People's Prayers: August 2026

Monday, August 17, 2026

Prayers of the People: A Choice of Keys ~ 13th Sunday after Pentecost '26 RCL Yr A

For Sunday, August 23, 2026, Readings: Isaiah 51:1-6, Psalm 138, Romans 12:1-8,

Matthew 16:13-20

…but my salvation will be for ever, and my deliverance will never be ended. [Isaiah 51:6b]

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart…your love endures for ever… [Psalm 138: 1a, 9b]

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God ~ what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

[Romans 12:2]

And Jesus answered [Peter]..."I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." [Matthew 16:17a, 19]

This reading from the Second part of Isaiah, is a reminder to those in exile and held captive in Babylonia, of God’s Covenant with Israel, of their heritage, their origin in the call of Abraham and Sarah that flourished as a nation through their offspring. They are also reminded of the coming comfort in wasted areas, a renewing act of God that would make their past sufferings in defeat and exile seem insignificant. Isaiah says to "Listen to me" so they would hear of the justice and enlightenment coming from God to all in darkness. While God also promised that deliverance would come swiftly and until that time God’s Law was to be the pattern for their life.

This Psalm came after the writing of Deutero/Second Isaiah at a time when the community had returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon and the new temple had been dedicated. It is an outpouring of worshipful praise and gratitude with a whole heart, filled with the faith and trust in God with whom we can all walk through the deepest troubles and know that God is with us constantly.

Then Paul reminds us that we are one body in Christ with God-given, grace-filled gifts that we are to learn to identify ~ and accept ~ within ourselves and to offer in service to God and to each other. He tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God….” He both admonishes and encourages us to look beyond ourselves to work together for God's purpose; to be the welcoming all-inclusive community of the many members, with the many gifts, by the many mercies of God in Christ.

When Jesus asks who others think he is, perhaps the disciples were wondering themselves if Jesus was some sort of re-incarnation of the prophets. It is Simon Peter who gets the prize for getting the answer correct. Peter ~ a name meaning the stone or rock in Greek ~ is then awarded the keys of the kingdom of heaven to bind and loose on earth and in heaven. Did Peter, in that moment, understand and feel the enormous weight of the responsibility?

Binding and loosing is a rabbinical concept that, as Jews, the disciples understood. In very simplistic terms it means a communal judgment to bind one or a group as in an obligation or to loosen that requirement to a matter of one’s individual judgment.

Many of us feel either a strong binding obligation, or at least a personal commitment, to present ourselves for worship each Sunday ~ in person in the Church or by watching online ~ but of course we are free to not attend or view. So what does a true obligation to the work of Christ actually mean? That's where discernment applies. Discovering what are, and how to use, our particular gifts, as well as offering them in the sincere attempt to follow God's will, is the work of a lifetime, as Paul says, our spiritual worship, our living sacrifice. Our human gifts are the keys to unlocking our spiritual gifts for our life that is now, the living and breathing and acting and working through each and every day of the life we have been given to live here on Earth. All that was, is now, and, all that is now will come again. It is up to us, individually and collectively, to recognize the connections we share with the past and the future that help us to decipher the signs to then be more aware if we are on the right path or are diverging from it. We all, each and every one of us, wonder and question and, perhaps worry at times about what we believe and how we are called and what really are we to do to live in faith. This helpful, hopeful, and humanly honest prayer by mystic/monk Thomas Merton that begins with "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going...,”^*has a regular place in my and others’ prayer life. If a cloistered monk has had these moments, we’re all in very good company.

Among the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, sincerity of purpose is one key to the binding of trust and the loosening of apprehension. Connecting the lessons we’ve learned from the past and those in the present is another key. And, the most important key of faith is in the form of a question and it comes directly to us from Jesus himself. It is the key to what we each bind or loose in this life in our own time and the one we must reflect upon, pray about, and ponder regularly, even as we assume and presume to simply “know.” It is, how will we each answer when we come face-to-face with Jesus and he asks: Who do you think that I am? We all have a variety of the keys of life and living available. It’s our choice of keys that will answer the ultimate question and lead us to our ultimate destination.

* Thomas Merton's Prayer: "My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O God of Love and Faithfulness, our whole hearts now give You praise for our spiritual heritage in the roots of Abraham and Sarah, for Your strength given us when we called, for Your care for the lowly, and for all Your Holy Ways. Grant us each the continuing awareness of and deep gratitude for Your ever-enduring love, and for the works of Your hands.

