INTROIT (based on Psalm 49)

Hear this, all peoples!
     Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
both low and high
     rich and poor together!
Truly no man can ransom another,
     or give to God the price of his life.
for the ransom of their life is costly
     and can never suffice.

This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
     yet after them people approve of their boasts.
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
     Death shall be their shepherd.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
     for he will receive me.

Commentary: This message is directed to every person from greatest to the least; here is the voice of equality; that voice that considers humanity on the level of humanity alone irrespective of all earthly divisions, castes and categories. No identity politics here. It is the voice of God. And so let all persons put aside the things of earth and now prepare to commune with their Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer.

The voice bids us to put aside our vain desires to fix what is broken; to save the world; to improve mankind. We cannot be improved. But we can be redeemed, only not by another creature in need of redemption himself.

The hope to be redeemed, and the desire for a higher and better life ever presses upon us. What the world calls mental illness, bad politics, or the uneven distribution of wealth Sacred Scripture calls sin, death and the devil.

Man cannot redeem himself, he doesn’t have the juice, but one Man can. He whose life is divine, and thus of infinite worth.

The alarm is sounded, God be praised! Because human wisdom, to say nothing of human pride, cannot hear the message. All are on the wrong track, and applaud each other as they travel the road to perdition together. But the end thereof is the way of death. And so awake! Hear the Word of the Lord!