In 1960 Uruguayan Bishop Federico J. Pagura wrote a hymn: "Bendito el Rey que viene en el nombre del Señor." In 1973 Fred Pratt Green translated it. It may be found as Hymn # 74 in The Hymnal 1982, where it is set to the tune Valet will ich dir geben, aka St Theodulph, familiar to many who have sung it for years on Palm Sunday with the text "All glory, laud, and honor."
Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God!For him let doors be opened, no hearts against him barred!
Not robed in royal splendor, in power and pomp comes he:
but clad as are the poorest - such his humility.
Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God!
By those who truly listen his voice is truly heard.
Pity the proud and haughty, who have not learned to heed
the Christ who is the promise and has our ransom paid.
Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God!
He only to the humble reveals the face of God.
All power is his, all glory! All things are in his hand,
all ages and all peoples, till time itself shall end!
Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God!
He offers to the burdened the rest and grace they need.
Gentle is he and humble! And light his yoke shall be,
for he would have us bear it so he can make us free.
--the BB
3 comments:
again, you find such compelling images!
How prayerfully I have been able to spend time this Advent, with these posts.
That last graphic really hit me. Every day I drive by a more, shall I say - literally minded church many times.
Their sign out front, which of course gets changed every week, now says "Jesus was born to die for your sins" when you are headed east . Returning from the other direction one is greeted with "Jesus was born to bear your sorrow".
For the past few days that these words have been up, it just feels a little dismal, with due respect to our brothers and sisters.
To see the words ever so slightly changed to "he will save many people from their sins" makes all the difference.
When I go out in a little while, I will utter my prayer for our brethren and think of your post.
Dear BB, Many thanks for this reflection. It's important to remember that the earliest Christian formulations talk about "the sin of the world" -- a far cry from the individual and individualistic phrasing of a certain brand of U.S. Protestantism. Not that we are to abdicate responsibility for our own sins. But sin is cosmic and systemic as well as individual. The ancients knew this, as do some of our better contemporary religious thinkers. Including you. Blessings on this 4th Sunday of Advent.
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