Prayers of the People: Faith on Fire! ~ PENTECOST! '19 Yr C

For Sunday, June 9, 2019, Pentecost, Yr C, Readings: Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:14-17, John 14:8-17, (25-27)

     When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house...Divided tongues, as of fire...rested on each...All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. [Acts 2:1-4]

          You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth. [Psalm 104:31]

   When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ... [Romans 8:13b-17b]

   Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me...If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth...he abides in you, and he will be with you...Peace I leave with you...Do not let your hearts be troubled... [John 14:11a, 15-17]

        From a Greek word meaning “fiftieth” is derived the word "Pentecost."  In Judaism, Pentecost is the holiday of Shavuot or The Festival of Weeks, celebrated seven weeks, or the 50th day, after the first seder of Passover. It commemorates God's giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. In Christianity it is the 50th day, or 7 weeks, after Easter, 10 days after Christ’s Ascension.

      The disciples of Jesus, perhaps still struggling with their understandings of and ongoing roles after the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, gathered together most likely for the comfortably familiar Shavuot remembrance and feast. Then, as we are told, suddenly from heaven came a rush of violent wind and just as suddenly tongues of fire appeared above their heads and each one immediately began speaking in a different language. From that moment they were able to spread the word of God in Christ across the world with the Holy Spirit granting each voice in each language the precise interpretation of Christ’s saving words and instructions ~ in context of culture, place, and time, not merely by repetition.
          In this fiftieth day from the most recent celebration of Easter, we are again and always called to know that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, called to live into the belief in Christ that we claim or want, and, to keep the Commandments whose giving on Mt. Sinai we may also commemorate on this day as our life principles. 
          On this Birthday of the Church^*, let us claim our heritage as children of God and use the language of love to be as Jesus has shown us to be. Let the teachings of Jesus not only be our governing rules but also our method and practice of daily living. In our times of suffering and our times of joy and in our times of everyday routines, let us breathe deeply and receive the power of the Holy Spirit to untrouble our hearts and fill us with the Peace of Christ, the peace that passes all understanding; the peace of our own spirits that reaches out and gives peace to another’s. 

        Today is the day to stop merely knowing the story. Today is the day to start feeling the Spirit – to be amazed and astonished!  We have the Spirit within us and God’s grace and the love and Salvation of Christ for just the wanting of it. Let us rejoice and be glad and joy-filled, and alive in it! After all, what else is faith, and this life, for?  

       ^*Also known as the Birthday of the Church, Pentecost marks the official beginning of the ministry of the Apostles beyond their local area and into the broader world. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire imbued them, and each of us by extension, with extraordinary gifts to bring the message of Jesus by word and example into all facets and phases of our Christian life.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Abba, Redeemer, Advocate, awaken us again to the fire of Your Spirit and the Peace of Christ within us. Untrouble our hearts that we may feel the rush of heavenly breath, rejoice in Your Presence, and bless You with our souls.

                                           Spirit of the Living God

RESPONSE:        Fall afresh on us

~ Abba, Redeemer, Advocate, inspire us to speak in the language of Your Truth to the leaders of this Earth, this Country, and this Community, as the voices of those crying in the wilderness of poverty, war, intolerance, and injustice. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                             Spirit of the Living God

                                 Fall afresh on us

~ Abba, Redeemer, Advocate, cool the fevers of critical illness, despair, or deprivation of those in desperate need, and energize all who give them care and support. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

                                             Spirit of the Living God

                                 Fall afresh on us

~ Abba, Redeemer, Advocate, infuse Your care and comfort into the hearts of the mournful, as the souls of all who have reached the shores of Heaven, now rise and dance in Your everlasting joy and glory.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                             Spirit of the Living God

                                 Fall afresh on us

~ Abba, Redeemer, Advocate, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently… add your own petitions 

