff, is how we show this world that we are trading with different currencies in a different market... That we are investing in eternal things (heavenly things) and not earthly things. The currency of God’s kingdom is radically different from that of Caesar’s.

When I was in the Diocese of North Carolina we had a saying that embodies this idea… It was our diocesan stewardship statement… see stewardship isn’t about just money… it’s about how we use our time, what we value, how we are accountable for the things we are given and the things that we earn, and how we use our passions, skills, and abilities to help usher forth God’s kingdom. 

The saying in North Carolina was simple, say it with me… Stewardship! All that we are! All that we have! All the time! It’s a very simple message to understand…

So there are some things for us to think about today… into these coming weeks and months and into the coming year… What do we value? To whom or what do we give power and authority? Who are we? and who’s are we? What are we thankful for? To Whom or to what do we give praise? In what currency do we trade? - knowing that we have to live in this world and prepare for God’s kingdom? How do we use that which is entrusted to us for the spread of the redeeming message of Jesus and the building up of God’s kingdom in this world?

All that we are! All that we have! All the time!

Year A - 19 Pentecost (Proper 23) - October 11, 2020

The Rev. Ken Saunders
St. James Episcopal Church 
Greeneville, TN

Year A - 19 Pentecost (Proper 23) - October 11, 2020

Isaiah 25:1-9
Psalm 23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14

I heard a story a few years back about a small parish that had just called a new priest to lead them. They were so happy to have a young and educated pastor to help them grow and do the Lord's work in their community. The first week the pastor gave a fantastic sermon and everyone was so pleased. After Church they greeted each other and they told the priest how pleased they were that he accepted the call to serve their small parish. The second week the pastor delivered the same sermon. (you know they say, that all great preachers... they only have one sermon…) The people were still happy that they had the new priest and they didn't mind too much that he repeated the same sermon from the previous week. Again, on third Sunday the pastor gave the same sermon. The parish was now wondering if this guy was a complete dud, after all he delivered the same sermon three Sunday's in a row. So, the vestry decided to speak with the priest about his lack of performance in the pulpit. On the fourth week right after the service, and after hearing the sermon four times in a row the vestry met with the priest. They told him how wonderful it was to have him there and how they enjoyed him and his family and were so pleased that he had accepted the call to come to their community. However, they also said that they were a little upset… Upset that he had delivered the same sermon now four weeks in a row. While smiling he looked at them and said, "Well, I'll change my sermon when you all start listening!"

During the past few weeks we have heard some powerful and inspiring lessons from the gospel of Matthew. And they all point towards our response to the Lord’s invitation. Through the gospel lessons we learned that we are called to be the Church and live a life of faith and obedience… We are called to react, to forgive, and to witness to others what we believe. This has been the theme that has been repeated over and over and over again during these past few Sundays.

Today we were presented with Jesus telling us the parable story of a wedding banquet which a king gave for his guests. In scripture, a wedding banquet is often used as a metaphor for the great messianic feast, the kingdom of heaven, that we all have an opportunity to be a part of. In the Revelation to St. John the divine, we are told that at the end of times... after all the wars, tribulation, destruction, and rebellion takes place... The Lamb of God, who is Jesus the Christ, will come down from heaven, and be seated on his throne with all his angels in all his power and all his glory. The scripture says that he will be dressed like a beautiful bridegroom who is awaiting his bride. His bride, the Church.

The bride of Christ is the Church, which is adorned in all her beauty and splendor, just like a bride is dressed on her wedding day. And that is why the Church is always decorated with elegance… with beautiful vestments and sometimes gold and silver, revealing the God's beauty and glory. And then the marriage feast of the Lamb will take place, the feast of feasts, and all will be invited to the supper.

However, we have to make sure that we have our wedding garment. It is our baptismal garment that becomes our wedding garment, our entry pass… as we are part of the body preparing for the arrival of the bridegroom… If we don’t have the wedding garment, we will not be able to join the party. 

