The Signs Are Already Here
There are mornings when the sky tells you what sort of day is coming.
A bank of clouds gathers beyond the fields. The wind changes. The leaves turn their pale undersides toward the sky. Long before the first drop falls, an old farmer—or anyone who has simply paid attention for enough years—may say, “Rain.”
We are very good at signs when we have learned to look for them.
In today’s Gospel, Christ asks a disturbing question. If we can read the sky, why are we so poor at reading the hour in which we are living? We notice clouds. We notice wind. We notice the thousand little signals by which the ordinary world announces what is coming.
But do we notice God?
This morning, before we try to interpret the world, we ask for the grace simply to see it.
Opening Verse
Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth shall declare thy praise.
Invitatory
Antiphon: Come, let us adore the Lord, for he made us.
Psalm 94 (95)
Come let us praise the Lord with joy:
let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great king above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth:
and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it:
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down:
and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God:
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice,
harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness:
where your fathers tempted me,
they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation,
and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways:
so I swore in my wrath
that they shall not enter into my rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Come, let us adore the Lord, for he made us.
Psalmody
Psalm 50 (51)
Antiphon: A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.
To thee only have I sinned,
and have done evil before thee:
that thou mayst be justified in thy words,
and mayst overcome when thou art judged.
For behold I was conceived in iniquities;
and in sins did my mother conceive me.
For behold thou hast loved truth:
the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom
thou hast made manifest to me.
Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed:
thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.
To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness:
and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
Turn away thy face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create a clean heart in me, O God:
and renew a right spirit within my bowels.
Cast me not away from thy face;
and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation,
and strengthen me with a perfect spirit.
I will teach the unjust thy ways:
and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation:
and my tongue shall extol thy justice.
O Lord, thou wilt open my lips:
and my mouth shall declare thy praise.
For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it:
with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit:
a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion;
that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings:
then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Canticle — Habacuc 3:2–4, 13a, 15–19
Antiphon: In the midst of the years make thy work known, O Lord.
O Lord, I have heard thy hearing,
and was afraid.
O Lord, thy work, in the midst of the years bring it to life:
in the midst of the years thou shalt make it known.
When thou art angry,
thou wilt remember mercy.
God will come from the south,
and the holy one from mount Pharan:
His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth is full of his praise.
His brightness shall be as the light:
horns are in his hands:
Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
for salvation with thy Christ.
Thou madest a way in the sea for thy horses,
in the mud of many waters.
I have heard and my bowels were troubled:
my lips trembled at the voice.
Let rottenness enter into my bones,
and swarm under me.
That I may rest in the day of tribulation:
that I may go up to our people that are girded.
For the fig tree shall not blossom:
and there shall be no spring in the vines.
The labour of the olive tree shall fail:
and the fields shall yield no food.
The flock shall be cut off from the fold:
and there shall be no herd in the stalls.
But I will rejoice in the Lord:
and I will joy in God my Jesus.
The Lord God is my strength:
and he will make my feet like the feet of harts:
And he the conqueror will lead me upon my high places
singing psalms.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: In the midst of the years make thy work known, O Lord.
Psalm 147:12–20
Antiphon: Praise thy God, O Sion; he sendeth forth his word upon the earth.
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem:
praise thy God, O Sion.
Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates,
he hath blessed thy children within thee.
Who hath placed peace in thy borders:
and filleth thee with the fat of corn.
Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth:
his word runneth swiftly.
Who giveth snow like wool:
scattereth mists like ashes.
He sendeth his crystal like morsels:
who shall stand before the face of his cold?
He shall send out his word, and shall melt them:
his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run.
Who declareth his word to Jacob:
his justices and his judgments to Israel.
He hath not done in like manner to every nation:
and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Praise thy God, O Sion; he sendeth forth his word upon the earth.
Short Reading
Ephesians 2:13–16
But now in Christ Jesus, you, who some time were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his flesh:
Making void the law of commandments contained in decrees; that he might make the two in himself into one new man, making peace;
And might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, killing the enmities in himself.
Short Responsory
Teach us thy ways, O Lord, and make us attentive to thy voice.
Teach us thy ways, O Lord, and make us attentive to thy voice.
Give us eyes to see thy works.
And make us attentive to thy voice.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Teach us thy ways, O Lord, and make us attentive to thy voice.