                                             Spirit of the Living God

                                 Fall afresh on us

~ Abba, Redeemer, Advocate, amplify our Spirit-given abilities, that together with those we choose to lead us in Your Church, we may be steadfast in our journey and the actions of our lives sing as praise to the Lord, our God. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                                                        

                                              Spirit of the Living God

                                 Fall afresh on us

                                                                                                        

The Celebrant adds:  God All-Knowing, guide the Spirit of Pentecost to set our souls ablaze once again, that we may keep Your commandments, do greater works, and live as joint heirs of Your eternal kingdom. We ask through Jesus, our Redeemer Christ, and the Holy Spirit, the Sacred Fire in our souls, who together with You reign as One God, now and for eternity.  Amen.

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Prayers of the People: We are All, Together 7th Sunday of Easter '19 Yr C

For Sunday, June 2, 2019, 7th Sunday of Easter, Year C, Readings: Acts 16:16-34, Psalm 97, Revelation 22:12-14; 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26

     ...With Paul and Silas...we were going to a place of prayer...[Then the jailer] said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."...He and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. [Acts 16:16, 30-31, 34b]

         Light has sprung up for the righteous, and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.  [Psalm 97:11]

       It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." [Revelation 22:16]

               Jesus...looked up to heaven and said... "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one...so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them. [John 17: 1a, 20-21a, 26b]

       This recounting of Paul’s imprisonment is intriguing as it isn’t the typical story of being imprisoned for proseltyzing or performing miracles. On the way to a place of prayer, his miracle in a particular slave for which her owners lost money landed him and Silas in jail. Just as those imprisoned with them heard Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God, an earthquake loosed the chains that bound them all and yet the prisoners stayed inside despite the opened doors. The jailer and his family were instantly converted to faith in Jesus and baptized. 

       Faith is the primary element of any religious practice and for Christianity and other theological traditions, prayer is the backbone of faith. Sometimes, however, prayer comes ahead of belief through the longing to have the kind of faith observed in others, as with Paul’s jailer. It has been said that the mere desire to have faith is, in itself, an expression of faith. Tentative exploration of prayer may also occur in the search for the meaning of grief at an age when the onset of mortality becomes one’s reality.

       Without faith, “christian” becomes a mere empty label. Yet without sincere and frequent prayer, faith itself is unfulfilled; it has limited direction and action. The whole of John 17 is Jesus' prayer before he leaves the disciples to carry on without him, but it isn't just about himself or the disciples at hand. It is also about us. Jesus speaks of those who will believe in me through their word. 

       Now, as we end this Easter season, it is an excellent time for me to examine the state of my faith and, particularly, how I pray. Do I simply repeat familiar syllables in the liturgical rituals, is prayer only a way to call out for help when I want or need something for myself or someone else? Or, do I thoughtfully, and intentionally, make time to truly and sincerely pray in faith to build my relationship with God? Even during desert times when God feels absent, prayer keeps connecting me to God in Christ and the Holy Spirit who are already within me. 

       There are innumerable volumes of books written on various forms and schools of prayer, many worth exploring. If prayer seems difficult, intimidating, or mysterious, a simple way to begin is just to have a conversation with God, taking comfort with and confiding in your closest confidante ~ the Person who knows you better than you know yourself. There are no right words, no correct procedures, just everyday words in sincerity and faith, even if you think sometimes that your faith is wavering or weak. A plain, quiet help me, Lord can open your heart, and in turn your soul, to the experience of even a mustard seed amount of faith.     

       Jesus shows us the way of prayer ~ it strengthens faith, draws us together in community, and gives us blessings and hope. Prayer is, quite simply, the most perfect conversation we can ever have. Any time, any place, any way - aloud, silently, written, poetic, scattered, rambling. There is always an interested non-judgmental Listener. Prayer is the opportunity, in faith, to place cares, woes, hopes, dreams, thanksgivings, contrition, into the Heart of God. Let us pray without ceasing [1 Thessalonians 5:17] to our bright morning star, drinking deeply from the water of life. In prayer, we are complete, we are known, we with God are all, together.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O Savior Christ, You are the bright morning star of Creation, loved from before the world was founded. Draw us into the prayer of faith that binds us to You and to each other, to all be as one, complete in the eternal love of God.

