Prayers of the People: Attitudes of Be-ing ~ All Saints Sunday '23 Yr A

For Sunday, November 5, 2023, Readings: Revelation 7:9-17, Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

    They will hunger no more, and thirst no more, the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd...[Revelation 7:9-17]

      I sought the LORD and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror...The LORD ransoms the life of his servants, and none will be punished who trusts in him. [Psalm 34:4, 22]

     See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called the children of God; and that is what we are...And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. [1 John :1-3]

    [Jesus] taught them saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit...those who mourn...the meek...those who hunger and thirst...the merciful...the pure in heart...the peacemakers...those who are persecuted...Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven... [Matthew 5:1-12]

     All Saints Sunday is a few days after the November 1^st All Saints Day this year. It was always a special day for us kids in Catholic School because, as a Holy Day of Obligation, we had off from school the day after Halloween! We loved rubbing that in the faces of our non-Catholic friends. Oh, well yeah, we were obligated to go to church…but maybe some of us might have overslept.

    Of course, this time of year we often saw biographical films of the Holy Ones, read hagiographies (bios of Saints), discovered who our personal patron Saints were and generally recognized Saints as mostly long-ago-very-holy-perfect-people who were not like us. While many of us had our favorites for one reason or another, for me the whole “Saint” thing seemed remote from everyday life. As an adult, I’ve read some accounts of some historically famous Saints, including a couple of fairly recent ones, whose life activities surprisingly didn’t always seem so, well, saintly.

    It seems that defining "Saint" in this day and age still conjures a mind-image of someone many centuries and continents removed from our everyday place and time in this world; someone who is an example of complete perfection in every facet of life that is unattainable for us, and, if we're honest, undesirably difficult. Yet many saints and Saints, the ordinary and the officially designated, are/were flawed humans with real human frailties and struggles and yet their lives become exemplary. There was something extra in their attitude of life and in what drew others to them.

    As an Episcopalian, I have come to appreciate that there are many on our Liturgical Calendar who are not designated official “Saints” but are remembered for particular gifts or positions that shone in ways that changed themselves and others in relating to God. The best discussion I have found of “sainthood” is from Sister Joan Chittister, which follows. This piece offers us some food for prayerful thought on ways we might discover our inner saint:

       "For centuries the church has confronted the human community with role models of greatness. We call them saints when what we really often mean to say is "icon," "star," "hero," ones so possessed by an internal vision of divine goodness that they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. They give us a taste of the possibilities of greatness in ourselves. What qualities will be necessary to live a life of integrity, of holiness, in the twenty-first century? What models of those values, if any, have been raised up to show us the way to God in a world that is more preoccupied with the material than with the spiritual, more self-centered than selfless, more concerned with the mundane than with the divine, more parochial than cosmic? (They) are male and female, Christian and non-Christian, married and unmarried, religious and lay, pragmatists and artists, named saint by a process or proclaimed saint by the people who lived in the shadow of their lives. They are people like you and me. With one exception, perhaps. In their eyes burn the eyes of a God who sees injustice and decries it, sees poverty and condemns it, sees inequality and refuses it, sees wrong and demands that it be set right. These are people for whom the Law above the law is first in their lives. These are people who did not temporize with the evil in one system just because another system could have been worse. These are people who saw themselves clearly as the others' keepers. These are people who gave themselves entirely to the impulses of God for the sake of the world." ~ Sister Joan Chittister, Roman Catholic nun and former Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, an activist, author and speaker on a variety of subjects such as spirituality, religious life, peace, and justice among others.  The excerpt is from: "A Passion for Life: Fragments of the Face of God", Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 1996

            It does not matter if one is not an official Saint. There are certainly exemplary qualities of those who are official as well as those who are not, but they all stand out as Sr. Joan says, because: they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. It is an attitude for us to acquire in our quest for eternal life. An attitude of being a child of God, and knowing that the full presence of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are within us always, ready to be shining through us, for our neighbors and for ourselves. In the Gospel for this week, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches those present that often those who might be considered the least of us are especially blessed. It opens up a way of living for us to contemplate, a pathway of living intentionally into the blessings of God. As we look into the ideals of the Beatitudes, we may discover new habits of prayerfulness and a fresh Christ-consciousness in things we say and do. Examining our own personal attitudes of be-ing regularly will take us through each day accompanied by that ever-growing Communion of Saints and saints until we, too, join the Heavenly Chorus.  

