People's Prayers: March 2019

Monday, March 25, 2019

Prayers of the People: Finding Home ~ 4th Sunday in Lent '19 Yr C

For Sunday, March 31, 2019, Sunday in Lent, Yr C, Readings: Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32

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The Manna ceased on the day [the Israelites] ate the produce of the land… [Joshua 5:12a]

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is put away...Great are the tribulations of the wicked; but mercy embraces those who trust in the LORD. [Psalm 32:1, 11]

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away...All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ...So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ be, reconciled to God. [2 Cor 5:17a, 18a, 20]

But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found. [Luke 15:32]

In this reading from Joshua, the Israelites have finally found home. After wandering through the trials and uncertainties of the desert, where they were provided with the daily arrival of manna for sustenance, God brought them through. Even after the significant transgressions of their ancestors, they found themselves in the land of Canaan where the old manna was no more as they now ate of the new produce of the land.
Paul tells us that when we find our way to Christ, who is gifting us with the ministry of reconciliation from God, we become a new creation: everything old has passed away. Further, we are now ambassadors for Christ. In returning to the joy of forgiveness, we are the vessels God uses to appeal to the lost in spirit and the displaced in faith to return and be reconciled with God.

Luke's Gospel gives us the grumbling Pharisees and Scribes complaining of Jesus' dinners with sinners, and so he told them about the Father, Lost Son, and Angry Brother, also known as the parable of The Prodigal Son. Of course, everyone everywhere knows this one very well.

For a fresh perspective try a role-play experience with it by choosing one of the 3 characters to inhabit. Read it aloud as if you are the lowly son and discover his feelings of hunger, fear, regret, and other emotions that may surface before and after he humbles himself and returns home. Then read aloud again as the welcoming father; know his tears of joy and relief at seeing his lost son appear in the distance and then discover the father’s feelings about his elder son’s frustrations. Once more, as the elder brother. Who of us cannot appreciate his feelings of betrayal, anger, jealousy. He's been steadfast and true and who gets the glory - little spoiled brother! How might the father’s love and compassion for both of his sons create a new and reconciled home?

As with the Israelites and the Prodigal we are new, again and again, when we return to Christ and repent of our sins ~ not in despair but in the joy of finding cleansing and wholeness, feeling true of heart. We have each taken the role of that father, that son, and that elder brother in one form or another in our lives. Yet God always welcomes us home and always celebrates our return, no matter how many times we wander off as if we can manage everything on our own. In the happiest times let us take care to remember that God in Christ is still walking with us. In the darkest times of life amid loss, regret, or hopelessness, God always knows us and forgives us. God is never the one who leaves. Even when we can't forgive ourselves, we are forgiven and redeemed by God ~ so, if God can forgive me, who am I not to forgive myself? However, we cannot find what we do not look for. Seek and the L ST will soon be FOUND, everything old [will have] passed away. God in Christ will celebrate and rejoice when we who get lost, return to be reconciled and forgiven. Our forever Home is just there for the finding.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Lord, Most Faithful, by You and through Christ we are found, forgiven, and reconciled when we seek Your mercy in faith and trust. Help us to truly embrace our calling as Ambassadors for Christ, welcoming all who feel lost to find themselves in You.

Loving, Patient God

RESPONSE: We make our prayers to You

~ O Lord, Most Faithful, infuse the leaders of our Planet, our Nation, and our Community, with the wisdom and understanding to govern all Your people with honesty, integrity, and compassion. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Loving, Patient God

We make our prayers to You

~ O Lord, Most Faithful, restore hope and wholeness to all who are seriously ill, addicted, or homeless, and peace for all who give care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

Loving, Patient God

We make our prayers to You

~ O Lord, Most Faithful, soothe the hearts of those who mourn, as all of Heaven rejoices that those lost to mortal existence, are now found with new and eternal life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Loving, Patient God

We make our prayers to You

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

Loving, Patient God

We make our prayers to You

~ O Lord, Most Faithful, grant all who are called to be anointed in Your service, continual refreshment in Your instruction to guide us always to You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Loving, Patient God

We make our prayers to You

The Celebrant adds: God of the Lost and of the Found, release us from the bits and bridles of earth-bound snares to be reconciled in Christ as a new creation. Spare us from all that we think we deserve to find ourselves home again with You, in this life and the next. We ask through Jesus, our Compassionate Savior, and the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier of our Souls, who together with You, are One God, now and forever. Amen.