O Lord, our God                                               

RESPONSE: Transform and Renew us

~ O God of Love and Faithfulness, empower us to be vigorous in the pursuit of re-forming the attitudes, agendas, and actions from callous to compassionate on the part of the political leaders in the small and large areas of this World, this Country, and this Community. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

~  O God of Love and Faithfulness, infuse hope, healing, and comfort in all who are lost in the grip of serious or life-threatening illness, in body, mind, or spirit, and to all who give of their strength in support.  We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us      

~  O God of Love and Faithfulness, open wide the gates of heaven as You receive in joy, those we now commend to the bliss of eternal life. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

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

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us                   

~ O God of Love and Faithfulness, we offer our special thanksgivings for those who guide us by their teaching, preaching, and prayers, to discern our own gifts and discover our path to all that is good and acceptable to You. We pray especially for:  add your own petitions

O Lord, our God

Transform and Renew us

The Celebrant adds: Lord of All That Is, awaken us each morning with eagerness to offer ourselves in service to Your Holy Will, to escape the snares of conforming to what is of this world, to transform our thoughts and actions through continuous renewal, and to bind ourselves only to Your Kingdom in each and every day. We ask through Jesus, our Blessed Messiah; and the Holy Spirit, our Counselor and Advocate; who together with You are one God, loving, eternal, and everlasting.   Amen.

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Monday, August 10, 2026

Prayers of the People: To Gather and Connect ~ 12th Sunday after Pentecost '26 Yr A

For Sunday, August 16, 2063, Readings: Isaiah 56:1-8, Psalm 67, Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32,

Matthew 15:21-28

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord…will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. [Isaiah 56:6-8]

May God be merciful to us and bless us…Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations…Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide all the nations upon earth. [from Psalm 67]

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew…For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. [Romans 11:2a, 29-32]

Just then a Canaanite woman from that region…shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord”… He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel… It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs”… She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” [from Matthew 15:21-28]

The Readings for this week are wonderfully and marvelously connected. With the reading from Isaiah, some backstory may be useful. This piece is from the Trito- or Third (section) of the Book of Isaiah, likely written when the people of Israel are returning from the exile of generations in Babylon. Depending on source material, the exile or captivity lasted somewhere between 48 to 70 years. Presumably most of the adults who were originally exiled are dead and so come the descendants who have likely been assimilated to some degree by custom and culture. They would be wondering if they are welcome in the homeland of their ancestors and of their religion. They may have been told that they must dissolve their foreign marriages and move away from their Babylonian wives (and children?). Some choose not to make the move. However, for the many, the prophet Ezekiel and other Jewish elders kept the religious traditions in place in newly established synagogues and community.

Moving to a whole new place far away from where you have been for many years or even your entire life is never easy. Think of the treatment of immigrants to the US and to other countries as well. Those moving into and those already there may be wary and worried, feel threatened or threatening. Yet God says the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord…will be accepted on my altar…says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them… and then we move to Psalm 67 which reminds us God’s ways are the saving health among all nations and that God judges all people with equity.

Paul continues this almost-theme of people wondering if they are being rejected or, if they should reject those “others” ~ arriving with strange habits, language, food, or cultural practices that go against the local norms. It is strange phrasing when Paul says that God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. But the clear message comes before that: For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Who of us haven’t been disobedient? Whether we are imprisoned in order for God to be merciful requires greater thought and many extra words. Perhaps he means we who imprison ourselves with our own thoughts and behaviors, but for me, I’ll stick with the God Who is Merciful to ALL.

And then the classic encounter with THE OTHER! Ok, so did Jesus set himself up for this one? By Jesus and his disciples traveling out of Galilee, of course they would come in contact with foreigners. But a Canaanite and a woman, tsk tsk tsk, not good! All the prejudices and religious practices of the Jewish community would clearly see her as not only an unclean outsider but an enemy. When she calls out to Jesus, even with her best recognition of his status, begging for him to cure her daughter, Jesus and the disciples are more than dismissive, they’re rude. Jesus actually insults her by comparing his potential interaction with her as throwing the food of children to a dog. Then she kneels before him, and while risking everything with her feisty remark she tells him, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables. He then commends the greatness of her faith and heals her daughter.

Was it another test for the disciples, was it planned in advance, was it a simple human response to an "other" on his part? We don’t know, we can’t know. But what we can know is that all these crumbs gathered together in these readings are an enormous opportunity for us all to look at all those around us to see the them and the us and who is them to us and who is us to us and most importantly why. And then, we are to remember that God gathers us, the outcasts, and the foreigners, and judges all people with equity and mercy. If God doesn’t reject outcasts, and Jesus heals them, who am I to reject an other that doesn’t seem to fit in my “normal” environment. And remember further, that we each are an other to someone, somewhere, even if only a block away. Let us gather and connect all those crumbs and make a whole community of all peoples. After all, God created us ALL, each and every.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O God of Equity and Mercy, open the eyes of our souls to see the light of Your Countenance, illuminating our path on this Planet Earth, Your House of Prayer. Gather us together as citizen, foreigner, and outcast, to know and respect each other and ourselves as Your Creation, One People with our One God.