People's Prayers

Monday, October 13, 2025

Prayers of the People: Our Primordial Mother*, 2nd Sunday in the Season of Creation ’25 Yr C

For Sunday, October 19, 2025; Readings: Micah 4:1-4, Psalm 8**, Revelation 22:1-2, Matthew 6:25-34

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [the God of Jacob] shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more… [Micah 4:2c-3]

Lord, our God, the whole world tells the greatness of your name. Your glory reaches beyond the stars…I see your handiwork in the heavens: The moon and stars you set in place…O Lord our God, the whole world tells of the greatness of your name. [Psalm 8:1, 3, 4]**

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

[Revelation to John: 22:1-2]

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?... Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. [Matthew 6:26, 27, 28b-29]

It is easy enough to discover the bad news about the condition of our planet, from devastating weather to disastrous environmental events, to war and disease, and it all needs our awareness, action, and God-ordered stewardship. Today we are to re-awaken our consciousness to our earthly surroundings, close by and well beyond our mere location. Today, again, it’s time to learn and more deeply know and celebrate this great gift of our Creator, also known in Greek Mythology as Gaia*, our primordial Mother.

We are to re-examine its lushness, its highest peaks and deepest depths, the fragrances and the freshness; to re-discover our companion creatures, wild and tame, and the extraordinary interconnections of life among the plants and organisms that support us. Let us take more than a moment to marvel at the vastness of the oceans, the rhythm of the tides, the flow of rivers, the artful shaping of clouds. We must look and see what has gone before, where we are now, and discover again our world's potential. Most importantly, we are to discover ways to maintain and expand protections against industrial waste, general pollution, and the island of plastic and garbage now twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean***, the loss of precious water resources, and especially the vast impact of our own everyday selfish actions individually, collectively, and globally. This Earth and her resources feed our bodies and provide oxygen for our breath, and breath-taking beauty in which we experience the wonder of our God-given surroundings.

We are called to be a servant to humanity as given in Christ’s teaching and example, and from the word of the Lord of Jerusalem to beat our modern-day swords and spears of violence into plowshares and pruning hooks for peace. Let us continuously plow the soil of Creation, to feed, protect, and prosper the gift we have been given. To not learn war any more against nations, or racism or sexism or any -ism of discrimination against our human siblings, and to see that no one anywhere should be afraid. May we turn toward those humans from whom we have the most to learn even if we have previously considered them harshly for their political, religious, lifestyle, or other perspectives different from our own; or, merely and unkindly looked past them as lesser beings unworthy of our care or attention. And while we agree or disagree with the chosen pathways of others, let us always grant due respect to our fellow humans who, like ourselves, are created in the image of God, who is fully our Mother, Father, Sister, and Brother, and who filled our souls with the shining dust of stars, and the cosmic lilt of heavenly choirs.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Lord our God of all that is, rid us of our self-important arrogance, and grant us the humility to understand our true place in, and responsibilities for Your full Creation. Turn us toward those from whom we have the most to learn, fill us with respect and care for every living creature and life form, and remind us to be a voice and champion for the protection and preservation of this, our sacred and holy Gaia, Mother Earth.

O God, Mother and Father of Creation
RESPONSE: We bless You by our faith in action

~ O Lord our God of all that is, instill within all who lead the Governments of our Planet, our Nation, and our Community, the urgency to beat our modern-day swords and spears of violence into plowshares and pruning hooks for peace. Guide those who hold and support political office toward positive management and policies for the eco-systems and environments that sustain the life, health, and existence of your people and creatures everywhere. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God, Mother and Father of Creation

We bless You by our faith in action

~ O Lord our God of all that is, surround the hearts of all who live with chronic illness, or critical need, with Your peace and healing; and endurance for those who give them care. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

O God, Mother and Father of Creation
We bless You by our faith in action

~ O Lord our God of all that is, keep us in the knowledge that love never dies and that those we have sent ahead, have new life in the holy grandeur of Your Eternal Kingdom. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

O God, Mother and Father of Creation
We bless You by our faith in action

~ O Lord our God of all that is, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials…

O God, Mother and Father of Creation

We bless You by our faith in action

~ O Lord our God of all that is, set alight the spirits of those called by You to lead us in Your Church, who guide us to make our destination to You clear, and who join us to love, honor, and serve as Christ has taught and shown us by His example. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God, Mother and Father of Creation
We bless You by our faith in action

The Celebrant adds: Lord God, Feeder of birds, Clothier of the lilies and grass of the fields, awaken us each day to strive first for your Kingdom and your righteousness. Calm our worry and grant us renewed desire to restore and cherish Your precious gift of this living, breathing planet, the literal ground of every earthly being. Kindle our fervor to actively engage in and assure its health, as it continues to sustain all forms of your creation here and beyond, now and always. We ask through Jesus, our Teacher and Redeemer; and the Holy Spirit, the Divine and Limitless Energy of our souls; who together with You are One God, forever and ever. Amen.

