People's Prayers

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Prayers of the People, The Cosmic Christ, 7th Sunday in the Season of Creation

for November 23, 20147th Sunday in SoC, Readings: Proverbs 8:22-36 [from The Message*], Ps 148, A Reading from the writings of Matthew Fox*,
Matthew 25:31-45

...and neither is the Son younger than the Father,

nor is the Father older than the Son;

and the Holy Spirit breathes in them.

And the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are inseparable. from Tírechán’s Creed in The Patrician Texts of the Book of Armagh, AD 670 Dublin

Christ has always been. Jesus became the Incarnation of the Christ, the manifestation of the love of God, the human-divine person, the self of God that we can come a bit closer to, in ways that resemble understanding, and yet is still filled with divine mystery.
The New Testament is filled with images of the Incarnation of Christ that connects us one to another and all of us to the cosmos of Creation, time, and space. The Letter to the Colossians, as one example, says: He is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: every thing visible and everything invisible...Before anything was created, he existed, and he holds all things in unity. [Col 1:15-17] And in these days as we discard divine mystery for "reality" and the health of the planet for financial gain, Matthew Fox gives us another view from Creation Spirituality: I believe the appropriate symbol of the Cosmic Christ who became incarnate in Jesus is that of Jesus as Mother Earth crucified yet rising daily...wounded, yet rising, Mother Earth blesses us each day as we wake from our sleep. [The Coming of the Cosmic Christ] Let us reconsider our actions, return to the inconvenience of responding to the call of Christ, relinquish our indifference, live as if life is a gift from God - what have we to lose?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Glorious Lord, Creator of Cosmic Wisdom, we come together today especially, to drink deeply of Your waters, awaken from our daily indifferences to You, and stop squandering the preciousness of each moment of life. Help us to give our best praises to You through our actions toward one another and to our Mother the Earth.

Incarnate Jesus, the Christ of All Peoples

RESPONSE: Teach us to see You in all faces and consciously embrace Your ways

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of Cosmic Wisdom, let us call upon the leaders of this world, our country, and our community to cease using religion and the politics of power and greed to divide and threaten. Let us not be imprisoned together as strangers, but rather live peacefully together as members of Your One Family. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Incarnate Jesus, the Christ of All Peoples

Teach us to see You in all faces and consciously embrace Your ways

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of Cosmic Wisdom, let us create harmony and healing together for all who suffer in spirit, soul, or body. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Incarnate Jesus, the Christ of All Peoples

Teach us to see You in all faces and consciously embrace Your ways

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of Cosmic Wisdom, anoint the grieving with Your oil of compassion as You joyously receive and bless those now entering Your gracious eternal kingdom. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Incarnate Jesus, the Christ of All Peoples

Teach us to see You in all faces and consciously embrace Your ways

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of Cosmic Wisdom, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently …

Incarnate Jesus, the Christ of All Peoples

Teach us to see You in all faces and consciously embrace Your ways

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of Cosmic Wisdom, we ask Your special blessings upon those whose lives we depend upon for guidance and inspiration as we make our way to You through the gifts and trials of earthly life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Incarnate Jesus, the Christ of All Peoples

Teach us to see You in all faces and consciously embrace Your ways

The Celebrant adds: Son of Man, the Incarnation of Love, let us come before You, sheep and goats as we are, to receive and to give the blessing of Your hands, welcomed and welcoming as inheritors of the holy and sacred Kingdom. We offer our praise to You as Jesus our Christ, the Holy Spirit as the breath of the Trinity, and the Creator, who together before time, live and reign as one God, then, now, and into forever. Amen.

*1^st Reading: Proverbs 8:22-36 [from The Message]

God sovereignly made me—the first, the basic—

before he did anything else.

I was brought into being a long time ago,

well before Earth got its start.

I arrived on the scene before Ocean,

yes, even before Springs and Rivers and Lakes.

Before Mountains were sculpted and Hills took shape,

I was already there, newborn;

Long before God stretched out Earth’s Horizons,

and tended to the minute details of Soil and Weather,

And set Sky firmly in place,

I was there.

