For the Weak He Makes Vigor Abound

December 10, 2008

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

By Melanie Rigney

The Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. (Isaiah 40:28-29)

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalms 103:1-2)

Jesus said to the crowds: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Piety
“I sing the Body electric; The armies of those I love engirth me, and I engirth them; They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the Soul. Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves; And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead? And if the body does not do as much as the Soul? And if the body were not the Soul, what is the Soul?” (“I Sing the Body Electric,” Walt Whitman)

Study

Hello, my name’s Melanie, and I’m a sing-aholic. Not that I do it well, mind you ... still looking for my two-note range ... but when I really want to praise the Lord and I’m by myself, I throw in a CD from Godspell (which uses today’s selection from the Book of Psalms as the inspiration for the beautiful “Oh Bless the Lord, My Soul”); Jesus Christ Superstar; or Handel’s Messiah (whose libretto includes the highlighted passage from today’s Gospel reading) and belt out those tunes.

All but my very closest parish friends would be shocked to learn this. I’m a staple at our early Mass, which doesn’t even include a sung great Amen unless our pastor himself is presiding. I find a powerful worship experience there in the quiet. But when I chose that Mass as my spiritual home, one of the big reasons was that I didn’t want total strangers to think I was a freak when tears ran down my face during the singing of the Gloria or the Holy, Holy. Words move me. Music overwhelms me.

But every once in a while, it’s good to let people see us overwhelmed—by God’s infinite grace, by the love of the Body of Christ, and by the liturgy. What’s the point in holding back if we find joy and give praise in an off-key tone, or in a witness that sometimes lacks subject/verb agreement, or in a dance that lacks perfect form? God will understand and provide strength where we may feel faint or inadequate. He loves us as we are, even if we may not be Kennedy Center material. And a good share of our audience, large or small, will celebrate our joy if not our skill.

Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric” celebrates all aspects of the body, those society conventionally considers attractive or erotic as well as the more utilitarian (knee-pan, bone marrow, nostrils, and the like) and concludes:

O I say, these are not the parts and the poems of the Body only, but of the Soul,
O I say now these are the Soul!

And as for me? While I’ll never totally give up that quiet Mass experience, I think I’m moving toward a time where I’ll be strong enough to share some flat notes and tears on a more regular basis with my brothers and sisters in Christ. For are these not also the parts and poets of the Body—and the Soul?

Action
Sing the Body of Christ electric in the coming week. You might consider adding your voice to the Diocese of Arlington’s Filipino Misa De Gallo/Simbang Gabir celebrations. Check out home.catholicweb.com/filipinoministry/index.cfm/NewsItem?ID=71399&From=Home or the St. Charles Borromeo Web site, where a nine-day Misa De Gallo novena begins next Wednesday. Or look for a sing-along Messiah near your home. No matter the form in which you choose to sing the Body, do it with God-infused vigor.