~Click here for more information about:

Season of Creation ~ In The Beginning

*Gaia: ancestral mother of earth, personification of earth, a primordial earth goddess in Greek mythology, literally, "earth;" primordial: first in the sequence of time, original [Merriam Webster]

~A Story of Gaia: https://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Gaia.html

** Psalm 8:

Lord, our God, the whole world tells the greatness of your name. Your glory reaches beyond the stars.

Even the babble of infants declares your strength, your power to halt the enemy and avenger.

I see your handiwork in the heavens: The moon and the stars you set in place.

What is humankind that you remember them, the human race that you care for them?

You treat them like gods, dressing them in glory and splendor.

You give them charge of the earth, laying all at their feet: cattle and sheep, wild beasts, birds of the sky, fish of the sea, every swimming creature.

Lord our God, the whole world tells the greatness of your name.

[From The Psalter: A faithful and inclusive rendering, Liturgy Training Publications

(International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc.), 1994]

***Twice the Size of Texas Ocean Garbage/Plastics Island: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240115-visualising-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch

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Prayers of the People: A Persistent Bother! ~ 19th Sunday after Pentecost '25 RCL Yr C

For Sunday, October 19, 2025; Readings: Genesis 32:22-31, Psalm 121,

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, Luke 18:1-8

“The Burren” Country Clare, Ireland

Persistent Flowers amid the Rocks

Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak…Jacob called the place Peniel, saying “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” [Genesis 32:24, 30]

I lift my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. [Psalm 121:1-2]

I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable...For the time is coming when people...will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. [2 Timothy 4:1b-2a, 3a, 4]

" ...yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming." And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? ...I tell you he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" [Luke 18:5-7, 8]

We are God's people and persistence is the order of the day. Jacob, in wrestling with the man until daybreak, is the representation of all of us wrestling with our innermost selves, the unjust judge within us, fearing our self-perceived failings and lacking. But as Jacob prevails despite a life-long wound to remind him, so do we. For Jacob, as for us, it was less about the struggle and more about his capacity to withstand, to overcome obstacles and personal history, and to be preserved by God.

The Psalmist’s words bring us to the dawn of inner comfort as our help comes from the Lord and is always within us if we but remember to call out and to call on that inner strength.

The writer of 2nd Timothy calls us to be persistent, whether the time is convenient or not, to proclaim the message, and to be steadfast in the ministry to which Christ calls us, because people – including us – will wander away from the truth and believe whatever they like.

The parable that Jesus tells is a way to keep the disciples, and always us, from losing heart and abandoning prayer. The widow keeps up the good fight to the annoyance of the judge who believes he is an entity unto himself. We also stubbornly yield to the sense of singularity of our own stature or desires, with no apparent care or interest in the needs of others beyond our own, at times. Yet this widow – a woman with no husband was the least of the least in those days – kept coming before the judge, a bothersome, constant, squeaky wheel whose noise the judge could no longer ignore or endure. He grants her the justice she seeks but only in order to be rid of her. So, too will God hear us who cry – or rather, pray – day and night, though never to be rid of us. God’s Presence is always within, always available even in our struggles with doubt and the frustrations and injustices of daily life.

Jesus leaves us with that final disconcerting question: And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? How do we answer? By returning again, and again, and again to Scripture, to prayer, to patience, to giving and receiving support in a community of faith and discipleship, to carry out our ministries fully. Let us feel bothered if we wander away. Let us be bothered enough to listen, remember, and turn back to the Gospel Truth, each time we turn only to ourselves as judge. Let us be a bother in patience, persistence, and inspiration, to all we meet. Let our faith bloom amidst the rocks and obstacles of this human sojourn in spite of our own doubts and attempts to stop it. Oh, yes, do bother, persistently!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Watchful, Loving God, as we wrestle with the unjust judge inside ourselves, awaken us to Your strength within us, to carry and proclaim Your truth in our every thought, word, and action.

O Lord, our Help

RESPONSE: Preserve us in faith and truth

~ Watchful, Loving God, arouse our inner courage, in this time of unending urgencies, to be the persistent and bothersome conscience of all who serve in the halls of government across this Planet, this Nation, and this Community, on behalf of all Your people and the very Earth itself. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord, our Help