As we heard in the lesson this morning; a man was at the party that did not put on the wedding garment that had been provided and was thrown out of the banquet into the street. At baptism we were baptized into Christ's death and then raised with him (re-born in him) in order to walk in new life. We were sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit through the anointing with Holy Chrism. In most churches the newly baptized wear a white robe which is symbolic of our new life (our wedding garment), and we are given a candle which is the light of Christ. We are then walked down the isle, and make our first procession into the Church as a member of the body of Christ, as we were welcomed into the household of God. And then we were invited to the Lord's Table to feast on the bread and wine, that spiritual nourishment for our journey which is the body and blood of Jesus.

This invitation didn't just go out one time but continually goes out week after week after week, as the Lord wants us to share in his hospitality. Whether we respond or not is our responsibility.

I said a few weeks ago, that what we do in response to God’s grace in our lives is up to us… God has given us a grand opportunity, to be part of a community that worships, learns, and fellowships together… But it takes more then us just showing up to the feast… It takes action… action to honor our great host by donning the wedding gown of salvation… because the wedding garment doesn't do us any good, if we don’t put it on…

I am not talking about what you wear, or don’t wear to church, I am talking about what you do in response to the invitation that you are so freely given… Do you accept the salvation (the wedding garment) that you are offered? And when you do, what do you do in response, Do you put it on?

Our Lord expects us to continually answer the invitation daily, to live out our baptismal vows to seek and serve him in all persons and love our neighbor as ourself and strive for justice and peace and uphold the dignity of all people. And Jesus says that he would be there with us…

He wants us to come and sit at his table and feast on the food of eternal life, the food that nourishes our souls… The Lord offer us an open invitation which was given to us at baptism, and he continually invites us to worship, to learn, to our share faith and fellowship with one another. But, as I said, it goes further than us just showing up for the feast…We have to be willing to put on the wedding garment, the garment of salvation… and live our lives in response to God’s love for us. 

We do this by witnessing to his love in the world… by living our lives in a way that testifies to his love…It’s not about going out and babbling scripture at other folks… expecting them to understand and to be “converted” or “saved” from hellfire and damnation. It is about living your life in such a way, that others realize that you have something special going on... You have that something so special that it radiates forth from you... and they are interested, and they ask you about it… Then you have the open opportunity to share with them the invitation that you have received, and invite them…

It is all in how we respond… It’s all in how we live… Some people respond to this invitation and others don’t… However, as we heard in the gospel reading from Matthew, if we don't respond, God will invite other people who will respond... others who "want" to respond.

Perhaps our gospel lessons for the past few weeks have been a bit repetitive on purpose. Perhaps we are not listening to what Matthew is telling us. Sometimes when we hear the scriptures read in church or anywhere else, we tend to hear what we want to hear and then forget or ignore the rest. We like to pick and choose bits and pieces of the gospel, rather than listening, hearing, and accepting the whole gospel.

Today we are once again invited to hear the gospel's call to faith, and to be the church in the world – living out our baptismal covenant by loving God, loving one another and witnessing to the truth… Let us be constantly striving to don our baptismal garment, to live out our response to the salvation so freely given to us… So that on that day… we will be prepared to sit at the table of the Lord, and be partakers of that heavenly banquet... That Great Wedding feast that has been prepared for us!

Year A - 2 Pentecost (Proper 6) - June 14, 2020

The Rev. Ken Saunders
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - 2 Pentecost (Proper 6) - June 14, 2020

• Exodus 19:2-8a
• Psalm 100
• Romans 5:1-8
• Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23)

When I was growing up, I was never really a sports enthusiast. I liked sports some more than others. I played football in the neighborhood on the vacant lot with friends, but was never on a peewee football team. I never was on a baseball team though I played softball for a short period of time. Sports wasn’t my thing until I got to High School and found wrestling.

I enjoyed wrestling. I know it seems sadistic, but I enjoyed wrestling practice and drills sometimes more than I did matches. It was about practice and repetition and conditioning to build endurance and physical strength.

Those techniques are taught in basically every sport than I can think of. Perfect practice makes perfect performance. Right practice makes right performance…

It is possible to practice wrong, but then you end up needing to unlearn the things that weren’t good for you. It takes more than a desire to win in sports, it takes conditioning and training. In sports, work, practice, and sometimes pain produces results – you’ve probably heard that adage "no pain – no gain."