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, as we celebrate the Holy Saints of the Ages, we also commend to You the everyday saints who are living among us now. Grant us the wisdom to follow the examples set for us, to seek a saintly heart within our own flawed humanness, and to discover our blessed place in the Beatitudes of Christ.

                                                Boundless, Forgiving God
                                                Awaken our trust and hope in You

~ Lord of Us All, in these especially critical times, infuse us with continuing courage and strength to impel the leaders of our Community, our Country, and our World to end the ravages of war, reverse injustice, renounce evil, and encourage mercy, peace, and honor within themselves and in us all. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Boundless, Forgiving God
                                                Awaken our trust and hope in You

~ Lord of Us All, release from distress and wipe away the tears of all whose spirits languish in serious illness, anxiety, and hopelessness, and endow those who give them care with energy, patience, and love. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                Boundless, Forgiving God
                                                Awaken our trust and hope in You

~ Lord of Us All, our hearts rejoice for those who have gone ahead, guided to the springs of the water of New Life by and in Christ. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

                                                Boundless, Forgiving God
                                                Awaken our trust and hope in You

~ Lord of Us All, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions

                                                Boundless, Forgiving God
                                                Awaken our trust and hope in You                   

~ Lord of Us All, we offer You our praise and thanksgiving for all who have humbly accepted Your call to shepherd us toward Salvation in Christ. Guide their steps as our faithful role models, that together we may taste and see Your goodness in our lives. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Boundless, Forgiving God
                                                Awaken our trust and hope in You

The Celebrant adds: Loving, Merciful God, open the eyes of our souls to see that our unique gifts from You, together with our mortal failings, may all be used for Your eternal purpose. Rebuild our hearts with humility and peace, worthy to answer the call of the blessed life for which we were created. We ask through Jesus, our Redeemer Christ; and the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who live and reign together with You, as One God above all, through all, and in all, for ever and ever. Amen

All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution and edited for local use as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Prayers of the People: The Saints Among Us ~ 4th Sunday in the Season of Creation '23 Yr

For Sunday, November 5, 2023; Readings: Revelation 7:9-17, Psalm 126, Sr. Joan Chittister**, Matthew 5:1-12

[There] was a great multitude that no one could count, from every   nation…all  tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne   and before the   Lamb…who will be their shepherd…and God will wipe   every tear… [Revelation 7:9-17]

   The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. [Psalm 126:4]

    [They] are male and female, Christian and non-Christian, married and unmarried, religious and lay, pragmatists and artists, named saint by a process or proclaimed saint by the people who lived in the shadow of their lives…people who saw themselves clearly as the others’ keepers. Sr. Joan Chittister, A Passion for Life

   Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [Matthew 5:11]

*The Season of Creation originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa and was formalized in 2008. It is designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation perspective. We use Biblical and other readings that pertain to the specific theme of each of the 7 weeks of the Season. Alternate readings used are posted with asterisk.

Click here for more information about: Season of Creation ~ In The Beginning

Week IVs Theme is: 
The Saints Among Us

     Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. What comes to mind when you think of a Saint? For many of us, I expect, the mind-image that arises is of someone many centuries and continents removed from our everyday place and time in this world; someone who is an example of complete perfection in every facet of life that is unattainable for us mere mortals, and, if we're honest, living a life undesirably difficult for us to accomplish. The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios haygee-ose in US English, or hyee-ose in Greek], which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious.” Yet most saints and Saints, the ordinary and the officially designated, are/were flawed humans with real human frailties and struggles, even a few sins along the way. When and how then did their lives become so exemplary? The best discussion I have found is from Sister Joan Chittister**, which follows. This piece offers us some food for prayerful thought on ways we might discover our inner saint and seek to, at the very least, support the very basic tenets of the Greatest Commandment [Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28].

