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Views from the Choir Loft

Divine Intimacy

Fr. David Friel · February 3, 2013

E THINK WE KNOW PEOPLE. All of us do. Maybe it’s a spouse or a roommate or a best friend. We think we know them because we know their handwriting; we know their pet words & phrases; we can predict the play-by-play of their morning routine; we can identify a sweater as theirs just by the smell; we can recognize their footsteps coming down the staircase.

Every single one of us has a few people in our lives that we know that well. But even all that, I daresay, is shallow by comparison to the way we are known by God.

The thirteenth chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians is home to the famous passage that begins, “Love is patient, love is kind.” After all the talk about love, St. Paul goes into a comparison between life on Earth and life in heaven. He says: “At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

So many people wander through life longing to feel like somebody truly knows and understands them, with all their intricacies and subtleties. To be “fully known” by God must be an extraordinary sensation! The good news is that we don’t have to wait to get to heaven to experience it. God has known us fully since the moment He created us. As He says to the Prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I dedicated you” (Jeremiah 1:5).

Is it possible to reach a very deep level of intimacy with a human person? Absolutely. But no human relationship can measure up to the incomparable intimacy we have with God, Who knows us better than we know ourselves.

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

In the Orthodox Churches they have kept that pristine liturgy, so beautiful. We have lost a bit the sense of adoration. They keep, they praise God, they adore God, they sing, time doesn’t count. God is the center, and this is a richness …

— Pope Francis (8/2/2013)

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