In which Mercy was born into this World, and onto this Earth in the flesh, by his Holy Mother. The song pretty much says it all.
This wasn't the first entry in this slot, but Mr. Sondheim accidentally gave a Christmas Carol that he probably never intended. Nevertheless, this is one of our Christmas Hymns in our Show of Mercy... and we are happy it is.
This serves as our mic check, and it follows our invitational drum circle... (when we are in production, you can buy into coming early to join the inner circle of our rhythm before we put on the show... the seating will be limited, but the mindset building energy you experience will be limitless!)
The whole Maccabeats Les Miserables medley as a retelling of the Seder story we heard at (g3) as The Mystery of The Laughter of Mercy in The Law will come later. But for now, lets all be children on the cusp of adulthood, as both Jesus was & Cozettte is here... pining for the Castle on the Cloud that is the Kingdom of Heaven Come Down we will soon visit in Luminous Mystery #3 (L3)
These are the very words of St. John the Baptist... and with a slight alteration rendering the remnants of all the past perfect tense into the present & prophetically continuing tense... we have an even more powerful rendition to share with you.
At The Wedding at Cana, Holy Mary simply said... Just do what Jesus tells you to do... because she knew from her own experience that whatever it was, it would sound pretty adventurous to them, and would take them WAY outside their comfort zone... because this is what the Miracles of Mercy we experience every day do to us as well. And it's all about just doing what Jesus tells us to do... specifically in Matthew 25... which is also St. Therese of Kolkata's Prescription (aka Mother Therese's Prescription... the title of a wonderful book on how to HELP MERCY ABOUND TO THE MAX, right where you are, wherever you may go!
With this, we bring in a lot of Shakespeare, and all Cervantes, who were contemporaries trying to clue us in on the same themes in a rapidly changing world... much like this particular Show of Mercy is trying to do. So as we tilt at our most Modern Windmills... sing along, and imagine what it would be like if we could just muster up the mustard seeds of faith we need to bring The Kingdom of Heaven Down to Earth... because The Kingdom of Heave is Nothing but MERCY... which is the theme of this particularly Luminous Mystery. Perhaps we CAN all reach for that "unreachable star" after all.
Speaking of stars... that second one to the right that helps us stay children is that same one that reminds us to take care of widows, orphans, and the rest of "the least of these" from Mathew 25, as well as the soon to die (whom we must prepare with pricey special care), and the dead (because we do what the Book of Tobit tells us to do, so that St. Rafael, The Archangel of Miraculous Healing, can properly do his job of healing among us all) from Matthew 26 & 27. As Paul Simon, who... as we already mentioned... we are happy to hear composing again, once sung about as... Angels in the architecture, spinning in Infinity, oh yeah. (Right behind that Second Start to the Right.)
We could write a whole series of books on this about how The Eucharist is the way we can best connect with MERCY, so that MERCY might pour out of us as we "REMEMBER" him according to his instructions at the last, never-ending, and still unfinished Last Seder Supper (... do this for the Remembrance of me ... )... and why this is the only FREE SPACE Mystery that could ever be as the Free Gift of Grace that Saves Us All according to the Name of the ONE whose body & blood we consume at each Eucharist... but we won't belabor those points here... we will simply allow you to experience what that feels like... what Mercy feels like... each and every time we celebrate him to the max by taking care of those who are "the most in need" from our very limited perspective.
Where does this tie in with The Bloody Prayer in the Garden, and The Fiat of the Virgin, and The Fiat of Our Lord & Savior... in the One Day More sequence sung by Jean val Jean... "Grace of All Graces" in the works & themes written by Victor Hugo right around the time of the Cilvil War in the USA. Hmmm.... what a coincidence... we think not. And by the way, that cup Jesus didn't want to drink... he won't until he returns from The Right Hand of the Father, because we won't be done filling it with our own bloody Wine of Human Kindness (aka... Our Acts of Mercy) as his Wise Virgins, and Wise & Talented Servants... also from Matthew 25 it turns out... go figure. And when you do... get to those things that HELP MERCY ABOUND TO THE MAX in your own backyard... because that truly is why we were all put here on this Earth... There is no higher purpose in all the Universe... and Beyond!
Let is remember that this was written by Charlie Chaplin as his Little Tramp protest against fascism in general, and the Nazi form of facism in particular. And when we do this number, we are going to be whipping our Jesus at the post... so just imagine it with a barrage of well-timed whip cracks... and then just thin about all the hairs that are going to stand up on end on your body as we do. Oh... it's gonna be a thing.