       "For centuries the church has confronted the human community with role models of greatness. We call them saints when what we really often mean to say is "icon," "star," "hero," ones so possessed by an internal vision of divine goodness that they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. They give us a taste of the possibilities of greatness in ourselves. What qualities will be necessary to live a life of integrity, of holiness, in the twenty-first century? What models of those values, if any, have been raised up to show us the way to God in a world that is more preoccupied with the material than with the spiritual, more self-centered than selfless, more concerned with the mundane than with the divine, more parochial than cosmic? [They] are male and female, Christian and non-Christian, married and unmarried, religious and lay, pragmatists and artists, named saint by a process or proclaimed saint by the people who lived in the shadow of their lives. They are people like you and me. With one exception, perhaps. In their eyes burn the eyes of a God who sees injustice and decries it, sees poverty and condemns it, sees inequality and refuses it, sees wrong and demands that it be set right. These are people for whom the Law above the law is first in their lives. These are people who did not temporize with the evil in one system just because another system could have been worse. These are people who saw themselves clearly as the others' keepers. These are people who gave themselves entirely to the impulses of God for the sake of the world."

           Sr. Joan has not painted an easy picture of a lifestyle for our time-limited journey in earthly existence. There are choices to be made and sooner rather than later. It’s important to remember that there is always an opportunity for us to seek God first above all else as the Lord has done great things for us. It requires some dedication, some intention, and some transformation. Jesus calls us to come out from our self-imposed tombs and unbind ourselves from the temptations that lock us away from our divine endowment. In that release we can change not only ourselves but the culture we live in. Author Parker Palmer*** says it best, [We] can transform our culture only as we are inwardly transformed. So, let us begin, again, together.

**Sister Joan Chittister, Roman Catholic nun and former Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, an activist, author and speaker on a variety of subjects such as spirituality, religious life, peace, and justice among others.  The excerpt is from: A Passion for Life: Fragments of the Face of God, Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 1996

***Parker J. Palmer is an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is the founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal; see:  https://couragerenewal.org/parker-j-palmer/

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O God of Grace and Mercy, in these times of trial and travail, strengthen us to arise each day with the inner peace of experiencing Your face at our center, and purity of intention in our hearts. Open our conscious thoughts and actions  to humility and humanity, following the example of the Saints who have gone before, and the saints who live among us now. 

                                                O Lord of Truth and Love                                                  

    RESPONSE:                 Fill us with faith, hope, and trust  

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, endow us, who abide with You in love, with the perseverance to guide Local, National, and Global Leaders away from falsehoods and fraud toward the just reward of all who seek Your . We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                 O Lord of Truth and Love                                                  

                Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, deliver from distress all in anguish from illness of body, mind, or spirit, and infuse those who give them care with gentle and peaceful hearts. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                O Lord of Truth and Love                                                  

               Fill us with faith, hope, and trust        

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, as You bless and wipe the tears of all who mourn, keep us all in the knowledge that death will be no more in the joy and gladness of all who live again, reaping their newness of life with songs of joy. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

                                                O Lord of Truth and Love                                                  

               Fill us with faith, hope, and trust 

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions 

                                                O Lord of Truth and Love                                                  

               Fill us with faith, hope, and trust                     

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, inspire the hearts and minds of all who lead us in Your church, who  mercy. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                O Lord of Truth and Love                                                  

               Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

The Celebrant adds: God of us all, Saints and Sinners together, set our hearts free from the prison of hate, the emptiness of self-importance, and the mindlessness of earthly privilege. May we each claim our divine endowment of trust, truth, grace and mercy as we strive to stand always with You. We ask through Jesus, our Redeemer Christ; in the Unity of the Holy Spirit; who together with You, are One God above all, through all, and in all, for ever and ever.  Amen.

 

 

All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution and edited for local use as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Prayers of the People: Who IS Us? ~ 22nd Sunday after Pentecost '23 Yr A

For Sunday, October 29, 2023, Readings: Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90:1-6, 

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46

Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. [Deuteronomy 34:10]

  Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another...May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper the work of our hands... [Psalm 90:1, 17a]

  We had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition...We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. [1 Thessalonians 2:2b,4b]

      ...a lawyer asked [Jesus] a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment...is the greatest?" He said..."You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [Matthew 22:35b-39]