When he mapped and gave borders to wild Ocean,

built the vast vault of Heaven,

and installed the fountains that fed Ocean,

When he drew a boundary for Sea,

posted a sign that said no trespassing,

And then staked out Earth’s Foundations,

I was right there with him, making sure everything fit.

Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause,

always enjoying his company,

Delighted with the world of things and creatures,

happily celebrating the human family.

So, my dear friends, listen carefully;

those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.

Mark a life of discipline and live wisely;

don’t squander your precious life.

Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,

awake and ready for me each morning,

alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.

When you find me, you find life, real life,

to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.

But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul;

when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.

*2nd Reading: A Reading From the Writings of Matthew Fox

Listen to the Cosmic Christ, to Cosmic Wisdom calling all the children of God together: “Come children, drink of my waters which are all common waters. They are free and available to all my children. Drink of my wisdom from your own unique well. Let the Taoists drink and the Muslims drink; let the Jews drink and the Buddhists drink; let the Christians drink and let the native peoples drink. And then tell me: What have you drunk? How deeply have you imbibed my refreshment? What wet and running wisdom drips from inside you to the outside? What have you to share with others of my wisdom and harmonious living, of the dripping of the oils of compassion and the lubricants of your common anointings as my images, my other “Christs,” my co-creators of wisdom on earth? I am tired of your religious wars, your sectarian divisions, your crusading spirits that arise from disharmony. I long for harmony. If there must be competition, let it take place at the level of shared gifts and bountiful outpouring of wisdom. Pray together. Create harmony and healing together. Celebrate, praise, and thank together. Cease using religion to divide. Use it for its purpose, to reconnect to Mother Earth, to blessings, to the underground river that I am and that you all share. And cease scandalizing the young by your indifference to these awesome blessings, by your competition, and your boredom. Praise one another. Praise the earth. In doing so, you praise me.” Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1988

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com 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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers of the People: Feeling Sheepishly Goat-Like, Final Sunday after Pentecost

for November 23, 2014, Final Sunday after Pentecost, Readings: [RCL] Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Ps 95:1-7a, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

In this Sunday of Christ the King, the Final Sunday in the Season after Pentecost, or The Season of the Kingdom, in some places, we look at the Christ of Wisdom, of Eternity, of Majesty and yet we must also seek the Jesus that is the human-divine manifestation, the incarnation that brings the mystery of God closer to us.
We sometimes forget that Christ has always been but Jesus is just over 2,000 years old. Jesus became the human face of God, God's own divine self on earth. Earlier in Ephesians we are told: God has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of the divine will, according to the divine purpose which God set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. [Eph 1:9-10] It is a bit much to take it all in at times. And not a little inconvenient to follow as a sheep and remember to look for Christ in strangers, and the sick, the imprisoned, and the poor - not to mention even those who seem better off in life than we. We are, after all, admonished to: seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves, and, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being [Baptismal Covenant, US Book of Common Prayer]. Most days it's much easier to be a goat and seek the more comfy Jesus of the Christmas glitter and bright colors of Easter eggs. But as we are at the end of one liturgical season and as we begin another, it's time to shake off the dust, the indifference, and the complacency, and walk again with the Christ who is Jesus with intention and consciousness, for we are the blessed inheritors of the Kingdom, and life as we know it is truly a gift from God.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Glorious Lord, Creator of All Wisdom, we come into Your presence today especially, to offer deep thanksgiving for seeking us when we are lost and strayed, and helping us to awaken from our daily indifferences to You. Let us give offerings of praise by all of our actions toward one another and by seeking and finding Christ in every face.