Gospel of the Day
Luke 12:54–59
And he said also to the multitudes: When you see a cloud rising from the west, presently you say: A shower is coming: and so it happeneth:
And when ye see the south wind blow, you say: There will be heat: and it cometh to pass.
You hypocrites, you know how to discern the face of the heaven and of the earth: but how is it that you do not discern this time?
And why even of yourselves, do you not judge that which is just?
And when thou goest with thy adversary to the prince, whilst thou art in the way, endeavour to be delivered from him: lest perhaps he draw thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the exactor, and the exactor cast thee into prison.
I say to thee, thou shalt not go out thence, until thou pay the very last mite.
Benedictus
Antiphon: Lord, teach us to discern this time and to walk in thy light.
Canticle of Zachary — Luke 1:68–79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people:
And hath raised up an horn of salvation to us,
in the house of David his servant:
As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets,
who are from the beginning:
Salvation from our enemies,
and from the hand of all that hate us:
To perform mercy to our fathers,
and to remember his holy testament,
The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father,
that he would grant to us,
That being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
we may serve him without fear,
In holiness and justice before him,
all our days.
And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways:
To give knowledge of salvation to his people,
unto the remission of their sins:
Through the bowels of the mercy of our God,
in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:
To enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:
to direct our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Antiphon: Lord, teach us to discern this time and to walk in thy light.
Intercessions
Christ calls us to awaken, to discern the hour, and to walk the road of reconciliation while the road still lies before us. Trusting in his mercy, we pray:
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For the Church throughout the world: that she may recognize the needs of this hour and proclaim Christ with courage, mercy, clarity, and joy.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For the Holy Father, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, missionaries, and all who teach the faith: give them wisdom to distinguish what is merely fashionable from what is eternally true.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For nations divided by war, anger, suspicion, and old injuries: grant the grace of reconciliation while there is still time to meet one another on the road.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For those beginning their day’s work: engineers and farmers, teachers and tradesmen, parents and caregivers, those behind desks and those working with their hands: help us notice the small opportunities to do good that appear before us today.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For our homes and families: where resentment has quietly accumulated, give us humility to speak first, forgive first, listen first, and love without keeping accounts.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For those who wake this morning beneath the cloud of grief, illness, loneliness, anxiety, poverty, or fear: send them some unmistakable sign of thy nearness through the charity of another person.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
For those who have died: bring them from the shadows of this passing world into the everlasting morning of thy presence.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
And for ourselves: save us from becoming experts in everything except the things that matter most. Teach us to recognize grace while it is passing before our eyes.
Lord, open our eyes to thy presence.
Our Father
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O God, who hast filled thy creation with signs of thy wisdom and thy mercy, give us attentive hearts, that we may recognize thy presence in the hour given to us.
Teach us to seek reconciliation before anger hardens, to choose justice before convenience silences us, and to receive today’s ordinary gifts with gratitude.
May Christ, who is our peace, break down every wall that separates us from thee and from one another, and lead us at last into the everlasting light of thy kingdom.
Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Blessing
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil,
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
The Paradox of the Day
We can predict tomorrow’s weather from a cloud, yet miss eternity passing before us in an ordinary day.
Chesterton for the Morning
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
— G. K. Chesterton, Tremendous Trifles (1909), Chapter I, “Tremendous Trifles.”
A Chestertonian Meditation
The Signs Are Already Here
There is something wonderfully human about talking about the weather.
It is almost universally regarded as the least interesting possible subject of conversation, which is peculiar because the weather itself is astonishing.
A man says, “Looks like rain,” as though he had just announced that the wallpaper is beige.
But consider what he has actually said.
He has looked at a collection of water droplets floating thousands of feet above Kansas, watched their movement across a continent, felt a change in the invisible pressure of the atmosphere, perhaps noticed the direction of the wind, and concluded that water will shortly begin falling out of the sky.
And he is probably right.
“Looks like rain.”
It is practically prophecy.
Christ begins today’s Gospel with this wonderfully ordinary human ability.
A cloud appears in the west.
You know what it means.
A south wind rises.
You know what it means.
Jesus does not criticize the crowd because they observe such things. Quite the contrary. Their observation is accurate. The problem is that they have developed a remarkable faculty for noticing the signs of weather while remaining curiously blind to the signs of God.
They can read the sky.
They cannot read the hour.
That is a particularly uncomfortable Gospel for modern people because we have become extraordinarily good at reading signs.
We have instruments everywhere.