                                                     Jesus, Root of the Tree of Life

RESPONSE:                  Let our prayer come to You

~ O Savior Christ, teach us the words to make God known in the hearts of those who lead the nations and all the people of the Earth, to ensure justice, peace, and the necessities of human life. We pray especially for: We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Root of the Tree of Life

                                                Let our prayer come to You

~ O Savior Christ, hear the prayers and heal the bodies and minds of all who suffer through illness, anxiety, or hopelessness, and fill those who support them with compassion.  We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

Jesus, Root of the Tree of Life

                                                Let our prayer come to You

~ O Savior Christ, shine the light of Your Presence on all grieving hearts, as those we have sent ahead now enter the gates of heavenly peace and life everlasting. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Root of the Tree of Life

                                                Let our prayer come to You

~ O Savior Christ, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, aloud or silently…add your own petitions

Jesus, Root of the Tree of Life

                                                Let our prayer come to You

~ O Savior Christ, as you prayed for the disciples of Your own time, pray without ceasing for us, the disciples of this time, especially those ordained to serve in Your Church to bring us Your Word and Sacraments.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Root of the Tree of Life

                                                Let our prayer come to You

                                                                                                    

The Celebrant adds:  Jesus, Alpha and Omega, as the Word made Flesh You are in God, with God, and of God. Quench our spiritual thirst with the flowing water of eternal life that we may see Your glory and live forever in You as You do within us. We ask through the Holy Spirit, the Mother of Wisdom; and the Almighty Creator who together with You are One God, now and through eternity. Amen.

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. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Prayers of the People: Driving Toward Peace ~ 6th Sunday of Easter Yr C '19

For Sunday, May 26, 2019,  6^th Sunday of Easter, Yr C, Readings: Acts 16:9-15, Psalm 67, Revelation 21:10-22:22:5, John 14:23-29

     A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us...The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul...she and her household were baptized. [Acts 16: 14-15a]

         In the spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God...its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb...for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb... [Revelation 21:10, 22, 23b]

        May God be merciful to us and bless us, show us the light of his countenance and come to us. Let your ways be known upon earth, your saving health among all nations. [Ps 67:1-2]

       Jesus said..."Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them... the Advocate…in my name…will teach you everything…Peace I leave with you…Do not let your hearts be troubled…" [John 14:23, 26, 27]

        “Home” seems to be a prevailing theme this week. The newly baptized Lydia, of purple cloth fame, invites Paul and companions to stay at her home. Another reading from the Book of Revelation expands last week’s promise of a new heaven and a new earth along with a New Jerusalem, as a Holy City for all people ~ in other words, a new home. In the New Jerusalem, that comes down out of heaven from God, there is no night, nothing unclean, and the gates are always open for those who choose to enter. This new holy city comes to us, the Trinity make their home with us, and all we need to do is love Jesus, listen eagerly, and keep his word.

       Jesus continues his farewell discourse in this reading from John’s Gospel. He is telling the disciples, at the Last Supper after the departure of Judas, that he is going to the Father and that soon will come the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, sent by God, who will continue to teach and remind them of all Jesus has said to them. This must have been very confusing for them. 

      The most often quoted part is when Jesus says, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you which is often used in liturgical celebrations. But for me in this reading, perhaps in view of the times in which we live, what stood out for me were the next two sentences: “Do not let your hearts be troubled; and do not be afraid.” And while mine is and I am, I realize that the essence of my journey in faith is indeed to keep the words of Jesus, accept the peace he gives, and not give to others as the world gives in its anger, greed, complacency, and general self-interest. I’m not called to live on a mountain seeking only my inner peace, ignoring all the incessant realities ~ good, bad, or indifferent ~ of this life. I am called to be faithful to the words of Christ; I can know that the time is now to live in the new earth and recognize that our home to come is already here. It won't make all trouble and fear go away, but it will lighten my soul and guide me to give out the peace of Jesus from within myself. The New Jerusalem is a community, a home that is loving, open, and here if we but believe. Home in Christ is peace. Now, to work on peace while driving. 