Holy God, Our Lord of Heaven and Earth

RESPONSE: We are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of All Wisdom, let us call upon the leaders of this world, our country, and our community to cease using religion and the politics of power and greed to divide and threaten. Let us not be imprisoned together as strangers, but rather live peacefully together as members of Your One Family. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy God, Our Lord of Heaven and Earth

We are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of All Wisdom, let us create harmony and healing together for all who suffer in spirit, soul, or body. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy God, Our Lord of Heaven and Earth

We are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of All Wisdom, anoint the grieving with Your oil of compassion as You joyously receive and bless those now entering Your gracious eternal kingdom. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy God, Our Lord of Heaven and Earth

We are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of All Wisdom, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…

Holy God, Our Lord of Heaven and Earth

We are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand

~ Glorious Lord, Creator of All Wisdom, we ask Your special blessings upon those whose lives we depend upon for guidance and inspiration as we make our way to You through the gifts and trials of earthly life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy God, Our Lord of Heaven and Earth

We are the people of Your pasture and the sheep of Your hand

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Prayers of the People, Stewardship Sunday, 6th Sunday in the Season of Creation

for November 16, 2014, 6th Sunday in SoC, Readings: Presiding Bishop John Hines*, Ps 16:5-11, James 1:17-18, 21-27; Luke 6:37-38

For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror...and on going away, immediately forget what they are like. [James 1:23-24]

It's TRUE, my grandmother always said so but I didn't believe it until I knew it for myself: The days may be long, but the years are short. Time passes so swiftly now that we hardly have time to catch our breath before it's suddenly summer, then autumn, then Christmas, then another year going and coming. So much that we planned to accomplish in a given time period lies unfinished or even un-started. And some of us, younger and older, have confronted our mortality this year in many and unexpected ways. It is time to take a moment and reflect on what we have and what we do and how we connect them to our claim to faith in God.

Faith is strengthened and multiplied in a welcoming and spiritually-centered church community - and many hands accomplish more together than separately. We are each called to unite in fostering the mission and ministry of Christ as we are able. Let us give to God by giving to our church in ways that extend the work of God today, tomorrow, and as the foundation for those who come later. Let us look in the mirror to see ourselves as a community of faith and remember, when we look away, that we are each part of the whole Body of Christ. Let us be a witnessing community of unquestioned integrity* that keeps from worrying over temporal issues and gives generously in thanksgiving for the continuing presence of God for now and for the future.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy God, our Portion and our Cup, we come together to honor and worship You for the generosity of life You have given to us and those we love. Today, especially, we pledge our continuing commitment to You, by our participation in the mission and ministry of this community of faith, in generously offering our temporal currencies of money, time, and abilities.

Lord of Lights, Creator of All Life

RESPONSE: Strengthen our willingness to hear and act upon Your Word

~ Holy God, our Portion and our Cup, as we strive to be faithful to Your call and live unstained by the externals of this world, we must also be active in our role as Your stewards by often reminding the political leaders everywhere of their duty to prosper Creation for everyone. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord of Lights, Creator of All Life

Strengthen our willingness to hear and act upon Your Word

~ Holy God, our Portion and our Cup, renew the strength of those who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit so they may rest in hope. May they, and those who minister to their needs, know You are with them on the path of life even in the darkest of times. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord of Lights, Creator of All Life

Strengthen our willingness to hear and act upon Your Word

~ Holy God, our Portion and our Cup, may those who grieve this day feel Your blessing return seven-fold for every tear that falls, and know that those who have entered into Your glory, now rejoice for all eternity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord of Lights, Creator of All Life

Strengthen our willingness to hear and act upon Your Word

~ Holy God, our Portion and our Cup, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently …

Lord of Lights, Creator of All Life

Strengthen our willingness to hear and act upon Your Word

~ Holy God, our Portion and our Cup, for the faithful stewards of Your Church, who keep us on a spiritual track in daily life and guide us in living the mission of Christ on earth, we give great thanks and prayerful gratitude. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Lord of Lights, Creator of All Life

Strengthen our willingness to hear and act upon Your Word

The Celebrant adds: Creator of All that is seen and unseen, grant us the vision to realize that as we seek to repay You with our offerings, we also pay forward for the continuing legacy of Christ’s love. We ask of You as we pray to You, through Jesus, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our fount of Wisdom, who live and reign together with You, forever and ever. Amen.