           We truly are all in "this" life on this planet together although you would think, especially given some of the hard-charging rhetoric, surprising murderous attacks and strong murderous reprisals, here and around the world, that we can just stop interacting with others, just take care of us, and ignore them. Of course, one of the largest questions in this life today is eons old: a satisfactory definition of who is us. This week in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear of a lawyer asking Jesus which commandment is the greatest? In Luke’s parable of the Good Samaritan, another lawyer asked Jesus, Who is my neighbor? [Luke 10:25-37] We of the human variety are determined to answer this question 

correctly, which really means, to suit our own needs and wants and keep within the rules we, or those we choose to follow, have set even when they can change on a whim. We build symbolic and genuine walls, fences, and tall gates that are all designed to keep out the uninvited, the unacceptable, the dangerous – in other words, those people, that kind, the others, THEM. But here’s a shocker, we each are the other, “them” to someone else. We create and receive suspicion and fear when we step away from what we think is our special sheltered space to enter another’s. Of course, we must protect ourselves and others from those who are truly dangerous and who would do anyone true harm. But all too often we categorize someone as dangerous because of gender, color, race, language, sexual orientation, make-up, hair styles, clothing, body art and piercings or lack of, another neighborhood, region, or country, etc. It's much easier to have a big chart of absolutes – that group BAD, this group GOOD – and that way we don't have to engage, learn more about, slip into liking, and are able to avoid knowing that skin, organs, blood, and bones are the same in all of God's people. 

      It's difficult, uncomfortable, even distressing at times, to sift through our own prejudices, judgments, dislikes, even hatred of an unknown person or group. It takes time away from the easier activities of going through life without having to think for myself simply because “I know my group and we will avoid those outside of it because whomever we have chosen to lead us will tell us how to think and what to do.” It also involves looking into oneself – how do I really feel about me? Do I have trouble loving myself? Is it truly self-satisfying to dismiss or diminish another – or just an ego boost of a very false sense of superiority or, more likely, an internal sense of inferiority?

      Jesus, answering this lawyer in Matthew’s Gospel, who is a Pharisee, gets directly to the point that all the Commandments of God can be cleanly distilled into just two: 1. Love God completely, 2. Love your neighbor as yourself. This concept is no surprise to the Pharisaic lawyer. Earlier in Deuteronomy, Dt 6:4-5 specifically, is the opening to the Shema (sheh-mah), which in Judaism is a part of morning and evening prayer: Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might. Earlier still, in Leviticus 19:18b, is …you shall love your neighbor as yourself. It is Jesus, however, who combines the two as the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it… and surprises them with what we now refer to as the summary of the Law  when he says to those who would trap him: On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. If you think about it, if you truly love God and love your neighbor as your self, you will honor and you won’t covet, steal, or break any of the other commandments!

     Yet the obvious questions remain as we search for loopholes and escape from the hard work: Who is my neighbor? Answer: Any/Every human you meet. OK, I have to “love” my neighbor, but do I also have to like my neighbor? Answer: Not in a best friend sort of way, but an attempt to get to know her, him, them, might surprise you, or might not, yet we are still called to love, especially when it’s the hardest to do. Loving another is often difficult because it isn’t based on reciprocation. Putting a face on a label challenges one’s pre-conceived notions and what one has been led to believe by group-think. Loving your neighbor is more about acceptance and tolerance of differences and discovering similarities. Our instant judgements are not easy to overcome. Loving our neighbor is to be in the same way as we love our self. That’s often the hardest piece to understand. It’s far too easy to see, yet not recognize, something in another that we dislike in ourselves. That takes some serious personal soul-searching and be able to prayerfully understand, and a find a way to like and then love ourselves as Jesus does. And yes, there are some who are truly terrible and so our love must transcend likeability, and when that is particularly difficult, ask ourselves, so, really, what would Jesus do? Maybe in the most onerous of people, we ask Jesus to love whom we simply cannot.

      Jesus was saying to the lawyer in this week's reading, and in the Good Samaritan parable, just following the human-made-subject-to-change-rules isn't enough. We must be intentional in our efforts. And yes, we will fail, often, but we must keep trying. If we keep repeating to ourselves, as a mantra perhaps, Help me, Jesus, to Love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my might, and to love my neighbor as [and] my self, we are consciously and intentionally working to live and act within these two commandments, we will discover not only a stronger faith in God but also that on God’s Label: Them really are Us. Let’s all keep working on this, together.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Gracious Lord, our God, quicken our desire to actively live our faith by consciously loving and serving You with our whole hearts, souls, and minds with intention. Let us dare to follow Your command to love all humankind as if they are ourselves, as we are loved by You.

