Big Visions and The Daily Grind

Friday of Week 22 in Ordinary Time

Colosssians 1:15-20

THE CHRIST HYMN

Brothers and sisters:

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn of all creation.

For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;

all things were created through him and for him.

He is before all things,

and in him all things hold together.

He is the head of the Body, the Church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,

that in all things he himself might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,

and through him to reconcile all things for him,

making peace by the Blood of his cross

through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Placed at the beginning of the letter this hymn evokes the worship experience and sets ritual life as the foundation of the arguments to come.  The Hymn was most likely part of baptismal celebrations and there is much in the Hymn that offers hope and reassurance.  It is grand and mysterious and beautiful.  It encourages and strengthens the community to seek harmony and wholeness. There are real troubles facing the community at Colossae; false teaching, Paul’s imprisonment/death, and increasingly hostile relations with the world outside the church. 

I recall the comfort I experience when the church sings the “Exsultet” or “Shall We Gather at the River” at the Easter Vigil.  I recall the crucifix that hangs above my bedroom door and is the first thing I see when I arise in the morning.  I remember the goofy “Our Lady of Cochabamba” medallion stuck to the steering shaft of my old van.  Ritual, in the act of worship, in the scriptural text, or present in the daily grind…powerful stuff.  True for the Colossians and true for me.

I am comforted today by the Christ hymn…I just wish I could sing it.