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ O God of Light and Mercy, disperse the fog of our complacency and the illusion of time, that interrupts our willingness to love you deeply, listen eagerly, and overflow with Your peace, right now.

                                             Jesus, Lamb of God                                                                        

RESPONSE:          By our love we keep Your Words and receive Your Peace

~ O God of Light and Mercy, guide our hearts to be vigilant yet untroubled allowing the Spirit to guide us through our fearful times. Transform the souls of the leaders of this Earth, this Nation, and this Community by compassion, honor, and equity. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                               Jesus, Lamb of God

                                               By our love we keep Your Words and receive Your Peace

~ O God of Light and Mercy, grant Your saving health to all beset by physical, emotional, or spiritual illness, and infuse their caregivers with gentleness and love. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

                                               Jesus, Lamb of God

                                               By our love we keep Your Words and receive Your Peace

~ O God of Light and Mercy, turn mourning into joy as those we love have gone to the limitless light of the Creator’s eternal radiance, the end of earthly night. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                               Jesus, Lamb of God

                                               By our love we keep Your Words and receive Your Peace

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

                                               Jesus, Lamb of God

                                               By our love we keep Your Words and receive Your Peace

             

~ O God of Light and Mercy, break through the daily tasks and rituals of those we choose to lead us in Your church. Rekindle the fire and depth of Your early call to service that will always lead us together to You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                               Jesus, Lamb of God

                                               By our love we keep Your Words and receive Your Peace

The Celebrant adds:  Holy Christ, Lord of Glory and Light, feed us on fruits of healing, as we travel the rivers of this life, that we may not give to the world as it gives, but offer Your deep and abiding peace and Your eternal love within us to all the Earth. We ask through the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, and the Infinite Almighty, who together with You are One God, now and forever Amen.

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. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Prayers of the People: All We Need is Love? ~ 5th Sunday of Easter '19 Yr C

For Sunday, May 19, 2019, 5^th Sunday of Easter, Yr C, Readings: Acts 11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelations 21:1-6, John 13:31-35

       The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us...And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit; If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that could hinder God?  [Acts 11:12,16-17] 

     Kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all rulers of the world…Let them praise the Name of the Lord, for his Name only is exalted. [Psalm 148: 11, 13]

     I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more...the home of God is among mortals...Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more. [Revelation 21:1-2, 3b, 4b]\ 

   Jesus said..."I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 

[John 13:34-35]

         A new Commandment from Jesus: love one another as I have loved you. Sure, sure, we’ve heard it all before, many times. Peter had to explain himself to the uncircumcised believers who criticized him for going to Gentiles and eating with them. He told them straight out that the Spirit directed him not to make a distinction between them and us. Yet don’t we in our own time and place make distinctions about who is worthy of our time and attention, let alone love? But Jesus tells us clearly that we are to love everyone, not just those we already love. He also doesn’t say only love the ones who will love you in return.

        Peter astonished his listeners with the words of Jesus and his own realization that he himself received the gift of the Holy Spirit when he believed, as will everyone. The writer of Revelation sees a new heaven and a new earth and tells us that God's home is among us mortals.

       But this mortal home is seething with rage, disparity, tragedy, poverty, disease, fear, and so much more. It is pandemic, manipulated, exploited, used for political expedience, and profiteering. It writhes with increasing numbers of natural disasters and person-made horrors displacing and killing so many of our earth-bound neighbors. And we are called to love one another as we are loved by Christ. In the face of so much it seems like so little yet if we give ourselves to it much more will come of it. But we have to hear the words, inwardly digest, trust them, and have faith that God will indeed wipe every tear and death will be no more. Hard and not often immediately rewarding work on a good day.