In the letter to the Romans, for Paul, hope isn’t wishful thinking, he knows that the Christian life is going to be tough. But he is absolutely certain about the outcome because it is grounded in God’s faithfulness to keep his promises. That is, what God will do for the believer in Christ is grounded on what God has done for the believer in Christ.

Through their tough training (suffering, ridicule, and persecution) that lead to endurance, and endurance that produced character and character that produces hope and hope does not disappoint us... He says that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

You’ve heard me say this before. You ever wonder why we pray the prayers, and practice the routines and rhythms of the prayer book daily office? It’s funny, but I’m ashamed that I couldn’t answer that question until I was way out of seminary... Until I had some experience under my belt. Until I had been through some things in my life that pressed me to connect with God in ways I never had.

Anyone who has ever trained for a sport, should be able to understand this. Anyone who has suffered to endure something that provides great benefit and character should be able to relate to this. I had a mentor once call our daily prayers calisthenics. Calisthenics for Christians, he called them. Calisthenics are short workouts intended to strengthen and train for endurance... to practice movements and train muscles.

All this daily prayer stuff is Christian calisthenics, so that when we’re in this journey of life, we are better equipped to handle it. We know how to respond when we are grounded in our faith…

Master Park, my Taekwondo teacher would say "we train Taekwondo" and when we train Taekwondo, we become taekwondo people. and when taekwondo people are squeezed, our taekwondo comes out.

It’s the same for Christians. We work to develop our relationship with Christ. We pray, we worship, we practice... we endure by taking a stand for what is right in this world. And when we are squeezed, our love of God comes out.

The reading from Exodus says, God tells the people of Israel, "Out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although all the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation”

I wonder how the people of Israel must have felt when they heard those words. They had traveled through many obstacles on their painstaking journey through the wilderness after God delivered this group of people from the powerful armies of Egypt. Now they, after three long months of hard travel, have arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and they hear these unbelievable words from God, "You will be for me a “kingdom of priest” and a “holy nation…” Reminding them that they have been called... treasured and precious in God’s sight.

They would be set apart from all other nations for God’s purposes… a holy nation… and this holy nation would be made up of connectors… priests... those who connect people to God. A task that is full of wonder, work, and a lot of responsibility. An important task that would prepare a way for God to come among us. Can you imagine what they must have thought? how they must have felt.

After Moses had told all the elders and the elders told the people, the people answered as one, “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Saying yes…

They said "Yes" God, We will keep the covenant, Yes God, we will be a kingdom of priests, Yes God, we will be a holy nation. The people of Israel hadn’t even seen a job description and yet, they signed up for the opportunity of a lifetime something that they could never walk away from. Do you think they knew how to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation?

I’m not so sure they did trial and error seemed to be the task of the day. Error sometimes more than trial, and then more error and more trial and more error. It took them a long while to figure it out. I still don’t think that we've completely figured it out. But the biggest thing is, they didn’t quit. They kept practicing, they kept training. And that’s the biggest thing we’ve learned to date is we can’t quit. There is still a need to practice. We’re all still training…

We continue to worship and engage the holy mysteries of God trying to connect others, trying to be a kingdom of priests, and we make a lot of mistakes, but sometimes we get it right.

Jesus was traveling around to all the cities and villages teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the kingdom of God, and curing disease and sickness. He was gaining a following and great crowds started to form wherever he was and he saw that the people were looking for love and hope he saw that they needed direction and connection.

So he called the twelve together and sent them out. He sent them out to proclaim the good news of the kingdom sent them out to cast out evil and tend the sick. He sent them out with everything that they needed themselves and each other. He sent them out with great urgency for a task of utmost importance.

They had been with him and learned and practiced and trained. Now it was time. He empowered them to be agents for the Kingdom of God. Star players in the reconciliation of the world.

Our stated mission in the Episcopal Church is found on page 855 of the Book of Common Prayer. "The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ." It goes a bit further and asks "How does the Church pursue its mission?" The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.

Brothers and Sisters, we are part of this apostolic quest of reconciliation. We are sent out among the people of God to give them hope. We have been sent out to be a kingdom of priests to help the people of God connect and heal. We have been sent to help train future generations of players to say the prayers, and break the bread, and share in the Kingdom of God. We have been sent out to proclaim the Gospel and promote justice and peace and love. We have been sent out and given permission to put our faith and love of God into action. It’s what we’ve been training for. It’s how we respond to the hurting and the evil in this world.

