Thursday December 17

Scripture

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
-Psalm 126

Hymn - Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
from tender stem hath sprung!
of Jesse’s lineage coming
as seers of old have sung.
It came, a blossom bright,
amid the cold of winter,
when half spent was the night.

Meditation

The mystery of the Christian faith is that the end of time lies ahead of us, but it has also already come. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. What God promises to enact in the last days is even now being enacted and has already been enacted. Mystery, indeed.