The little rectangle in our pocket can tell us the temperature, barometric pressure, chance of precipitation, traffic conditions, stock prices, baseball scores, battery condition, heart rate, and whether a package containing replacement filters has left a warehouse in Nebraska.
A modern automobile may notice that a tire has lost two pounds of pressure before the driver notices anything at all.
A machine in a factory can warn us that a bearing is beginning to fail.
A farmer can watch radar moving across several states.
An engineer can study a vibration spectrum and see trouble long before a shaft breaks.
We are surrounded by signs.
And this is good.
Christianity has never required stupidity.
But Christ asks the deeper question:
What have you learned to notice?
Because attention is never neutral.
We eventually become the sort of people who see what we have trained ourselves to see.
A mechanic hears a noise in an engine that everyone else ignores.
A mother hears something in the voice of her child that nobody else notices.
A musician hears the wrong note.
A farmer notices the clouds.
A carpenter sees that the door is not square.
And a saint notices grace.
That may be one of the great differences between holiness and ordinary distraction.
The saint does not necessarily inhabit a world containing more miracles than ours.
He may simply notice more of them.
Chesterton understood this extraordinarily well.
“The world will never starve for want of wonders,” he wrote, “but only for want of wonder.”
That sentence contains an entire philosophy of morning.
The problem is not that God has failed to provide sufficient evidence of his generosity.
The evidence is piled everywhere.
There is sunlight on the kitchen table.
There is coffee.
There is another human being sitting across from us.
There is a dog waiting impatiently at a door.
There is the ridiculous scarlet extravagance of an October tree.
There is a road disappearing into morning fog.
There is breath.
There is memory.
There is work worth doing.
There is another day.
We call these things ordinary.
That is our word, not God’s.
The curious thing about the ordinary is that almost everything we would desperately miss if it vanished belongs to it.
Nobody wakes each morning astonished that the kitchen faucet produces clean water.
Until it doesn’t.
Nobody regards the family member walking through the room as a supernatural marvel.
Until the chair is empty.
Nobody stands at the front door amazed that he can walk down the steps.
Until walking becomes difficult.
We have an extraordinary ability to recognize gifts retrospectively.
Christ is asking us to recognize them while they are still gifts.
But today’s Gospel is not merely about wonder.
It contains urgency.
“Whilst thou art in the way,” Christ says, make peace with your adversary.
There is still road ahead.
That is the sign.
We often imagine repentance as something dramatic—a lightning bolt, a catastrophe, an unmistakable divine intervention.
But perhaps the great sign is much simpler.
You still have time.
The person you ought to telephone is still alive.
The apology can still be made.
The habit can still be broken.
The neglected prayer can still be prayed.
The child can still be hugged.
The neighbor can still be helped.
The work can still be done properly.
The Mass can still be attended.
The door can still be opened.
You are still on the road.
And therefore today’s Gospel contains both a warning and an enormous mercy.
The warning is that the road ends.
The mercy is that this morning it has not ended yet.
We are still walking.
Perhaps that is why Psalm 50 belongs so naturally to the morning prayer of the Church.
“Create a clean heart in me, O God.”
Not tomorrow.
Not when circumstances improve.
Not when everybody else becomes more reasonable.
Now.
The great temptation is to wait for a clearer sign.
We would like Providence to send registered mail.
We would like the moral life to have dashboard warning lights.
APOLOGY REQUIRED.
PRAYER LEVEL LOW.
CHARITY OVERDUE.
RESENTMENT PRESSURE EXCEEDS SAFE OPERATING LIMIT.
Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—the signs are usually quieter.
A face.
A silence.
A conscience that will not quite stop speaking.
A Scripture passage heard for the hundredth time that suddenly sounds as though somebody has addressed it directly to us.
A beautiful morning we almost failed to notice.
A cloud in the west.
A wind from the south.
An ordinary Friday in October.
The world is not empty of signs.
It is crowded with them.
The danger is not that God has stopped speaking.
The danger is that we have become tremendously skilled at noticing everything else.
So this morning, before the forecasts and messages and schedules have completely occupied the day, look once more.
Look at the light coming through the window.
Look at the person beside you.
Look at the work waiting on the bench or desk.
Look at the road ahead.
The great sign may not be hidden at all.
It may be the astonishing fact that God has given us another morning in which to see it.
Carry It Into the Day
Lord, give me eyes to recognize thy gifts, courage to answer thy call, and wisdom to know the time thou hast given me.
Do not wait for a greater sign.
The morning itself is one.
Chesterton Radio