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, January 15, 2024

The Prayers of the People: As We Are ~ 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany '24 Yr B

For Sunday, January 21, 2024, Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, 
Mark 1:14-20

So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord...And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. [Jonah 3:3a, 4b-5] 

   For God...alone is my rock and my salvation...my safety and my honor...and my refuge. [Psalm 62:7a, 8b]

 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short...for the present form of this world is passing away. [1 Corinthians 7:29a, 31b]

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea...And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. [Mark 1:16-17]

    I love the Book of Jonah! In an early part, he tries to hide from God, running off to a ship in the opposite direction of where God is ordering him to go. Then, thrown overboard by the crew, he gets caught up in a whale of an experience [cheap shot, I know]. After praying to God and being granted his release from the fish, he finally, though still grudgingly, goes where he is told to go and tells the people what God wants them to hear, that God is preparing to destroy them in forty days. Nineveh has been steeped in nasty, ghastly, evil-doings but Jonah had previously told them that because God was close to them, God would continue to support them no matter what they did. Now, Jonah is the one ordered by God to deliver this message of impending doom. God’s sense of ironic humor?
   Suddenly, perhaps out of an “oh yeah watch this” attitude, Jonah is so convincing that the people hear, believe, and seriously repent. Later in this story, Jonah ~ who never wanted to be a prophet ~ is actually angry because God changes direction and decides not to destroy the city after the people overthrew their own evil ways because of Jonah's prophecy. Such a human response: wait, what, you're NOT going to kill them? But I said what you told me to say...  The book leaves us as it finds us with Jonah still a very grumpy man and still, a chosen prophet of God.  
   Paul, who thought that the Second Coming of Jesus was imminent, grimly and still accurately reminds us that our time in this life is short and we need to pay attention to how we are living. We will come as we are at the time we are called by God to the next life, as the Psalmist also says of our God of steadfast love, for you repay everyone according to his deeds.  
   And then there is Jesus who calls the next group of disciples ~ Simon, Andrew, James, and John ~ to leave their current lives NOW and follow Him. Can you even imagine walking away from your life as you know it, from family, and responsibilities, and all that you have worked for because someone like Jonah, Paul, or Jesus says you must? It certainly requires a high level of trust, that inner sense of I believe, a strength in faith I'm not sure I have, or maybe one I didn't want. 
   We are called to change our spiritual path starting where we are ~ not abandoning our earthly responsibilities and loved ones ~ but remembering that we were created to be in this world, just not of itIt's time to examine my faith and begin to accept that I can do better, I can answer the call, I can live a life that calls others to see, respond, and join me in the net cast by God. And we are not alone in any of it. It does sound a little fishy to an un-faith-filled ear, but then, is there a better way to be caught? Our Christ calls us as we are…

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O God, our Rock and our Salvation, You call us through Prophets, Gospels, and Teachers, and the Voice of the Holy Spirit within, to come as we are to follow the path of Christ’s Good News. Let us, in the fleeting breath of our human existence: hear again, trust, repent, and leave our nets to Your care, turning our hearts toward Yours to accept and thrive in Your steadfast love.

                                     O Lord of Steadfast Love
RESPONSE:          We put our trust in You

~ O God, our Rock and our Salvation, grant us continuing courage to walk the path of discipleship and call to account the leaders of this World, this Country, and this Community. As we strive to establish more justice, peace, and mercy, and other ways of enhancing the lives of all Your People, let us strive equally to eliminate all actions that diminish them. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                         O Lord of Steadfast Love
                                         We put our trust in You

~ O God, our Rock and our Salvation, sustain the hope for all laid low by chronic or terminal illness, homelessness, or despair; and encourage the hearts of all those who provide support. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

                                         O Lord of Steadfast Love
                                         We put our trust in You  

~ O God, our Rock and our Salvation, soothe the hearts of all who grieve as You receive our faithful departed with open arms, into Your everlasting love and light. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

                                         O Lord of Steadfast Love
                                         We put our trust in You

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

                                         O Lord of Steadfast Love
                                         We put our trust in You

~ O God, our Rock and our Salvation, we ask Your special favor upon all You have chosen to lead us in Your Church. Fill them with the words and actions that will cause us to re-think, re-work, and re-direct our lives toward You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                         O Lord of Steadfast Love
                                         We put our trust in You

The Celebrant adds: Most Holy God, our Safety and our Refuge, You call us to go where we do not want to go, to do what we do not want to do, to be who we do not want to be. Grant us willingness to accept the hook of Your salvation and to become a humble, faith-filled lure as the fishers of people that Jesus asks us to be. We ask through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who together with You, live and reign in the bliss of eternal life, One God, now and forever.  Amen.



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