Abundance in the Wilderness
“I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
The Indonesian artist Ni Ketut Ayu Sri Wardani offers a unique and striking representation of the miraculously multiplied five loaves and two fishes we see in today’s Gospel. The divine beneficence here descends, not only as food, but also as light, to the sea of suppliant hands, which become visible and illuminated to the extent that they are in contact with this gift.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the Lord shall praise him.
— Holy and Righteous David the King (Psalm 22:26)
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Texts for This Week
Prayer
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Praise the One who Breaks the Darkness
The contemporary American Lutheran hymnwriter Rusty Edwards penned this poem of praise to Jesus as life-giver, liberator, and Lord in the late-80s, to be sung with the tune BEACH SPRING or NETTLETON (well-known as the hymntune for “Come Thou Fount”). It has since appeared principally in Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican hymnals; the one shared here from Concordia Publishing House being the most polished performance available. If you are interested in a more folksy version, the contemporary hymn group Koine included it in its touring set “Footsteps to the Cross,” which seems to have been a contemporary adaptation of a Tenebrae service. This recording appealingly elides the hymn with several verses on Christ as the light.