*1st Reading: A READING FROM PRESIDING BISHOP JOHN E. HINES

What I hope for has little to do with growth in communicant strength, though I would rejoice at a multitude of conversions possessing integrity. This has little to do with bigger budgets, nothing to do with maintaining a respected place with the carriage-trade clientele of our society. I hope for a witnessing community of unquestioned integrity. It may – in the future, this Church of ours - be an even smaller Church because of its witness; less powerful, and less influential - as a secular society gauges power and influence. For the essential question is not, “How shall the Episcopal Church grow?” - but rather, “How can the Episcopal Church be faithful?” For that is the heritage worth sacrificing for – worth passing on to our children and grandchildren. God forbid that they should come to a time and place unashamed of the Gospel, but ashamed of us. [Kenneth Kesselus, John E. Hines, from Farewell Sermon in Granite on Fire, Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, 1995. Bishop Hines served as the 22nd Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1965-1973]

Prayers of the People: Still Hiding Your Talents?, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

for November 16, 2014, 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Readings: [RCL] Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18; Ps 90:1-8, 9-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:11-14

For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past and like a watch in the night. [Ps 90:4]

For those of us in the colder climes of the northern hemisphere, we see the fruits and leaves of the summer withering and fading, and they begin to drop to the ground as the darkness and cold of the winter approaches. It is a stark reminder of the frailty of living. Yet even in warmer regions we see the swift passing of ages through birthdays, Christmases, and merely through one month becoming another until it seems suddenly that a year has passed.
Just as the leaves, fruits, and flowers will send their genes and seeds to return in the spring, so must we be givers of life for the future of Christ's mission and ministry. Let us dig up our talents in all forms - money, time, and ability - and give generously that we may be God's true and faithful servants now and as the foundation for those that are coming behind us. As it has been said, "Stewardship is heart work." Let our hearts be filled through giving.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy God, our Refuge and our Guide, although our time on earth is as fleeting as a wisp of smoke there is time enough as we come together to honor and worship You. For the generosity of life You have given to us and those we love, for the earth and all of its treasures, let us be good and faithful servants of Your Creation.

LORD of the Ages, teach us to number our days

RESPONSE: Help us to apply our hearts to Your wisdom

~ Holy God, our Refuge and our Guide, let us not be complacent but encourage ourselves and each other to be faithful to Your call and live unstained by the externals of this world. We must also be active in our role as Your stewards by often reminding the political leaders everywhere of their duty to prosper Creation for everyone. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

LORD of the Ages, teach us to number our days

Help us to apply our hearts to Your wisdom

~ Holy God, our Refuge and our Guide, renew the strength of those who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit so they may rest in hope. May they, and those who minister to their needs, know You are with them on the path of life even in the darkest of times. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

LORD of the Ages, teach us to number our days

Help us to apply our hearts to Your wisdom

~ Holy God, our Refuge and our Guide, may those who grieve this day feel Your blessing return seven-fold for every tear that falls, and know that those who have entered into Your glory, now rejoice for all eternity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

LORD of the Ages, teach us to number our days

Help us to apply our hearts to Your wisdom

~ Holy God, our Refuge and our Guide, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…

LORD of the Ages, teach us to number our days

Help us to apply our hearts to Your wisdom

~ Holy God, our Refuge and our Guide, for the faithful stewards of Your Church, who keep us on a spiritual track in daily life and guide us in living the mission of Christ on earth, we give great thanks and prayerful gratitude. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

LORD of the Ages, teach us to number our days

Help us to apply our hearts to Your wisdom

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Prayers of the People: Prepare for Immediate Factory Recall, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

for November 9, 2014, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Readings: [RCL] Amos 5:18-24, Psalm 70, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Mt 25:1-13

Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. [Mt 25:13] Of all the admonitions of Jesus, this one always sends a chill up and down my spine. I've spent a considerable amount of time in hospital emergency rooms and the suddenness of death can sometimes take out even the most experienced and detached medical staff.
In my own life, the hour and the day have whisked away those I hold most deeply in my heart so unexpectedly I can still feel the reverberation in my heart and head as if being hit with a concussive blow that never quite heals. This reminds me that I, too, am subject to immediate factory recall. And so, then, preparation is the call, here. Playing the role of active Christian, faithful attendance at worship, giving of alms, and calling my politicians to account is all well and good but my inwardly digested attitude of Christ needs some work. Time to get more oil for the lamp, trim the wick, and start again to match my Sunday best to my daily thoughts, words, and actions. O LORD, make haste to help me. [Ps 70:1b]

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Almighty All-Knowing God, deliver us from the foolishness of wasting our lives pursuing empty and temporary pleasures, and teach us yet again to keep our everyday thoughts, words, and actions as faith-filled and earnest as our weekly worship of You.

Holy Lord of High Expectation

RESPONSE: Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, these are serious times of distressing political discourse, extreme fear, and increasing violence in our community and around the world. To those holding power on our planet, in our country, and our local community, even those with whom we disagree, let us give a calm, rational voice to the issues at hand as we pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, grant Your peace to all those living with serious illness, pain, and uncertainty, and give comfort to those who offer them loving care. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, as our hearts weep with those in mourning, let us also console them with hope that we and all who have gone before will be with the Lord forever. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, grant our spiritual leaders the purity of heart, hope of the spirit, and the fidelity of faith to guide our soul journeys toward Your eternal kingdom. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

The Celebrant adds: Wise and Mighty, Beneficent Lord, grant us wisdom and inner peace enough to keep our souls always awake and alert for Your presence as we await the unknown day and hour of our new life in You. We ask this through Jesus, our Christ, and the most Holy Spirit who, together with You, reign as One God, in heaven, on earth, and beyond all time and space. Amen.

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com 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. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers of the People: Peace by Piece, 5th Sunday in the Season of Creation

for November 9, 2014 5th Sunday in SoC, Readings: Amos 5:21-24, Ps 139:1-7, The Holy Qur’an 57:1-4*, Mt 5:43-48

Love my enemies? Maybe a question parallel to another that Jesus posed is: Who is my enemy? It seems to me that most of us don't really think of having enemies in personal terms. But we sure can name and number those we dislike intensely whether we know them or not. Among other classes, there are those who hold diametrically opposed political, religious, social views and social status whose observed intolerance makes my blood pressure rise and my head want to explode as I exhibit high levels of intolerance for their intolerance ~ OH PLEASE - do I have to LOVE them? It's easier for me to love an enemy of my country - or at least pray that they go away and do no more harm.
It's no wonder the Prophet Amos reports that the Lord tells us our festivals, our offerings, our sacred rituals and music are unacceptable when we show up and show off our piety in Church and then head outside of the building for the rest of the week with the same old attitudes as if putting aside the costume and mask we wore on Sunday morning. All of our good worship is nothing unless we are living the everyday life that reflects all that we pretend to be while in Church. I must consciously work on reconciling my intentions with my actions, little by little, piece by piece. Until we are loving and peaceful within ourselves reflecting the love of Christ in all we think, all we do, all we are, complacency, hatred, violence, and fear will only escalate and kill us all one way or another, if not in body, certainly in soul. I don't believe that loving my enemies has to mean standing by and allowing viciousness and injury, but I can certainly take a deep breath and genuinely act and care for those less fortunate and pray for those I do not understand lest I allow my own anger and frustration to feed the whirlwind of destruction. Oh LORD, this is the hardest thing You ask of me.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Almighty All-Knowing God, there is not a thought, word, or act of ours that You do not see. As we offer our praise and faith-filled worship, You know how we offer You our everyday lives. Through Your Prophets and Your Son, we know that the peace of the world begins within ourselves in how we love and serve the earth and all Your people, even those we call our enemies.