We are agents of the kingdom of God and our work in this world is not going to be easy. But hopefully, when the world squeezes us the love of God comes out.

Year A - Trinity Sunday - June 7, 2020

The Rev. Ken Saunders
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - Trinity Sunday - June 7, 2020

• Genesis 1:1-2:4a
• 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
• Matthew 28:16-20
• Psalm 8

Year A - Pentecost - May 31, 2020

The Rev. Ken Saunders
St. James Episcopal Church
Greeneville, TN

Year A - Pentecost - May 31, 2020

• Acts 2:1-21
• 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
• John 20:19-23
• Psalm 104:25-35, 37

The Jew were gathered in Jerusalem for another religious festival… this festival was a time when the Jewish folks would gather and celebrate the “first wheat harvest” of their year… and commemorate God giving them the Torah (or law)

They had journeyed from all over for this pilgrim festival that occurs 7 weeks following the “festival of first fruits.” See, there were several festivals before this one… there was, of course, Passover, and then there was the feast of unleavened bread. Don’t get these 2 confused… Passover lasts only 24 hours… the feast of unleavened bread lasts a whole 7 days after Passover.

Then you would have the feast of First-fruits… when the first barley would be harvested… Here's how I understand the way they figured out the date of Pentecost. According to the Old Testament, you would go to the day of the celebration of First-fruits, and beginning with that day, you would count off 50 days.

Since it was always 50 days after First-fruits, and since 50 days equals seven weeks, it always comes out as a "week of weeks" later. Therefore, they either call it the “Feast of Harvest” or “Shavuot” in Hebrew which means the “Feast of Weeks.” The fiftieth day would be the Day of Pentecost. (Which actually means 50th day in Greek). 

So First-fruits is the beginning of the barley harvest and Pentecoste is the celebration of the beginning of the wheat harvest. Fun facts to know and tell… 

Today, in the Christian Church we just call it Pentecost and we celebrate this Holy Day for an entirely different reason… At the Pentecost festival that we heard about in the story from Acts, it was far different from any other festival that they had ever encountered.

When they were gathered there together… Jews were from all over - Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and even the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews, and proselytes (those studying to be Jews), Cretans and Arabs.

Folks gathered there for one purpose… On the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (See Van’) to have Shavuot! (In order to celebrate the wheat harvest and to give thanks to God for the Law of Moses.) But something spectacular happened… a sound from the sky like the rush of a violent wind,  filled the entire house where they were sitting. 

Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. You can put yourself in the scene it had to be both an awesome and scary experience… filled with wonder…

These simple folks from Galilee… most of them fishermen, instantly being able to speak in other languages… but not only were they able to speak in other languages… they were able to be understood by the others who were listening. They had received the Holy Spirit and the spirit gave them a great gift… the ability to be understood… to proclaim the greatness of God, and have people experience it and know it for themselves.

See, the greatest miracle wasn’t necessarily the ability to immediately speak in another language but it was the ability to be heard and to be understood. To be heard and understood by folks who are different… from a different culture and different places… like Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene... Heard and understood by folks who didn’t always get along so well.

The apostles weren’t speaking Greek, which would have been the trade language understood by many… But each understood that the apostles were speaking in the native language of each…. I don’t know about you, but I counted… there are Over 15 groups of people listed in this section of the Book of Acts and that’s just the groups that are listed.

And there are only 11 apostles… and if you include the several women that were there with them there would probably be 15-18 apostles. How is it that 15-18 people were able to proclaim the mighty acts of God to over 120 people gathered… that raised such a commotion that it was heard by thousands... Thousands who were brought to Christ…

But they weren't just heard… They were understood. Understood to the point of conversion.  Understood that the power of God is to be lived out… lived out in the way of Jesus. In his letter to the Church in Corinth, St. Paul says that the only way we can proclaim "Jesus is Lord" is by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the same Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters at the beginning of the creation… The Ruach Elohim … The Spirit of God comes upon us in our baptism and enables us.

