Morning Joy (Midweek Message)

Morning Joy

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

October 17, 2018

Each day at 8:00 a.m. in the Church, we chant Daily Morning Prayer from the Prayer Book’s rite (BCP, pp. 75-102).  One slight change in how we do it here at Trinity, however, is in the opening versicle and response.  The Prayer Book has “Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.” Instead, we use a slightly longer one from the Prayer Book’s “Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families” (BCP, p. 137), an adaptation of Psalm 51: 

“Open my lips, O Lord,

And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence

And take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of your saving help again

And sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.” 

We use this form so that all who come regularly to Morning Prayer will have after just a few days this wonderful opening committed to memory, so that they will have it in their hearts, available for any time when they want to pray but do not have a prayer book available.  With it, they can be able to say morning prayers at any place or time in a form keeping with the centuries old monastic practice of the liturgy of the hours.  These few lines combine an opening, a confession, and a recitation from the Psalms, thus providing the basic shape of the Morning Prayer rite before the scripture readings and prayers themselves. 

I love singing each morning, “Give me the joy of your saving help again, and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.”  It starts my day with a connection with joy and gratitude, and unfailingly gives me a reset when I wake up sluggish, slightly depressed, care worn, or still tired.  It puts me in touch with the emotions expressed in Psalm 30: 

I will exalt you, O Lord,

because you have lifted me up…

Sing to the Lord, you servants of his;

give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,

his favor for a lifetime.

Weeping may spend the night,

but joy comes in the morning…

You have turned my wailing into dancing;

    you have put off my sack‑cloth and clothed me with joy.

Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;

    O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

Joy in the morning is important.  It connects us with gratitude and opens our eyes to the work of God in the world about us.  It sets up our hearts for the day.  I am sure that it is one of the reasons that Jesus regularly sought to go off and be alone, so that he could pray and be recharged (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16). 

Grace and Peace. 

Fr. Tony+