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Views from the Choir Loft

Sin & Error Pining

Fr. David Friel · December 18, 2011

The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent this year tells the story of the Annunciation—the most astounding event in all of human history. And it is a dramatic story.

From the time of Adam & Eve to the time of Mary & Joseph, mankind had suffered under the burden of original sin. There had been no satisfactory remedy for it. Humanity had original sin, which is an infinite debt, but no way to pay it back, since all of us are finite beings. Jesus, being the Son of God from before all time, was infinite and therefore had the power to pay the debt. But He was a divine Person, not a human being. If only somehow Jesus, the infinite divine God, could become a man, there would finally be a way to rescue mankind from original sin.

So God devised this plan. He sent an angel, named Gabriel, to appear to a teenage girl, named Mary. The angel went on to tell Mary not to be afraid, for, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.” (To say the young girl was surprised would be an understatement.) “How can this be?” she asked. After Gabriel explained the situation a bit further, Mary uttered the most fantastic response: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Right then, in that moment, the world was changed. Mary said, Fiat!, and all of a sudden, we were never the same. God asked Mary to give Him a human nature, and she said, “Yes, be it done unto me!” Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, and God truly became man. That’s what we mean when we pray in our new creed: “For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

At last there was a divine Person with a human nature! He was divine so that He could pay an infinite debt. He was human so that He could pay it on our behalf—as “one of us.” The long, sad story of brokenness and sin that began with Adam & Eve had finally come to an end. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ‘til He appeared.”

The Annunciation was, without a doubt, the most astounding moment in all of human history. But it was not a singular event. That is, it wasn’t an unrepeatable event. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Every single day, God says to us, “Hail Susan,” “Hail Frank,” “Hail Theresa,” “Hail Stephen,” “Hail Joan,” “Hail David, full of grace!” He asks men & women the world over, “Will you give me a human nature? Just as Mary said, ‘Yes,’ and gave my Son, Jesus, a human nature, will you let Me have your human nature? May I use you, in your humanity, to make known the glory of My Name?”

Can you sense the drama? The “world in silent stillness waits” for us to respond, “Yes . . . be it done unto me!”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.—(Read full biography).

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PDF Download • Trinity Sunday (22 pages)

Feel free to download this Organ Accompaniment Booklet for Trinity Sunday (Second Vespers). Notice how the modes progress by number. Psalm 1 is mode 1; Psalm 2 is mode 2; Psalm 3 is mode 3; Psalm 4 is mode 4; Psalm 5 is mode 5. I am told by an expert that other feasts (such as Corpus Christi) are likewise organized by mode, and it’s called a “numerical office.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
10 June 2022 • “Official” rhythm of plainsong

I continue to search for the most beautiful way to present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores. (Technically, the “pure” rhythm of the official edition is what everyone is supposed to use.) You can download my latest attempt, which is the Introit for this coming Sunday: Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. Because this is not an ancient feast, the Introit had to be adapted (perhaps around 750AD). Prior Johner says the adaptation is “not an entirely happy one.”

—Jeff Ostrowski
7 June 2022 • FEEDBACK

From Chelan, Washington: “CCWatershed is a God-sent resource that I can’t function without! Such great work by the team to bring beauty back to our liturgy!” From Gainesville, Florida: “I am so appreciative of the work, of my brothers and sisters in music!” From Troutman, North Carolina: “Keep up the excellent work in service of the Liturgy!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

But the revisers did not leave them altogether untouched. Saint Ambrose had to be “corrected.” The Iste confessor was greatly altered and the hymn for the Dedication of a Church, which no one ought to have touched, was in fact completely recast in a new meter.

— Father Joseph Connelly

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