       How, then, can we hear these words differently? What can arouse us from our distractions, our inattentiveness, our numbness, and call us to action?

         Our Creator continues to create but do we see? By actively loving others, especially the unlovable, through our words and actions, we are co-creating with God to bring the new earth into our present existence, now. There is joy and goodness to be experienced, divisions among people to be repaired, brokenness healed. Will every moment be as running through fields of roses and daisies - not even close. But by shaking ourselves out of complacency, by dusting off our faith, and becoming a partner with God, the Church, and each other, we can change the tiny parcel of this mortal home we inhabit. Anguish and anger within us could be no more.  We can create love that heals or at least patches up, love that warms an angry heart, that soothes the cries of grief, that finds help, food, shelter, or just a hand to hold. Even when rejected, as we will be, there will be another to love and someone to love us. Who am I to hinder God working in me? C.S. Lewis puts things more bluntly: There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ…It is the subtlest of all snares. To truly follow Jesus, to be known as a sincere disciple, all we truly need is love.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Forever and Almighty Lord, infuse us with the willingness to live Your commandment to love family, friend, and stranger alike, using basin and towel more often than lofty praise with weak intent.

                                                     O God at Home Among Us

                    Response:              We begin and end in You

~ Forever and Almighty Lord, guide us to be as Your voice in speaking and acting on behalf of all who suffer because of some actions by those who govern, dictate, or control Your people on this earth, in this country, or in our community. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       O God at Home Among Us

                                                       We begin and end in You

~ Forever and Almighty Lord, release from anguish all who are chronically ill in body, mind, or spirit, and refresh the stamina of all who give support. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

                                                       O God at Home Among Us

                                                       We begin and end in You

~ Forever and Almighty Lord, lift the hearts of the mournful as through You death is no more and our dearest departed have now risen to new and unending Life in joy, free from tears and pain. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       O God at Home Among Us

                                                       We begin and end in You

~  Forever and Almighty Lord, 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 at Home Among Us

                                                       We begin and end in You

             

~ Forever and Almighty Lord, grant additional grace to all You have chosen to bring us Your Word and Sacraments, that together we may receive our Salvation through Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       O God at Home Among Us

                                                       We begin and end in You

             

The Celebrant adds:  Exalted Christ, Son of God and Man, embolden us to be purposeful instruments of the continuous flow of Your limitless love. Let us not hinder but joyfully participate in the perpetual renewal of Your Creation through our own love and repentance that will lead us to unending life in You. Amen.

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. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com

Prayers of the People: Get Up and Live! ~ 4th Sunday of Easter Yr C '19

For Sunday, May 12, 2019, 4^th Sunday of Easter, Yr C, Readings: Acts 9:36-43, Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30

       Peter...knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." The she opened her eyes and seeing Peter, she sat up...This became known...and many believed in the Lord.  [Acts 9:40b-41, 42b]

   The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want... [Psalm 23:1]

“…for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to the springs of the water of live, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” [Revelation 7:9-17]

      So the Jews gathered around him and said to him...If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly. Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe...because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.  [John 10:24-25a, 26-27]

     A few days before Peter’s arrival in Joppa, he, in Christ’s name, healed a paralyzed man named Aeneas, nearby. It may be that disciples heard the news and sent for Peter to come and heal their beloved Tabitha, though she had died before his arrival. The power in these miracles is less about a paralytic who then walks, or Tabitha – Dorcas in Greek – rising from the dead, but about the effect of those who witnessed the results and told others who told others and who then believed in Jesus as Lord.

