Chant the Psalm of the Paralytic (4th week of the Great Fast)
The Misbak (Psalm to be chanted) of the 4th week of the Great Fast
What Saint Yareyd dubbed Messagooi (The Paralytic)
"The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
thou changest all his bed (in his illness thou healest all his infirmities)
As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me" (Psalm 40(41):3-4 RSC)
The gem that God, in His everlasting mercy, bestowed upon our parish in South Central Los Angeles is Aba Thomas. This upcoming Sabbath Aba Thomas will travel to Ethiopia for a couple of weeks. Pray for his safe entry into Ethiopia, and for his safe return, in accordance with God's will. Aba Thomas frequently tells those of us at the Virgin Mary's Orthodox Church "there are only two types of people in this world, sinners in denial and sinners in recovery".
Yesterday's misbak preaches this to us as well. Psalm 40, or 41 (depends on who is counting), opens with a beatitude and blessing of anyone who thinks of, speaks of and does works of mercy for the poor, weak and helpless. The misbak starts a couple of verses later. The sickbed of this person is the flesh she wears as a sojourner and guest in this passing world. Though she sins, the Lord washes away her sins or to use the analogy of the misbak, cleans and replaces the linen of her bed.
The Psalmist has put thoughts into words and words into ink and bound the words of God, for us who exist thousands of years later. Due to the nigh universal access of the holy scriptures, granted to us by the technology of this digital age, and God's everlasting mercy, these words will last longer than bronze. These words are the words of a sinner in recovery asking the Lord to be gracious toward her.
"O Lord, be gracious to me" a recovering sinner, is a prayer that should be on our lips for the rest of the Great Fast and indeed the rest of our days until the time of trial, when the goats will be separated from the sheep.
"O Lord, be gracious to me" a recovering sinner
Furthermore, we must love each other.