A moment of contemplation for yourself or on behalf of others on everything from the life-altering to the mundane.


Prayer: A conversation with The Higher Other who lives within each of us. An invitation to vent, to re-think, to ask, and to rest.

Monday, June 17, 2019

Prayers of the People: These Little Piggies Went Swimming ~ 2nd Sunday after Pentecost '19 Yr C

For Sunday, June 23, 2019, 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, Readings: Isaiah 65:1-9, Psalm 22:18-27, Galatians 3:23-29, Luke 8:26-39

    I was ready to be…found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am…to a nation that did not call on my name. I held out my hands to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices. 
[Isaiah 65:1-2]

  Be not far away, O Lord; you are my strength; hasten to help me. [Psalm 22:18]

  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise[Galatians 3:28-29]

  Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.  [Luke 8:32-33]

      Why is there never a herd of scape-pigs around when you need one? Well, of course they really are all over as it's so very easy to jump on the closest group of "THEM" to blame for whatever demon(s) or demonic activities have surfaced. Of course, if Jesus were to cast the demons into the swine today, he would be overwhelmed with a huge backlash from bacon addicts.
        When this Gospel appeared in the previous Year C readings for which I wrote in 2016, it was just after the horrible tragedy at Orlando which, itself, was just a year after the jolting tragedy at Charleston. Would that we could point to all being much improved in the world, in this country – how do we count the times and ways of horror-filled and hate-filled events just since then? How do we move always forward, standing faithful and strong in the face of such ongoing misery here and around the world?
        The Psalm used in 2016 was Psalm 42 which I commend to your reading. The psalmist is in lament, depressed, mocked, and yet for all his despairing he is still speaking to God, in memory of a time when God felt closer. He also speaks in hope as if feeling and knowing somehow ~ by faith? ~ that the time will come again when he will give God thanks. This time, in Psalm 22, although the beginning is also a lament, we are beginning with the later part in which the Psalmist, still beset by fear of anguish to come, is filled with the hope of God’s nearness and, as a guide to worship, gives us reasons to praise the God who answers prayer and cares for all who turn in God’s direction. We, too, must turn toward God when all is frightening yet also when things are well and joyful to give thanks – how easy it is to forget then.
        Paul reminds us that we are all one in Christ and still children of Abraham. Jesus tells the man freed of demons, at the end of this week's Gospel, Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. Quite a contrast to the usual lament of Why have you [God] forgotten me? How, indeed, do we declare how much God has done for us in the midst of what has been done to so many in our midst? Let us take the time to breathe, clinging to hope and to each other. We are marked as Christ's own in Baptism, either through water or desire. Let us be still and listen for God in the silence of our souls, let us open our hearts to smile with the giggles of children, and be alight with the joy of sunrise breaking through a long dark night. Let us claim our faith, through prayer and by action ~ however tenuous in the difficult times ~ believing in the power of God to guide us through until we can at last praise the Lord, stand in awe, and give glory. Let us be released from those little piggies of doubt, greed, anger, hatred, and fear and send them over the cliff for an eternal swim – calm down, bacon lovers, just speaking metaphorically.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Lord, our God, teach us, again, to always know Your Presence within us without seeking, as we are Your children through faith, all one in Christ Jesus, and heirs of Abraham according to Your Promise.

                                                     Faithful, Loving God                                                      
RESPONSE:                  We give You glory and praise                                    

~ O Lord, our God, You are our strength as we stand before the rulers and regimes on this Earth, in our Nation, and in our Community. Hasten to help us in pressing for leaders to turn from governance by their own devices to walk a better way towards justice, mercy, and peace. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Faithful, Loving God
                                                       We give You glory and praise

~ O Lord, our God, shelter the hearts and minds and bodies of those tormented by the demons of chronic pain, addictions, or mental illness, and sustain the love and patience of all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                       Faithful, Loving God
                                                       We give You glory and praise

~ O Lord, our God, ease the burden of bereavement as our loved ones now awaken to the bliss of life ever after in the peace of Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Faithful, Loving God
                                                       We give You glory and praise

~ O Lord, our God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

                                                       Faithful, Loving God
                                                       We give You glory and praise

~ O Lord, our God, we raise up before You all who have been chosen to lead us in Your Church, who baptize us as Christ’s own forever, who bring us Your Word and Sacraments, and who teach us to declare all that You, our Triune God, have done for us, in us, and through us. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Faithful, Loving God
                                                       We give You glory and praise                                                            
The Celebrant adds:  Most High God, Creator of All Humankind, release us from any and all unholy possession by that which keeps us from turning to You. Guide us to the path of Your peace within us, filled with faith and compassion, proclaiming Your Name by all that we are and all that we do. We ask through Jesus, our Teacher of Love in Action; and the Holy Spirit, the Spark that ignites our Souls; who together with You are One God forever and ever.  Amen.





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