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World Communion Sunday is always meaningful to me as I reflect upon our connection to our Christian siblings throughout the world and our mystical union with all who have come before and after us. This idea is beautifully stated in the words of Sunday’s opening hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth. If you haven’t meditated upon this particular hymn, I commend it to you.
One way I like to reflect the universal nature of the church in worship is by scheduling diverse music. This Sunday, we have an 18th-century German chorale prelude, a 16th-century Italian setting of a Hebrew psalm sung in Latin, a 20th-century American setting of another psalm, O Taste and See, and a late-19th-century Irish setting of the medieval hymn Ave verum corpus—and that’s just the choral music. The congregational hymns also come from various times and places.
Varieties of languages and musical styles enchant the creative mind and coax us to experience these ancient words in new ways. I find this to be a truly spiritual experience.
See you in church!
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