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. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Prayers of the People: Fruitless? ~ 3rd Sunday in Lent Yr C '19

For Sunday, March 24, 2019, 3^rd Sunday in Lent, Yr C, Readings: Exodus 3:1-15, Psalm 63:1-8, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9

(Fig Tree painting by Yvonne Ayoub)

There the angel appeared to [Moses] in a flame of fire out of a bush...the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed...When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush..."...Remove your sandals...for the place you are standing on is holy ground." [Exodus 3:2, 4b, 5b]

My soul clings to you, your right hand holds me fast. [Psalm 63:8]

[O]ur ancestors...all ate the same spiritual food and all drank...from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ...Do not become idolaters as some of them did... [1 Corinthians 10:1b, 3b, 4b, 7a]

"Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did"..."A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener...Cut it down!" [The gardener] replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down." [Luke 13:2-3, 6-7b, 8]

Limited or Endless? What possibilities does life hold today? Have I simply decided that I can’t or is it merely that I won’t? That is, my finite mind has decided what I can and cannot do and so no extra thought required. I comfortably go through the day, the week, the month with the same old mindset of poor tragic me or even YAY, Fabulous ME, and everything in between. I can sigh away in the desert of my sameliness or boast of my successes and post it all on Facebook. And isn’t it always just a bit of a shock when someone challenges our personal and most-knowledgeable perspectives? Who knows better than me, especially about me? The lessons for this week remind us that even the most humble of us need to have our consciousness raised.

Moses is overwhelmed before the burning bush when he realizes God is speaking directly to him. Raised as a prince of Egypt yet knowing and clinging to his Hebrew roots, keeping sheep was the job he knew how to do quite comfortably, no extra thought required. Now God was giving him a task beyond his self-imagined abilities – Who am I to go to Pharoah? One can only imagine the reluctance of Moses, with a speech impediment among other seeming limitations, to go back to face Pharoah with outrageous demands. But God knew Moses better than Moses. And God assured him over and over and over that God was always present.

Paul tells us that God gave those brought out of Egypt by Moses all the spiritual food and drink they needed and yet, though filled with God's grace and goodness, many failed God through intentional sin and were struck down. By those being struck down we are given one example of discounting God’s instruction. Christ is the rock, says Paul, the Messiah that guides us all if, IF, we are open to the possibilities that not everything will be comfortable in this life. What are the oppressive pharaohs we have created for ourselves, the idolatry of limit that we use to stunt our own spiritual growth? The key is: God through Christ is always present to help if we choose to seek it.

Jesus says that just because some Galileans suffered doesn't mean they were worse people than others and reminds the listeners - and us - to repent, to turn to God. Will we be spared hardship and suffering in this life? No, but intentional contrition and penitence, consciously walking towards God in what we say and do is what we are called to in this human existence. Even when we slip off the track, there is limitless forgiveness and patience with God in Christ once we awaken and acknowledge our frequent failures.

The owner of the vineyard reprieves the fig tree and the gardener will work hard to save it from destruction. The tree will have to respond to the nutrients, the food and drink in order to be saved. Christ is our persistent gardener always tilling and toiling to give us endless possibilities for eternal life. How will I respond ~ can I turn my heart and mind to Christ? What won’t I give up or change? Will my journey be fruitful or fruitless?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O God, our God, our souls were seeded with Your Divine Plan before our birth, and Christ provided us with the spiritual food and drink to bring us to full flower. Fill us with the saving joy of ongoing repentance, that prunes our unhealthy branches, so as to bear the ripe fruit of Your love.

