People's Prayers

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Meditation Moment in Easter Week ~ Wednesday ‘23

Acts 3:1-10

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple.When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms.Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.”And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and astonishment at what had happened to him.

Jesus, our Christ ~ as Peter, John, and the other Apostles began to discover and accept the gifts given them by You through the Holy Spirit, help us to discover and accept and use the gifts we each have from You. Few if any of us would believe that we could heal someone physically without the gift of an education for becoming a medical doctor or nurse. But a simple hello, a smile, or asking a person if we may say a prayer with them at their bedside when they are ill, remembering to say a simple blessing over our food before eating even if alone, done in Your name whether out loud or silently, are gifts we can use in any moment of life without a formal education. I know, yet must regularly remember, that gifts given, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, are gifts received.

Guide us, O Lord of us all, to stop at the top and bottom of each hour, to consciously breathe in Your Presence that is always available to fill our minds, our hearts, and our souls. As we then breathe out, let us send Your Grace to fill the world around us, to bless all we meet and pass by, to the neighbors just beyond our windows and to those beyond our reach. May each breath remind us of You as we give the gift of Your healing love, more by how we live our lives than by the words that we speak. amen.

~Take a moment today to read the fairly short chapter of 1 Corinthians 12 to know again the Gifts of the Spirit given to us.

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Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Meditation Moment in Easter Week ~ Tuesday ‘23

Luke 24:13-14, 30-31, 35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem and talking with each other about all these things that had happened....When he was at table with them he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight...Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

"If only..." is a frequent refrain for all of us who wish we had done things differently, or the pandemic had not happened, or the weather was ___ [fill in the blank]. Mostly, though, I think most of us have yearned, with some desperation at times, for that if only I could see, talk to, or touch them one more time moment. As for the death of one loved deeply, I can say from my own acute experiences that yes, much time does soften the punch and shock of loss, and it is then the memories become ever more important with the hope and desire to believe that they are still present with us. It is with that understanding that we enter this segment of Luke’s Gospel about two little-known disciples of Jesus.

We read about two regular guys walking down the road to Emmaus talking about the strange events of the prior few days. This other guy shows up and seems unaware of these events and their importance. They, surprised he didn’t know, explain it and then invite him home to dinner. Suddenly the stranger is hosting the meal and even more suddenly, as he blesses and breaks the bread, he vanishes. In an instant their eyes were opened as never before and when they realized who He was, they rushed to tell the others what they experienced.

Let us remember that at any time and any place when we tear a piece of bread that is blessed at a meal, whether we are alone or with another, to know Christ in the breaking of the bread. More than a memory, Christ IS LIVING within us. As we travel the road of this life, wherever it takes us, when we call upon His name we know we are in His love. When we are consciously in His love and our thoughts and actions are guided by His Truth, this Road will lead us Home.

Risen Lord Jesus, our constant Companion on the Road, You ransomed us from the futile ways of sin, and we are born anew through Your Resurrection. Reinvigorate our dedication to purify ourselves by obedience to Your Truth, to live in and act through genuine love for others and ourselves, and to set our faith and hope on God. We ask through You, the Living Enduring Word; and the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of our Souls; who together with our Impartial Creator, reign as One God, always, forever, eternally. Amen.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Prayers of the People: A Letter to Thomas ~ Second Sunday of Easter '23 Yr A

For Sunday, April 16, 2023, Readings: Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31

For David says concerning him, "I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken, therefore my heart was glad...my heart will live in hope." [Acts 2:25-26]

O Lord, you are my portion and my cup; it is you who uphold my lot….You will show me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. [Psalm 16:5, 11]

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... [1 Peter:3]

[Jesus] said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."...Jesus said to [Thomas], "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." [John 20:22b-23, 29]

Dear Thomas, what infamy you have achieved, quite unfairly, I think. You have become a label ~ "a Doubting Thomas"~ for those who don't believe something without concrete proof. You watched him die, being taken down from the Cross, placed in the tomb. Who of us would not be doubtful of the claim of the Resurrection in that moment? You are saddled with all the blame for your disbelief until your eyes beheld the Risen Lord and touched his wounds. And yet, you were far from alone in your skepticism. The other Gospel accounts all tell of your companion disciples doubting. Luke 23:11 tells of them dismissing the women's account as an idle tale, and in Mark 16:11, when Mary Magdalene tells them she had seen the risen Jesus, they would not believe. My personal favorite ~ in defense of you ~ is in Matthew 28:17 that says even when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Whenever any of us are unsure or questioning of this preeminent event in the life of Christ, despite the Gospel accounts and the significance to the whole of Christian theology and practice, we are in good company! For me the story of Thomas and the other disciples' initial disbelief, humanizes these men and brings them into this current time, as did Peter's denial of Jesus, and Judas' betrayal, remorse, and suicide. We know these people in our own lives, we are some of them when we struggle to accept and understand all that we are told in the Christian/New Testament and by those who have taught us from the pulpit or in our families. Our own doubt seems unfaithful to those who say and think they must accept it all on faith alone. Yet key elements of true faith for me are to constantly learn more, think more, wonder more, examine more, and discuss more with others. If we aren't questioning the tenets of our faith at various times, it seems to me that we haven’t really discovered the specifics of what it is that we do believe and why.

      These Gospel moments allow us to be who we are in this present time and relate to those who were with Jesus and still wondered what his movement was all about even as they moved forward with him. Each time I read this Sunday’s and other accounts of Christ’s life, teachings, death, and resurrection, or any part of any of the Gospels and Epistles, I discover something new and often profound.

  Whatever I believe about the Resurrection and its significance to our Christian faith, in moments of human wavering or in absolute certainty, I try to remember the words of King David from Peter's quotes in Acts 2. David isn't known for unwavering fidelity to God's Commandments! Yet these words for me form the crux of the message of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah which is to see the Lord always before me, to live in hope, and to follow the path of life He has shown me, as well as I can, through all of this life's trials. There is no better time than this moment to ponder those thoughts. The Presence of Christ is always within us, and our faith, however shaky at times, is the vehicle that keeps us upright and guides our thoughts and actions through trial and triumph. Un-doubt-edly in our human mistakes and wanderings, the writer of 1 Peter 1:4 reminds us quite specifically that what we have been given by the resurrection is: an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading...

      Dear Thomas, I firmly believe that Jesus wasn’t scolding you, he was speaking to all present then and all of us now, in love, compassion, and the utmost understanding of our human foibles and failings.

   Whether seen or unseen, the results of living in faith, as Christ teaches through the Greatest Commandment  [Matthew 22:36-40], will be a gift to ourselves and to others in our mortal time and in the time to come, by receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. [1 Peter 1:9]. I’m reminded of a title of a book by the late Dr. Wayne Dyer, You’ll See It When You Believe It. And even when we struggle in claiming our beliefs, our place in Jesus is always saved. For now, for always, Christ IS Risen! Alleluia!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Christ Risen! How often have we simply walked through the penitence of Lent, the excitement of Palm Sunday, the passion of Holy Week, and the joyful celebration of Your miraculous Resurrection, taking it all for granted because it happens for us every year? In this and all times of trial, open our hearts to truly REJOICE as if for the first time. You have suffered, died, and Resurrected for each of us. Thomas saw and believed, help us to simply believe in the gift of our salvation.

Jesus, Messiah

RESPONSE: Our Living and Eternal Hope

~ O Christ Risen! Grant us new courage to refresh our faith in eternal life, and the energy in this life to challenge the leaders of this planet, this nation, and this community, to provide a Just, Safe, and Mercy-filled life for all Your people. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Messiah