The organist librarian

Fra Angelico Annunciation A wet day and at work! Carroll Stuhlmueller has a good meditation on today's readings. "The key to today's feast lies in the purifying force of obedience to God's will. Such obedience does not consist in complying with external directions nor in any grovelling loss of personal integrity, Yet it is the most compelling, non-negotiable demand - to be fully who we are at the depths of ourselves. There is always the temptation, experienced from the very beginning by our first parents, to settle for something less which nonetheless seems very good. Like Mary we are not capitulating to an unreasonable taskmaster but to the expectations of what we really are at the base and root of ourselves". From Biblical meditations for Advent and the Christmas season Paulist Press 1980. I am reminded of the Muslim insistence on complete obedience to God. We are freed by our obedience to serve the Lord in so many different ways. I sing of a maiden that is mak...

Come down O love divine, seek thou this soul of mine... Let earthly passions turn to dust and ashes in its heat consuming... Let holy charity mine outward vesture be, and lowliness become mine inner clothing; true lowliness of heart which takes the humbler part, and o'er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing. Bianco da Siena (d.1434) Come, Holy Spirit! Come, Father and Mother of the poor! Come, our sweet refreshment, our solace in the midst of woe, our light in darkness. Healer of our wounds, dew upon our dryness, warmth for our cold hearts. A version of Veni Sancte Spiritus the sequence for Pentecost by Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P. Caroll Stuhlmueller's daily Biblical meditations on the readings of the day have been my companion since 1997 (10 years!) and they are still in print and worth getting! He has a gift for linking the readings together. This week has been very special with Into great silence, Gerontius, confirmation, Othello, Pat Gaffney and the Queen's gallery. ...