O Lord of Loving-Kindness

RESPONSE: Our Constant, Eternal Helper

~ O God, our God, root us deeply in Your Holy Ground that we may not add to or be consumed by the violence and hatred of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, and so much more, that damages any of Your children. We pray for all who govern in this World, in this Nation, and in this City, to lead us out of inhumanity and injustice, especially: add your own petitions

O Lord of Loving-Kindness

Our Constant, Eternal Helper

~ O God, our God, nurture the hope of all who suffer with chronic pain, debilitating anxiety, or a frightening diagnosis, and revive the spirits of their caregivers. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

O Lord of Loving-Kindness

Our Constant, Eternal Helper

~ O God, our God, gather the grieving under the shadow of Your wings, as our faithful departed live again with contented souls, joy on their lips, and life everlasting in You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Loving-Kindness

Our Constant, Eternal Helper

~ O God, 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

O Lord of Loving-Kindness

Our Constant, Eternal Helper

~ O God, our God, we give You thanks for all those anointed as the gardeners of our spiritual formation. Grant them the tools to cultivate our hunger and thirst to reach for and cling to You and allowing Your work within us to sprout. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Loving-Kindness

Our Constant, Eternal Helper

The Celebrant adds: Lord God of the Past, the Present, and Forever, release us from the idolatry of the oppressive pharaohs we create for ourselves, that turn our souls away from Your constant Presence. Renew our eagerness to seek and follow Your instructions, that we may thrive in Your faithfulness as Your right hand always holds us fast. We ask through Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation; and the Holy Spirit, the Blazing Flame of our Faith, who together with You are One God, now and forever. Amen.

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. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Monday, March 11, 2019

Prayers of the People: Chickening In ~ 2nd Sunday of Lent Yr C '19

For Sunday, March 17, 2019, Sunday in Lent, Yr C, Readings: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27, Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35

The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

[Genesis 15:1]

The LORD is my light and my salvation, whom then should I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life, of whom then should I be afraid? [Psalm 27:1]

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me...For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ...Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven... stand firm in the Lord...

[Philippians 3:18a, 19-20a, 4:1b]

Jerusalem, Jerusalem...How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you were not willing! [Luke 13:34b]

Before he is Abraham, the childless Abram, even with his substantial wealth, bemoans to God that his only heir is a slave born in his house. We remember where this story goes as God gives to the faithful Abraham the children he desires and the descendants that number as the stars. The message we are to receive is that through our own faithfulness and sacrifice, God speaks to us also when he says, Do not be afraid…I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.

The Psalmist echoes the confidence we can have in God and the comfort we can take in not being fearful in either the ordinary moments or in the extraordinary. God is the light in our darkness, our strength and our salvation in all parts of this life.

Paul is chiding the Philippians in this letter and warning them about their attachments to earthly things. He harshly reminds them, and us, that we must learn to recognize our own inconsistencies, divided loyalties, and complacency that results in them, and us, being enemies of the cross of Christ. For those who are not living as Christ would have them live, their god is the belly. Paul’s true and heartfelt intention is for us to imitate his example and model our lives ~ as much as we are able ~ on Christ. We who are faithful will be transformed by the commitment to Jesus and, therefore, our primary citizenship is in heaven, rather than in this brief human sojourn.

Jesus speaks bluntly to the unusually well-intentioned Pharisees in a foreshadowing of the three days to come. The Pharisees were no fans of the Herod family and Jesus took their warning as sincere. He then gives them a message for that fox that lets them know that he has no fear of Herod, fully understands what is to come, and is deliberately walking into it all. Jesus scolds Jerusalem for her unwillingness to be gathered as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, as he would gather us. Yet the hope of things to come remains in his cryptic telling that he will not be seen until…

These readings tell us, in this renewing season of Lent, to be less fearful in our everyday life and not to seek God in the stuff of earth. It is clear, however, that while we are in this mortal moment, we have much to do. We are charged with being faithful, as Paul tells us, to live in, with, and as Christ did; we also are to speak truth to power as Jesus with the Pharisees. Rather than chickening out, let us begin this week by chickening in to whatever comes in turning our lives to Jesus, willing to gather under his wings, and be a holy, busy, and faith-filled brood awaiting the Blessed…one who comes in the name of the Lord.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Lord of Light and Salvation, we look to You for the courage to release ourselves from the earthly traps and tinsel that beguile us into complacency of faith. Free us of the fear to conform our lives to Christ, standing firm in Him in this life, so to attain our place in the next.

