For
Sunday, October 23, 2016, Season of Creation III****, Readings:
Mother Teresa*,
Psalm 146 by Thomas Norris**, Paradise Now, The Living Theater***;
Luke 18:9-14
Luke 18:9-14
[W]e need much prayer, the
kind that unites us with God and overflows continually upon others. ~ Mother Teresa
Happy are they
who have the God of Jacob for their help!*
whose hope is in
the Lord their God... ~ Psalm 146:5
What do you want? To make the world
glow with creation...To feed all the
people...To remove the
causes of violence....To re-invent
love...To stop
distorting the mind of the people...To break down the
walls that alienate...To get to know
God...To make the
destination clear. ~ Paradise Now
I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves shall be exalted. ~ Luke 18:14
In a word: GLOBAL. There is no escaping it. We are truly bound up in each other's humanity next door, next state, next country, around the globe. While there are many voices claiming to dislike the term "global", anyone who eats food from a grocery store, buys anything from Walmart or Macy's, and especially from a store where everything is a dollar, is contributing to, participating in, and benefiting from the Global economy. We also often hear that we must keep fighting for peace. Mystic/Monk Thomas Merton tells us in his "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" that ...fighting for peace...starts all the wars. Peace is something you have or you do not have. If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Of course it is always easier to say that sharing peace is a way to achieve peace, but it is true that calm often begets calm while anger escalates a problem. Both are contagious - which would you rather spread across our common humanity? No path is completely safe but neither is hiding behind walls. Let us stop wasting the planet and work together to break down the walls that alienate and get to know God and each other. It's the only way to reinvent love and to make the world glow with creation. Let us also work on exalting the other in our midst, rather than ourselves.
LET US, GOD’S
PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ God Most
Merciful, re-invent and expand our capacity to love You and one another. Free
our minds from earthly distraction and distortion as we strive to make each
breath a prayer.
Lord
of our Souls
RESPONSE:
Our
hope and strength are in You
~ God
Most Merciful, bolster our willingness to challenge the leaders of this world,
this nation, and this community, and all who would be, to seek to remove causes
of violence, to stop wasting the resources of this planet, and to break down
the walls that alienate us from one another and from You. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
Lord
of our Souls
Our hope and strength are in You
~ God Most
Merciful, we implore You to feed all who are hungry, calm all who are in fear,
and heal all who are suffering in any part of life. Comfort and care for those
who serve. We pray especially for:
Lord
of our Souls
Our hope and strength are in You
~ God Most
Merciful, liberate those hearts bowed down in grief as our loved ones now glow in
the ultimate loveliness of life in Your eternal dwelling place. We pray
especially for:
Lord
of our Souls
Our hope and strength are in You
~ God Most
Merciful, we pause in this moment to offer You our other
heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…
Lord
of our Souls
Our hope and strength are in You
~ God
Most Merciful, deepen the faith of those whose earthly intentions and endeavors
guide us to know You better, and encourage our own faithfulness on the pathway
to You. We pray especially for:add your own petitions
Lord
of our Souls
Our hope and strength are in You
The Celebrant
adds: Loving Lord, sustain us in our struggle to live humbly in Your
sight, to free ourselves from the sin of self-promotion, and to unite ourselves
with You by the overflowing of Your love within us. We ask through Christ
Jesus, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, who together with You are
One God in Glory, forever and ever. Amen.
*A READING FROM THE WORD OF MOTHER THERESA
Whether you are a
Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian, how you live your life is the proof that you are
fully God's or not. Loving must be as normal to us as living and breathing, day
after day until death. To understand this and practice it we need much prayer,
the kind that unites us with God and overflows continually upon others. Our
works of charity are nothing but the overflow of our love of God from within.
Therefore, the one who is most united with God loves her neighbor most.
From Everything Starts With
Prayer, White Cloud Press, Ashland, OR, 1998
**PSALM 146 Anglican Chant by Thomas Norris
Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!*
I will praise the
Lord as long as I live;
I will sing
praises to my God while I have my being.
Put not your
trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,*
for there is no
help in them.
When they breathe
their last, they return to earth,*
and in that day
their thoughts perish.
Happy are they
who have the God of Jacob for their help!*
whose hope is in
the Lord their God;
Who made heaven
and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;*
who keeps his
promise for ever;
Who gives justice
to those who are oppressed,*
And food to those
who hunger.
The Lord sets the
prisoners free;
the Lord opens
the eyes of the blind;*
the Lord lifts up
those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves
the righteous;
the Lord cares
for the stranger;*
The Lord sustains
the orphan and widow,
but frustrates
the way of the wicked.
The Lord shall
reign for ever, *
Your God, O Zion,
throughout all generations. Hallelujah!
*** from Paradise Now, The
Living Theatre by Judith Malina and Julian Beck
"What do you want?"
To make the world
glow with creation.
To make life
irresistible.
To feed all the
people.
To change the
demonic forces into the celestial.
To remove the
causes of violence.
To do useful
work.
To work for the
love of it and not for the money.
To live without
the police.
To change myself.
To get rid of the
class system.
To re-invent
love.
To make each
moment creative.
To be free of the
force of the State.
To be free to
create.
To get rid of a
life of material greed.
To free all the
energy wasted in financial transaction.
To cut all the bureaucratic
wasted time out of life.
To free humanity
from armies.
To stop
distorting the mind of the people.
To stop crippling
the human body with frustration.
To learn how to
breath.
To live longer
than we do.
To be free of the
system.
To
get rid of central control.
To supply what we
need
To seek what we
desire.
To stop wasting
the planet.
To stop dying of
competition.
To break down the
walls that alienate.
To get to know
God.
To make the
destination clear.
Requests for prayers or meditations for this space or private use may be sent to Leeosophy@gmail.com. All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way.
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