Holy Lord of High Expectation

RESPONSE: Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, grant Your peace to all those living with serious illness, pain, and uncertainty and give hope and comfort to those who offer them loving care. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, as our hearts weep with those in mourning, let us also console them with the hope of eternal life now bestowed upon those who now live in Your light. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

~ Almighty All-Knowing God, as with those anointed to lead us and declare Your glory before us, Your right hand holds us all fast in Your eternal presence. Press upon our spiritual leaders even more wonderful knowledge that they can impart to us as they guide our soul journeys toward You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Lord of High Expectation

Help us to let justice roll down like the waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream

The Celebrant adds: Wise and Mighty, Beneficent Lord, grant us wisdom and inner peace enough, within our earnest Sunday worship of You, that we rise up in our daily lives to become a direct reflection of Your love in action. We ask this through Jesus, our Christ, and the most Holy Spirit who, together with You, reign as One God, in heaven, on earth, and beyond all time and space. Amen.

*2^nd Reading - From The Holy Qur’an 57:1-4

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares the glory of Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He gives life and causes death; and He has power over all things. He is the First and the Last and the Ascendant over all. He is the Knower of hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things. He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and He is firm in power. He knows that which goes deep down into the earth and that which comes forth out of it; and that which comes down from the heaven and that which goes up into it. He is with you wherever you are; and Allah sees what you do.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Prayers of the People, Saints Are People, Too!, 4th Sunday of the Season of Creation

for November 2, 2014, All Saints, 4th Sunday in SoC*, Readings: Sr. Joan Chitister*, Ps 107:1-7, 33-37; Ephesians 4:1-6, Mt 5:1-12

When is a Saint a Saint in these times? Sr. Joan Chittister tells us that [Saints] 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 who saw themselves clearly as the others' keepers... [see full reading below] Who are the Saints, and saints, in your life?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, You have created all of us with unique gifts and we have each developed our own unique flaws. Today we celebrate those who have gone before, and those among us, who have given themselves entirely to You for the sake of us all. Whenever we struggle, or forget, to find a single moment for You in a day, grant us the wisdom to look to the examples of saints and Saints to guide us to a glimpse of Your face, and then act accordingly, from the center of our humanness.

Universal, Omnipotent, Boundless God

RESPONSE: Help us to be dauntless in our faith
that we may live as You have called

~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, grant us the courage to decry injustice, condemn poverty, and refuse inequality as we raise strong voices, for those who have none, to the leaders of the World, our Country, and our Community, most particularly in these critical times. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Universal, Omnipotent, Boundless God

Help us to be dauntless in our faith
that we may live as You have called

~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, deliver from distress those whose spirits languish in the pain of illness, anxiety, or addiction, and endow those who give them care with patience, gentleness, and love. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Universal, Omnipotent, Boundless God

Help us to be dauntless in our faith
that we may live as You have called

~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, as You comfort those who mourn, help them, and us all, to always remember that our loved ones rejoice to enter their great reward in heaven. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Universal, Omnipotent, Boundless God

Help us to be dauntless in our faith
that we may live as You have called

~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…

Universal, Omnipotent, Boundless God

Help us to be dauntless in our faith
that we may live as You have called

~ Lord of All Saints and All Sinners, we offer our praise and thanksgiving for all who have humbly accepted Your call to help us navigate our path to redemption. Help them remain faithful role models as we taste the possibilities of our spiritual greatness together. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Universal, Omnipotent, Boundless God

Help us to be dauntless in our faith
that we may live as You have called

The Celebrant adds: Just, Merciful, Gracious God, in all humility we bow our heads and pray for Your blessing even as we often fail, but still continue to try, to embody those qualities of saintliness that will bring us to Your eternal life. We ask Your continued love and patience through Jesus, our Redeemer, and in the Unity of the Holy Spirit, who with You live and reign as One God above all, through all, and in all, for ever and ever. Amen.

*1st Reading - A Reading from the writings of Joan Chittister:

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 [from: A Passion for Life: Fragments of the Face of God, Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 1996]

* The Season of Creation originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa in 2008 and is designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation perspective. We are to realize our place in the order of God’s creating and to see and act upon the need to care for our entire life-support system - the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil in which we grow our crops - not merely humanity, but our total environment, as it pertains to ALL life.

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