O Christ, hear us

RESPONSE: Have mercy upon us

~ Lord of Light and Salvation, steady our hearts and minds amidst unsettling times in our World, in our Country, and in our Community. Guide us to boldly bear witness to the Gospel, upholding Your message of peace, justice, and humanity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Christ, hear us

Have mercy upon us

~ Lord of Light and Salvation, comfort all who are in distress from chronic pain, serious addiction, and mental illness; and sustain the hope of all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

O Christ, hear us

Have mercy upon us

~ Lord of Light and Salvation, lift the weight from grieving hearts, as those we send ahead to Heaven’s eternal splendor, now live again where tears and trials are no more. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Christ, hear us

Have mercy upon us

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

O Christ, hear us

Have mercy upon us

~ Lord of Light and Salvation, grant extra strength and wisdom in mind, heart, and spirit to all who are ordained to the yoke of Christ as our pastoral guides in triumph and tribulation. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Christ, hear us

Have mercy upon us

The Celebrant adds: Jesus Christ, blessed are You who comes to gather us as Your own brood, not as enemies of Your Cross, but with willing, faithful, and trusting acceptance in our citizenship of heaven, today and always. We ask through the Holy Spirit, our Advocate; and our Creator, Most High; who together with You are One God, forever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Meditation Moments: Annual Review Ash Wednesday '19

Create in me a clean heart, O God

and renew a right spirit within me

says Psalm 51 [v11] and help me to find my way back to You. While I always have sincere ideas of grand repentant gestures and pious activity, You and I know I'm not likely to stick with an overly difficult or inconvenient discipline despite my best intentions. But please, help with the everyday moments that draw me away from You. Instead of planning what to give up, guide me toward realizing what I can take on. Grant me the consciousness and conscience to review my path of this last year. Help me to restore my soul in smaller, yet more meaningful ways such as being mindful of my thoughts, emotions, and actions while driving; being more patient in the grocery store or bank line; having the humility to step back from instant judgment of others to see what is within me; and mostly, Lord of all Peoples, on each day of this Holy Lent, and every day thereafter, let me understand the reality of and live into the words You have given us:

Forgive me my sins AS I forgive those who sin against me.

For all this I pray. Amen.

Lent isn’t meant as a dark and dreary trudge through the wilderness of gloom and doom. Life is a gift of God, a treasure, a miracle. Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness testing himself and preparing for his ministry. We in the west are so very busy that everything has to be on the calendar of our phones so we know the when, where, and what of life. How about programming 40 minutes of time once a week to pause, examine our sins - faults - and acknowledge the everyday idols that constantly lead us astray. As Fr. Richard Rohr suggests, let us take this time to learn what our sins can teach us about ourselves and, how to improve us.

We go through so much of life unconsciously and we can't get rid of something we don't know, or don't want to know, that we have. We can't improve ourselves if we don't fully know who we are. Lent is a time to look closely and discover what we've been hiding in the basement of our souls. Just like Spring cleaning - or Fall if you're in the southern hemisphere - it's time to awaken to the best of ourselves, re-discover what it means to commit our lives to Christ, keep the good stuff and throw the sin out with the trash. Let us repent with eagerness, with attention and intention, let us turn toward the Light and thrive.