Paul says that the Spirit activates gifts within each of us… and they become manifest in us for the good of everyone. These gifts are the ability to speak wisdom, to speak knowledge… Faith, healing, the working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, the ability to communicate, and the ability to understand what’s communicated. All these are, what Paul calls, a variety of gifts given by the same Spirit activated in us. Gifts that help us nurture a relationship with God and one another… Gifts that help us be one in Christ Jesus. So there is no longer Slave nor Free, Jew nor Greek, Male nor Female

We have been given these awesome gifts, awesome powers bestowed on us by the Spirit of Truth to guide us into all truth… The problem is that we don’t use them… We have been baptized into Christ Jesus and made part of his body, the Church and we have been given these awesome spiritual gifts… And yet, we fail to exercise the gifts that we have been given. 

When they were given to the Apostles, the apostles proclaimed the mighty acts of God and thousands were moved to become followers of Jesus. The spirit is still moving, still working within and around the people of God… the problem is, that we are not out there using them to their full potential…

If we did, there would be peace and understanding... there would be harmony and listening… there would be healing and restoration…

There’s a lot going on in the world today. Bishop Curry called it a pressure cooker of society. There is every kind of -ism under the planet that has manifested itself and decided to lash out… Politically, you have the right and left going at it, accusing the other of being wrong or of messing things up. We unable to even do something as simple as watching a news broadcast from a certain network without being lumped in with and thought to belong on a particular side of the political machine…

Racially, there is hate and violence being acted out… by marches on State Capitols by folks armed w/ assault weapons to riots and looting in Minnesota and other parts of the county. Violence acted out by those who have power and feel violated, or by those who feel they have no power or no voice. The hatred and evil of these conditions bubble over into the streets. It’s all toxic, it’s evil, and it’s wrong. It is not the way of God’s life-giving spirit.

Yes, I use these examples from our world today to make a point… The point is that we need the Spirit of God today more than ever. We need the Spirit of God to move over us this Pentecost. To help us speak wisdom and truth to power. To help us speak love to hate and speak unity to prejudice. But not only to speak but be understood

Brothers and sisters the language of Pentecost is the language of God and the language of God is the language of Love. The Spirit of Truth gives us the ability to speak this language but it’s up to us to speak it.

We heard a wonderful story this morning about a group of folks who after Jesus had given them the Spirit and sent them into the world they were given power gifts of wisdom and proclamation… and they were understood… some folks thought they were a little bit nuts. but they were understood. They proclaimed the mighty acts of God’s power, and they were understood.

How many of the differences in our world would be vanquished if we allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to speak and to reign in our lives? How many wondrous acts could the Holy Spirit accomplish through us in our churches and communities if we just embraced it and invited it into our midst? 

How many hearts and minds could the Holy Spirit transform, if we prayed daily for the Holy Spirit to have its way in our churches and our communities? I’m reminded, this morning, of a great ancient hymn of the church – it is a prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost. It is sung mostly at Ordinations and Baptisms, but it’s a prayer our world needs so much right now:

It’s called Veni Sancte Spiritus (in Latin). It is also known as the “golden sequence" (Come Holy Spirit). It’s said to have been written by Stephen Langton, the archbishop of Canterbury around the year 1200. It became a regular part of the Roman Missal used for Mass in the 16th century. 

Veni Sancte Spiritus – Come Holy Spirit (this is a translation of the original Latin…)

 

Come, O Holy Spirit, come! 

From your bright and blissful Home 

Rays of healing light impart.

Come, Father of the poor,

Source of gifts that will endure

Light of ev'ry human heart.

You, of all consolers best,

Of the soul, most kindly Guest,

Quick’ning courage do bestow.

In hard labor You are rest,

In the heat You refresh best,

And solace give in our woe.

O most blessed Light divine,

Let Your radiance in us shine,

And our inmost being fill.

Nothing good by man is thought,

Nothing right by him is wrought,

When he spurns Your gracious Will.

Cleanse our souls from sinful stain,

Lave our dryness with Your rain 

Heal our wounds and mend our way.

Bend the stubborn heart and will,

Melt the frozen, warm the chill, 

Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful who in You,

Trust with childlike piety,

Deign your sevenfold gift to send.

Give them virtue’s rich increase,

Saving grace to die in peace,

Give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia!