Holy Spirit, Holy People

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Dear Brothers and Sisters: In the Divine Service we have received from our fathers, just before communion the Celebrant holds up the Body and Blood of Jesus and says, “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” Then we sing to Christ the Lamb of God and approach.

In the earliest recorded Divine Service, at that spot, the pastor says, “May grace come and may this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If anyone is holy, let him approach; if anyone is not, let him repent” (Didache 10.6). “If anyone is holy, let him approach.” Who qualifies? Are you holy? …

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Exaudi 2021

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You need help. You probably know this already. You need spiritual help, because your mind and heart are not conformed to God’s will. You need bodily help, because you are dying. You need help.

Jesus ascended in order to send you the Helper. But pride says, “I need no help. I can do it on my own. I’ve compared myself to others, and I’m pretty good. My job gives me money, my doctor gives me pills, the black rectangle gives me entertainment. I don’t need help.” O foolish of heart and slow to believe! For you are a slave to your money, your doctor cannot avert your doom, and your black rectangle leaves you numb and empty.

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Cantate 2021

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The Church’s “new song” has nothing to do with musical style or instrumentation. We are a people who are liberated from the world’s “old song” of hatred, despair, and lust, the funeral dirges and anthems of kingdoms passing away. The new song is the song of the new kingdom that the LORD has inaugurated in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Church’s liturgy is the new song.

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