I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
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I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women,
and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison,
against burning,
Against drowning,
against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,Christ behind me, Christ within me,Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort, [i.e., at home]Christ in the chariot seat,
[i.e., travelling by land]Christ in the poop. [i.e., travelling by water]
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,Christ in every ear that hears me.
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I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity The Creator of the Universe.
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St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer is really a prayer for all us and is a true Missionary Prayer. As we come to see ourselves as Evangelistic Missionaries we will study this prayer thoroughly.
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Now for a more fun topic: Fear of Death!
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In this part of Luke's Gospel people around Jesus are trying to convince him that he should be afraid because he acts with no fear whatsoever. Particularly, Jesus should be afraid of death as we heard in the Gospel reading:
13:1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
13:2 He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?
13:3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.
13:4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?
13:5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
13:6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.
13:7 So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?'
13:8 He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it.
13:9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'
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The historical facts of these two events, the killing of the Galileans and the tower of Siloam, is unclear. It seems that they have something to do with a power struggle with Pilate in that they somehow threatened Pilate's command. The reaction to their deaths reflects the understanding of Torah, is filled with a list of curses, in that they were cursed for their sins.
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Turn on the Television sometime and you can hear how people have died because they are cursed. The Hurricanes and flooding and tsunami's are because the people were sinful.
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According to these so-called Evangelists the quarters in New Orleans were destroyed because the people who lived there were homosexuals. I guess everyone who lived there was a sinful homosexual and that is way their homes were destroyed. According to these Evangelists, it had nothing to do with weak levies and global warming. These guys must be right--right?
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There is a big problem with that type of thinking. These people see God as targeting sinners, and to see God in this way means that God has really bad aim. He targets and destroys sinners but takes out the wrong people. It is absurd to think that everyone who died in New Orleans or in Indonesia was a terrible sinner suitable for destruction by God's vengeful hand. To see God in this way is to see God as a god of vengeance with really bad aim.
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Jesus is pointing this out to everyone and showing how absurd this thinking this. People then just like today see that dieing for a bad reason is a reason nonetheless. People die unexpectedly because of a sudden illness or accident and they see it as a punishment from God. To die for a bad reason gives meaning to their death. Without it there is no reason at all and life is meaningless. It is better for them to think: Death is a punishment from God for doing something wrong.
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Jesus is fearless and does not see it this way at all.
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God is a judge, an impartial judge, who does not want to mentally and spiritually get us. God is a good judge who is not predisposed on one side. God is not a Jihads Judge that we have to fear.
Jesus displaces that view and that mind set. Jesus replaces Fear with Love. In Luther's Catechism we read the words of Martin Luther's explanation to the 1o Commandments, "We should fear and love God that we..." We have to look closely at the word fear and see how it is connected to Love. We do not fear God for fear of punishment. We fear God out of respect for the unending Love which he bestows upon us. We should not be afraid.
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People who are afraid are easily lead in the promise that they will be safer. Fear does not make people better. Fear hurts our physical and emotional health. Living in Fear can make us psychotic. Fear shuts down logical reasoning and fills us with anxiety so that we can not see any new possibilities. As it is written, "See, I am doing something new." Our society is living in fear and is attaching that fear to God. Living this way makes it almost impossible to see the New Thing that God is doing, Jesus.
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Jesus addresses all this fear and anxiety with his parable. "One more year," Jesus says. That one year is the last part of his ministry. Jesus is going to be the fruit hanging from the tree. That is the true "new thing."
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The "new thing" God is doing in Jesus is the removal and reversal of all the curses in Torah. That is difficult for us, because we like the curses. We like to use the curses as a stick to bash each other with when things go wrong for other people.
Jesus brings God to us.
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How do we view Holy Communion? We tend to think of it as a thing, a sacrament. Holy Communion is a joining with God. In Holy Communion we met Jesus and the curses of Torah are
removed and reversed.
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Feel, Taste, and Hear how Jesus brings God to us
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