                                             Lord of Loving-Kindness

            Response:             Prosper the of our hearts and hands

~ Gracious Lord, our God, guide those of us who have a choice for our political leaders, to responsibly choose as stewards of all humanity and of this entire planet, those who will lead, legislate, and personally act with sincerity and integrity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of Loving-Kindness                                        

                                              Prosper the work of our hearts and hands   

~ Gracious Lord, our God, embrace with Your tender care all who are burdened with serious illness, addiction, or emotional distress, and refresh all who provide support. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

                                                 Lord of Loving-Kindness                                        

                                               Prosper the work of our hearts and hands 

~ Gracious Lord, our God, receive in joy and splendor, all those we commend with thanksgiving to live again in Christ’s enduring love. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

                                                Lord of Loving-Kindness                                        

                                                Prosper the work of our hearts and hands 

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

                                                Lord of Loving-Kindness                                        

                                              Prosper the work of our hearts and hands 

~ Gracious Lord, our God, we praise You and we thank you for those who answered the calling, anointing, and commitment to lead us in worship, in prayer, and companionship on our constant pilgrimage toward eternal life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                Lord of Loving-Kindness                                        

                                              Prosper the work of our hearts and hands 

The Celebrant adds: O God our Refuge, grant us the humility to delight in Your Law, to seek the way of the righteous in all that we do, and to be courageous in faith, sharing the Gospel in, for, and by the strength of Your Love. We ask through Jesus, our Savior Messiah; and the Holy Spirit, our Wisdom within; who together with You, live and reign as One God, every day, always, and forever. Amen.

All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution and edited for local use as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Prayers of the People: Our Common Humanity ~ 3rd Sunday in the Season of Creation '23 Yr A

For Sunday, October 29, 2023, Season of Creation III*, Readings: Mother Theresa**,  Psalm 133, 

Alice Walker***, Matthew 22:34-40

Norman Rockwell “The Golden Rule” 1961  

  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…Our works of charity are nothing but the overflow of our love of God from within… [Mother Teresa]

  How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity. [Psalm 133:1]

  Praying–not a curse–only the hope that my courage will not fail my love. But if by some miracle, and all the struggle, the Earth is spared, only justice to every living thing (and everything is alive) will save humankind…Only justice can stop a curse. [Alice Walker]

    You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and will all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [Matthew 22:37, 39]

     We are truly all in "this" together ~ this life, on this planet, right now. Mother Teresa was quite clear when she said, how you live your life is the proof that you are fully God’s or not. Love must undergird our lives and be as normal to us as living and breathing. Too often, especially in these fraught times, we look at "others" as different from ourselves by skin color, nationality, religion, political views, sexual orientation, life circumstance, or, merely, because someone lives in a different part of the world, the country, or the community. How easily we dismiss and worse, completely reject those whom we designate as not one of us. Suddenly "they" become one of them, not to be trusted or valued as the full human person God created in God's own image.

      How very sad and tragic it is that we set ourselves, within our self-limited chosen circles, as above another individual or group as if our judgments, or opinions, or neighborhood, or economic circumstance, or political views are the only ones that matter.

      Alice Walker minces no words describing the enormity of (their) crimes against humanity bringing such crimes from the global history of white colonization and the destructive privilege of wealth, to her people, her family, and her own experiences in our own times. Yet while outlining specifics for venting her justified rage, she suddenly turns us all to the stark necessities of saving our planet when she says So let me tell you: I intend to protect my home. Praying – not a curse – on the hope that my courage will not fail my love…only justice to every living thing (and everything is alive) will save humankind…Only justice can stop a curse.

     Matthew’s Gospel reminds of us the words we think we know so well and utter easily and without deep examination of how we are to apply them in our everyday moments, especially in the most difficult circumstances: You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Love God with ALL YOUR/MY heart, soul, mind, and YOUR/MY Neighbor as my self. Too many of us may actually love God and our neighbors as we really do love ourselves: badly. Judgment, criticism, anger, mockery, even hatred, may be more of a mirror than we would like to admit.

     The ways in which we care for each other ~ all others ~ and our selves, with the love for God and every human being that Jesus has exhorted us to give, is a measure of the depth (or shallowness) of our own love for God. To prosper only ourselves and those we count in our us, may carry us in this short temporal existence but it is not the way of Jesus.