What is Joseph & his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat doing here? Well let's just say the Crown of Thorns, the Mocking Robe, the Beating with the Reeds, and the Merciless Jeers from Herod's "Honor" Guard. And those are some pretty darkly analogous doors to close... not just to a child of Israel... but to the very King of Israel, himself. Just remember, that as one of The Merciful... you are ingrafted through the King to the Root of the Tree of Life that began growing again at Genesis 3:21... just keep up with the "work prepared for you in advance" that Galations 2:10 speaks of as the Grace you have been given to foment your Salvation before the Great White Throne of Revelation... and that should be enough light to carry you through whatever "light, and momentary trials" you may be facing as well.
Even in the midst of great sorrow, there are glimmers of light waiting to break through as our unexpected Friends of Mercy... in fact they are so unexpected, that perhaps they didn't expect to be called "The Friend of Mercy" until you looked their way with Grace in your need, and they got pressed into service by the Authoritarian Circumstances standing around you in the crowd. Look up, reach out, and have hope... even if it means you're finding the one who will be helping you to your impend death as a Martyr (aka... a Witness to the Overwhelming, and Overcoming Power of Mercy Everlasting... just like the Psalm of the Great Hallel says in every verse).
I was a teen when Amy Grant was, too... so... yeah. I'm not sure it's completely right for a song about The Crucifixion of Our Lord Mercy to give you a rise like that... but then we were designed to enjoy God ecstatically... 4EVER! So... maybe it is OK after all. It's also quite a feeling to be both Infinitely Sad & Infinitely Ecstatic at the same time... which is a bit of what God the Father must have felt watching his Son die on a Cross, and not doing anything to stop it. If you ever see me in a local tavern here in Las Vegas, sit down, and I'll tell you about the time I felt the Infinite Sadness of God right in the middle of Downtown Disney... the epicenter of The Happiest Place on Earth... that was a Seer moment that I was not glad about having at the time, but I'm glad I did now.
I am guessing Barry Manilow didn't expect the song of his profound dream to be used as our Hymn of The Resurrection... but, I'm guessing St. Peter, the Cursing Jewish Fisherma,n didn't expect to be appointed The First Pope either. Oh... forget about all that... and just feel the PURE JOY in this ode! What a power ballad... especially if you feel like you are "that one voice" right now... thank you, Mr. Manilow for making this one real.
As a mentor from Campus Crusade told me long ago in Bonn, Germany... people won't care what you say, until they see that you care... and that only happens when Mercy does the talking... which most days, doesn't take any words at all. The sword is mighty indeed, as is the power of the pen... but when it all gets started.. Mercy has no end... and we're back to almost where we began... can you feel us coming home here?
This is a bit of a selfish salute to my High School choir instructor, Nelson Roberts, who always invited all of his alumni songsters to the stage at Christmas to sing The Hallelujah Chorus with him (a thing I should have celebrated more). But when you get past the kitsch of the thing, it is a perfect picture of how the Holy Spirit works through our Acts of Mercy... offered up as our wishes of Happiness for our friends... even if we may not have been particularly friendly friends in the past... and may not be as we move on. The important thing is that we pass it on in the moment of the Spirit... and let Our Lord Mercy sort it out in the end.
It wasn't a tornado that took The Queen of Grace over the rainbow... but the sentiment isn't all that difference. By the way, if you've got more time, and more money for drinks... sit a while longer after my Story of Infinite Sadness, and I'll tell you about the day I was taken Over the Rainbow to be dubbed a Knight of the Real of Grace by Kecharitomene, herself... complete with all the sights you might expect to be part of such a thing... but not the sounds (because my hearing didn't translate with me). Perhaps that's why I've spent so long putting all these sounds together... so that we can experience the whole Miracle of Baptism over & over again... with all the bells & whistles that we can put on it. This is truly why I brought you here... and to sing LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING with YOU!
Thank you Mr. Rogers for trying to make the whole of Theology so simple, just like Mother Theresa, and St. Francis of Assisi before them both. The Meaning of Life truly is that simple... HELP MERCY ABOUND... the hard part is that the thorns & thistles of The Original Sin just keep tying us up in knots, often when we don't even intend they do. So what can we do? Sing our weekly Novena to The Holy Queen of Grace by putting on nine weekly performances of 4EVER! The Prayer of the Holy Queen of Grace, so that as Holy Mary, The Untier of Knots, she just might send enough Grace our way with her own elocution of the 4EVER! Experience for us that we might experience the Happiness of the Freedom to LIVE @ PEACE on the Earth long before we make it to... FOREVER!
Keep Reading... we're almost done.
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