     It is significant that he sent people from the room and then prayed – he was not attempting to act on his own power – and also that he then commanded ­Tabitha to get up. He didn’t ask her, he told her with the authority of and full faith in Jesus within him. As a result, many believed in the Lord. What Peter did had an impact – not just for Aeneas and Tabitha – but for all who heard or saw. Just as today they will know we are Christians by our love, says the hymn; what we do in the name of Christ can draw near or repel the faith of others. In claiming our faith we must also claim the wider impact of our faith. A burden, perhaps, yet offset by what we are given in return.

       In the lyrical and mystical readings from Revelation, the 23^rd Psalm, and John’s Gospel we see Jesus as Lamb and Christ as Shepherd, and, Jesus as human. The Lamb at the center of the throne, says Revelation, will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life… As the human Jesus, he tells the gathered in John, I have told you, and you do not believe. It does call me, as often happens, to think about just what do I believe? Am I a step removed from Thomas – as were those who were beyond Joppa and only heard about Peter’s miracles and believed? Or do I still need to “see” for myself?

        It also might be that in this human sojourn we forget that our faith isn’t just about what is to come in the eternal pasture of Heaven as long as we are reasonably well-behaved. We are to live now as followers of Christ Resurrected, in the peaks and valleys, the light and the dark, the days of more faith and the nights of less. Lutheran Pastor Bobby Morris puts it quite beautifully saying: We look eagerly to experience resurrection life beyond the grave. But let us not overlook the resurrection life – the very refreshing of our souls – that the risen Christ offers daily to those who follow him. [emphasis added]

       Jesus was gently adamant when he said My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. Let us allow our souls to be revived, to fear no evil, to know that goodness and mercy are following us all the days of this life. We are in the grasp of Jesus from whom we cannot be taken away. Let us live the resurrection life we have been given and rest in the knowing that God will wipe away every tear. Now, get up and live!

            -The symbolism of what is one of the most well-known pieces of Scripture across all faiths and none, is fascinating and complex. I commend to you a charming and interesting little book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller, who himself was a modern-day shepherd, for a closer look at the connections between the Psalm's imagery and real life sheep farming. I can certainly find myself among Keller's sheep, especially in those unruly moments when I wander away.  

       -While Tabitha/Dorcas is less familiar to us than others spoken of in Scripture, she certainly continues to have an impact. While little is known but her good works and acts of charity, tunics and other clothing she had made, there is today an organization that uses her Greek name to help those in need of immigration services, legal, education, path to citizenship, and a clothing collaborative. While not a faith-based organization, the impact of Dorcas continues. [see Dorcas International]

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, awaken our desire to follow Your voice through the peaks and valleys of our human sojourn. Teach us to live the resurrection life now, in goodness, with mercy, and Your refreshment of our souls each day, until we dwell again in Your Heavenly House.

                                                     Risen Lord                                  

RESPONSE:                  Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, revive the souls of all who govern across this Earth, this Country, and this Community. Strengthen their spirits as You guide us all along right pathways for the health, safety, and equality of every sheep of Your pasture. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Lord

                                                       Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, anoint the hearts of all in chronic pain, the woes of addiction, or lost in despair, and restore hope and energy to all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need…add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Lord

                                                       Our Shepherd, our Shelter

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, wipe the tears from those who mourn as those who have died now drink from the springs of Your new life, forever. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Lord

                                                       Our Shepherd, our Shelter

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

                                                       Risen Lord

                                                       Our Shepherd, our Shelter

             

~ Jesus, Holy Lamb, we give You thanks and ask Your blessings for the chosen Disciples of our own time who spread Your table before us, feeding our faith and confirming Your presence in our lives. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                                                       Risen Lord

                                                       Our Shepherd, our Shelter

             

The Celebrant adds: O Christ, our Messiah, grant us the courage to get up each day in Your name, inspired by Tabitha and others, and live in deep devotion to You. May our own prayers, good works, and acts of charity among Your flock fill us with such depth of faith that our moments of unbelief are few. We ask through the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, and the Almighty, our Creator, who together with You reign as One God, now and forever.  Amen.

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