Everything is Plundered

Everything is plundered, betrayed, sold,

Death’s great black wing scrapes the air,
Misery gnaws to the bone.
Why then do we not despair?

By day, from the surrounding woods,
cherries blow summer into town;
at night the deep transparent skies
glitter with new galaxies.

And the miraculous comes so close
to the ruined, dirty houses—
something not known to anyone at all,
but wild in our breast for centuries.

--Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), Russian poet and activist against Stalinism, translated by Stanley Kunitz and Max Hayvard

Gathering Prayer for 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Year C

We come in these endless days, Precious God,
people in need of the constancy of your love:
may we drink deeply from your fountain of life;
may we continue to be guided by your Light.
We gather in these weary days, Water-changing God,
people looking for signs of hope and wonder:
may we drink deeply from your fountain of grace;
may our weariness be wrapped in your Hope.
We worship in these overwhelming days, Gifting God,
people who try to point others to Jesus:
may we drink deeply from your fountain of joy;
may our life be strengthened by your Life.

-- Thom Shuman, from his blog Lectionary Liturgies, January 12, 2025

Scripture reference: John 2:1-11

Martin Luther King

 

A man went forth with gifts.

He was a prose poem.
He was a tragic grace.
He was a warm music.

He tried to heal the vivid volcanoes.
His ashes are
     reading the world.

His Dream still wishes to anoint
     the barricades of faith and of control.

His word still burns the center of the sun
     above the thousands and the
     hundred thousands.

The word was Justice. It was spoken.

So it shall be spoken.
So it shall be done.

-- Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000) African American poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Awards.

Image: Synthia Saint James (1947- ), The Dream.

Nothing But A Child

Once upon a time in a far-off land
Wise men saw a sign and set out across the sand
Songs of praise to sing, they traveled day and night
And precious gifts to bring, guided by the light

They chased a brand-new star, ever towards the west
Across the mountains far, but when they came to rest
They scarce believed their eyes, they’d come so many miles
And this miracle they prized was nothing but a child

Refrain:
And nothing but a child could wash those tears away
Or guide a weary world into the light of day
And nothing but a child could help erase those miles
So once again we all can be children for a while

Now all around the world, in every little town
Every day is heard a precious little sound
And every mother kind and every father proud
Looks down in awe to find another chance allowed [Refrain]

Outro:
Nothing but a little baby
Nothing but a child

-- Steve Earle (1955- ), American singer-songwriter, from the album Copperhead Road (1988)

Kathy Mattea's cover of this song:

[The bees build in the crevices]

 

The bees build in the crevices
Of loosening masonry, and there
The mother birds bring grubs and flies.
My wall is loosening; honey-bees,
Come build in the empty house of the stare.

We are closed in, and the key is turned
On our uncertainty; somewhere
A man is killed, or a house burned,
Yet no clear fact to be discerned:
Come build in the empty house of the stare.

A barricade of stone or of wood;
Some fourteen days of civil war;
Last night they trundled down the road
That dead young soldier in his blood:
Come build in the empty house of the stare.

We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love; O honey-bees,
Come build in the empty house of the stare.

—W. B. Yeats, from “Meditations in Time of Civil War”

In Celtic myth, bees were thought to be messengers between this world and the next, and it was thought that at death, a person's sou left as a bee or butterfly. A bee entering yourself was a sign of luck, and housing bees even more so. It was customary for those who kept bees to inform them about everything going on in the house.

Epiphany House Blessing (from the Book of Occasional Services)

 

This service can be used to chalk the doors of your house at home and welcome in the ligbt of Christ for the still-new year. If the Celebrant is not a priest, the Blessing of the Chalk section can be omitted and you can move straight to the actual chalking of the door. At the final blessing, substitute “us” for “you,” and make the sign of cross over yourselves rather than outwardly.

Celebrant   Peace be to this house, and to all who dwell in it.

Antiphon
The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
     for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
     the Almighty has done great things for me,
     and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
     in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
     he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
     and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
     and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
     for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
     to Abraham and his children for ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
     as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. 

Antiphon
The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.

Celebrant     The Lord be with you.
People          And also with you.
Celebrant     Let us pray.

Collect
O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Blessing of the Chalk
V: Our help is in the name of the Lord
R: The maker of heaven and earth.
V: The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in:
R: From this time forth for evermore.
V. The Lord be with you.
R: And also with you.
V: Let us pray.

Celebrant
Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created,  that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name all who use it in faith to write upon the doors of their homes the names of your saints, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit their home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The lintel of the door is then chalked as follows:

20 + C + M + B + 25

Celebrant
The three Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of God's Son who became human two thousand and eighteen years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.

The Celebrant then says this prayer
Visit, O blessed Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live here with the gift of your love; and grant that they may manifest your love to each other and to all whose lives they touch. May they grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, comfort, and strengthen them; and preserve them in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and for ever. Amen.

The Celebrant then says this blessing
May God the Father, who by Baptism adopts us as his children, grant you grace. Amen.
May God the Son, who sanctified a home at Nazareth, fill you with love. Amen.
May God the Holy Spirit, who has made the Church one family, keep you in peace. Amen.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.

The Peace may then be exchanged.

-- from the Book of Occasional Services, 2003, pp. 47-50, with additional material from https://www.azdiocese.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/3163149