     The humility that Jesus exemplified is difficult to achieve and uncomfortable in an environment of excessive greed, selfishness, and disdain for the life of others and this planet. We are called to seek to become united with God through prayer, which is the germinating power for our words and actions to be works of true love, in the overflow of our love for God from within ourselves. It is time to relinquish marking my personal achievements and live more simply, putting one foot in front of the other, making each and every breath a prayer and every step in love and with love and toward justice for all of Our Common Humanity.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Most Gracious Creator of Our Entire Common Humanity, keep us ever mindful that we are each sometimes the other, creating and receiving suspicion and fear, when we step away from our familiar cultures and communities. May our eyes continually radiate Your Light, and our everyday thoughts, actions, and prayers reflect the overflow of our love for You from within ourselves.

 

                                      O God of Our Common Humanity                                             

     RESPONSE:           We serve Justice through Prayer, Love, and Courage

 

~ Most Gracious Creator, grant us each and all, in our many shapes, sizes, colors, races, ages, economic status, and genders, the ability to be Your true voice in action. Let us challenge all those in governments across this planet, to understand and work together to achieve the peace for all we kindred to live together in unity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

 

                                        O God of Our Human Family                                             

                                      We serve Justice through Prayer, Love, and Courage 

~ Most Gracious Creator, comfort all who are burdened with serious illness, addiction, and/or emotional distress, and fill those who give them care with energy and peace. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                        O God of Our Common Humanity                                             

                                      We serve Justice through Prayer, Love, and Courage

~ Most Gracious Creator, in the midst of sorrow for our temporary loss, we give joyful thanksgiving for the glorious welcome of our loved ones into Your eternal kingdom.  We pray especially for… add your own petitions

 

                                        O God of Our Common Humanity                                             

                                      We serve Justice through Prayer, Love, and Courage

                    

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

                                        O God of Our Common Humanity                                              

                                      We serve Justice through Prayer, Love, and Courage 

          

~ Most Gracious Creator, we give You thanks for all who are chosen to show us by Word and example, in prayer and preaching, how to live in this life, and who walk with us on the path leading to You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                        O God of Our Common Humanity                                             

                                      We serve Justice through Prayer, Love, and Courage

The Celebrant adds: O God of the Hungry and the Privileged, O Lord of those Raised High and those Laid Low, grant us the joyful yet solemn awareness that we each physically, and spiritually, carry within us the very substance of Your Incarnate Son. Let us be the seeds that germinate the power of Your love, bear the fruit of unity among us, and intentionally seek to be fully Yours in every day, so to love You and each other as we are to love ourselves. We ask through the Compassion of Jesus our Christ; and the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit; who live and reign with You as One God, every day, every way, always, and forever. Amen. 

 

* The Season of Creation originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa and was formalized in 2008. It is designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation perspective. Click here for more information about: Season of Creation ~ In The Beginning

**A Reading from Mother Teresa: "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

***A Reading from Alice Walker: "When I have considered the enormity of (their)..crimes against humanity…Against women, Against every living person of color. Against the poor. Against my mother and my father. Against me. When I consider that they are a real and present threat to my life and the life of my daughter and the life of my people, I think...Let the earth marinate in poisons. Let the bombs cover the ground like rain. For nothing short of total destruction will ever teach them anything. And it would be good, perhaps, to put an end to the species...rather than let these wealthy white men continue to subjugate it, and continue their lust to dominate, exploit, and despoil not just our planet, but the rest of the universe, which is their clear and stated intention, leaving their arrogance and litter not just on the moon, but on everything else they can reach. If we have any true love of the stars, planets, and the rest of Creation, we must do everything we can to keep men like these away from them. They who have appointed themselves our representatives to the rest of the universe. They who have never met any new creature without exploiting, abusing or destroying it. They who say we poor and colored and female and elderly blight neighborhoods, while they blight worlds. However, just as the sun shines on the godly and the ungodly alike, so does our destruction of our environment. And with this knowledge it becomes increasingly difficult to embrace the thought of extinction purely for the assumed satisfaction of–from the grave–achieving revenge. Or even of accepting our demise as a planet as a simple and just preventive medicine administered to the Universe...Earth is my home–though for centuries white people have tried to convince me I have no right to exist, except in the dirtiest, darkest corners of the globe. So let me tell you: I intend to protect my home. Praying – not a curse – only the hope that my courage will not fail my love. But if by some miracle, and all the struggle, the Earth is spared, only justice to every living thing (and everything is alive) will save humankind. And we are not saved yet. Only justice can stop a curse." Excerpts from “Only Justice Can Stop A Curse,” in The Impossible Will Take a Little While, ed. Paul Rogat Loeb, Basic Books, New York, 2004

 

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