P.S. Lent isn't just for certain church-goers, or even just Christians. If you are not a church-goer, or in a denomination that experiences Lent, for someone who has faith, or wants to have faith, or whose faith has been shaken or is shaky, or even lost, Lent is a season to rediscover ourselves and our relationship with God, and to establish or renew our commitment. It's not about giving up chocolate or cigarettes, it is about changing heart and mind upon which some over-indulgences, unhealthy habits, and even some serious life patterns can be identified and remedies discovered. It is a time for reflection of our past actions, our genuine intentions, and the repair of our souls. Some of us will be marked on our foreheads this day with the sign of the cross in the burnt remainder of palm fronds, the symbol of the great triumph of Palm Sunday now reduced to ash. This is an outward sign of and inward recognition of our human mortality. Christian or not, we all know the expression Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust. No matter how high one reaches in life, or how low, we all return to dust.

Monday, March 4, 2019

Prayers of the People: 40 Minutes? ~ 1st Sunday in Lent Yr C '19

For Sunday, March 10, 2019, 1st Sunday in Lent, Yr C; Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Ps 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13

Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and your house. [Deuteronomy 26: 11]

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, abides under the shadow of the Almighty. He shall say to the Lord, "You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust. [Psalm 91:1-2]

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. [Romans 10: 12-13]

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil...Jesus answered him..."One does not live by bread alone...Worship the Lord your God and serve only him...Do not put the Lord your God to the test." [Luke 4:1-2a,4b, 8b, 12b]

40 days and 40 nights thou wast fasting in the wild…tempted and yet undefiled. So goes the 19^th century hymn [#150 in "The Hymnal 1982" of the US Episcopal Church]. And so our time of 40 days and 40 nights has begun again; shall we be “undefiled” at its conclusion? Not realistically likely. Temptation is a human foible and even with the best of intentions, we all – more often than we’d like to admit – fall prey to the allure of some thing or another, sometimes to especially unhealthy levels and our own or others' detriment. Yet isn’t our situation different? Jesus was tempted by the Devil, after all, with promises of earthly power and glory and authority. But do we dismiss ourselves from this self-examination because of our mere mortalhood? After all he was "full of the Holy Spirit" it must have been much easier for him. Yet this preparation for his imminent ministry, this long retreat, fully human as he was, was no picnic in the park. Sure, we might not be promised power and authority by a supernatural being, or spend all that time alone in a wilderness, but the pull to just turn toward the glitter of all that beckons can be very difficult to resist in our brief human journey. And that brings its own kind of desert.

The readings for this week give chapter and verse on how God hears us, shelters us, and saves us if we but turn toward the Lord our God. The literal translation of "repent" from the Greek is, at its basic level, to turn away from sin by turning toward God. These 40 days bring us the time to reconcile our earthly wants with our eternal souls. We are to clean out our spiritual closets and blow the dust off hidden temptations, overindulgence, and the shallow distractions that distance us from Christ. It's time to turn the light on what we hide from ourselves and re-awaken to the call of salvation.
I bid us each, over these weeks, to worry less about what to “give up” and concentrate more on what to “take on” to discover what will turn us back toward our Risen Lord and Savior. Keep the word near you, on your lips and in your heart as Paul tells us. Prayer is a starting place even if only “WHAT, HOW, WHERE DO I START?” Jesus gave 40 days and 40 nights to his spiritual growth and strength for beginning of his earthly time. Can you give 40 minutes? Put the phone, the tablet, the computer, social media, online shopping, the tv remote, etc., down for 40 minutes [okay you can use the phone as a timer only!] and take on a definitive, intentional, conscious turn toward the Lord by thought and by action, by desire, and most importantly by faith. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved." What could be more important for those of us who call ourselves Christian? Here's an opening just from the Psalm for this week: You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust. Got 40 minutes?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Almighty God, Most High, as we enter the pilgrim way of Lent once more, let these 40 days and 40 nights fill us with unceasing prayer. Strengthen our souls to dismiss the lures of this earthly life, and to proclaim, with faith on our lips and in our hearts, that Christ Jesus is our Risen Lord.

Jesus, Son of God

RESPONSE: Deliver us from temptation

~ Almighty God, Most High, grant us the fortitude of Christ in the wilderness to stand before the Powers of this World, this Nation, and this Community, to demand for all people the release from affliction, injustice, inhumanity, and oppression imposed by the evils of greed and corruption. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Son of God