The Canticle of the Turning
Blessed by a song I'd never heard
Yesterday Tara and I and all four kids went to Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown for Mass. (While we most often go to an Anglican parish, from time to time we’ll go to a local Catholic one).
Two things stood out. First, the Gospel reading for the day and the homily on it: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” (John 13.34). This is not complicated.
The other memorable thing for me was a song I’d never sung before, “The Canticle of the Turning”, with lyrics by Rory Cooney and set to the old Irish folk tune ‘Star of the County Down’ (here’s a lovely instrumental version by Phil Keaggy).
Consider these words, which are both timeless and timely!
1. My soul cries out with a joyful shout
that the God of my heart is great,
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things
that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight,
and my weakness you did not spurn,
So from east to west shall my name be blest.
Could the world be about to turn?Refrain
My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
and the world is about to turn!2. Though I am small, my God, my all,
you work great things in me,
And your mercy will last from the depths of the past
to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame,
and to those who would for you yearn,
You will show your might, put the strong to flight,
for the world is about to turn.3. From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears
ev’ry tyrant from his throne.
The hungry poor shall weep no more,
for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, ev’ry mouth be fed,
for the world is about to turn.4. Though the nations rage from age to age,
we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us
from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard
is the promise which holds us bound,
‘Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
who is turning the world around.
Having read the lyrics, you might consider praying with them by listening to it.
Though current realities might not make it seem like “The hungry poor shall weep no more” or that the fire of God’s justice is burning particularly brightly, this is the reality of the Kingdom of God that Christ came to bring, did bring, and one day will bring in fullness, by the same Jesus who told us, “Love one another.” Loving one another, all others, and especially the other is of course how God’s kingdom actually comes now in anticipation of it one day being finally and fully revealed.