People's Prayers

Monday, November 7, 2022

Prayers of the People: Our Role as Stewards ~ 6th Sunday in the Season of Creation '22 Yr C

For Sunday, November 13th, 2022, Readings: Deuteronomy 26:1a, 2, 4, 8-11; Psalm 116:10-17,

John Hines**, Matthew 6:25-34

So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, that you, O Lord, have given me…set it down before the Lord your God and bow before the Lord… [Deuteronomy 26:10]

How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me? [Psalm 116:10]

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. [Former Presiding Bishop John Hines]

Jesus said, "I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?...strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." [Matthew 6:25, 33]

*The Season of Creation originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa and was formalized in 2008. Designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation perspective, we use Biblical and other readings pertaining to the specific theme for each of the 7 weeks. Alternate readings used are posted with asterisk.

Click here for more information about: Season of Creation ~ In The Beginning

Week Vs Theme is: Our Role as Stewards

Any of us who attend church regularly and considers her-, him-, or themself as a “member” or a “parishioner” or a “congregant” has heard and understands what is meant by Stewardship. The dictionary defines it as: the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving. Inside the church much is needed to support the staff, the worship, the physical plant, with all the elements of church (small “c”) that we Episcopals/Anglicans call time, talent, and treasure. Outside the walls, the needs are exponentially greater. All of us, each of us are called by Our Lord to give of our selves significantly from what God has given us. Money, or treasure, of course, is what we hear as foremost on the list of needs and wants for inside and outside. Yet there is much more to our role as steward within the Body of Christ.
     We also hear of Stewardship as an element to church growth. Our past Presiding Bishop Hines wrote that while he would rejoice at a multitude of conversions, his hope was for a witnessing community of unquestioned integrity. Further, he says (to imagined groans from the Finance Chair), that the essential question is not, ‘How can the Episcopal Church [insert other denomination or faith community here] grow?’ but rather, ‘How can the Episcopal Church [other denomination] be faithful?’ He tells us that if we want our heritage passed on to younger generations they should come to a time and place unashamed of the Gospel [emphasis added]. We do not want them ashamed of us for creating an exclusive place only for wielding power and influence and losing our way to Christ.
     The Rev. Eric Law, in his book Holy Currencies: 6 Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries, shows us a different way to think about the flow of currencies in our lives. Within the usual offerings of time, talent, and treasure is contained a breadth and depth of re-imagining and discovering our personal gifts for ministry that take us well beyond the scope of a seasonal directive. Stewardship ~ Missional Ministry ~ is not merely a specific program for a specific time of year, but rather it is a way of life through which we continue to fulfill our Baptismal, Confirmation, and/or less formal vows to be faithful to God.
         As John Wesley said, "Not, how much money will I give to God, but how much of God's money will I keep for myself?" And that equation works equally well with the other two elements of the stewardship trio: time and talent. I don't know what tomorrow will bring for my community, my country, or this world, but I will pray without ceasing for the faith, the energy, mindset, to be a continuously generous person, to be the Church [capital "C"] as a Christian in the world with many stewarding roles. A faith community builds us up and sends us out and needs our support in every way. The CHURCH is not inside a building, it is in whatever we do together and on our own, to be true, faithful witnesses as part of the Body of Christ by every thought, word, and action. That said, the physical church is a place to gather and be spiritually refueled to take on all that is outside and it does require ongoing sources of funding as well as other resources for all of the seen and unseen support it provides.
Jesus reminds us, that through faithful endurance, in giving and receiving, we will gain the strength of our souls to ensure our eternal bounty.

**Reading #2: A Reading from Former 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 22^nd Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1965-1973

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Lord our God, re-awaken us to the bounty of Your Creation, the miracle of this earth and its treasures. Let us, and all who reside among us, celebrate and offer ourselves as grateful stewards of this sacred trust in times of plenty and also in time of hardship.

O God of Power and Wonder

RESPONSE: We bow in faith and witness

~ O Lord our God, we lift up our prayers for all who lead this World, this Country, and this Community by election, fiat, or inheritance. Implant in their souls a deepening hunger for unquestionable integrity, global and local peace, and justice tempered with mercy for all the people everywhere. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Power and Wonder

We bow in faith and witness

~ O Lord our God, nestle the aching, the fearful, and the desperate in Your loving embrace, and revitalize all who support their needs. We now join our hearts to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

O God of Power and Wonder

We bow in faith and witness

~ O Lord our God, grant us a foretaste of the joy, as the Heavenly gates open for our beloved, who now live in glory in Your Eternal land of milk and honey. We pray especially for…add your own petitions

O God of Power and Wonder

We bow in faith and witness

~ O Lord our God, 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 of Power and Wonder

We bow in faith and witness

~ O Lord our God, quicken the spirits of those called and ordained to speak Your Words and celebrate Your Sacraments, inspiring us all to live lives of selfless intent in this earthly life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Power and Wonder

We bow in faith and witness

The Celebrant adds: Loving, Patient God, with unashamed confidence in the Holy Gospel of Christ, we seek to repay all You have given us in this time and place. Grant us endurance in faith to gain eternity for our souls and fulfill our vows through the mantle of servanthood in Your Name. We beseech Jesus, our Redeemer Christ, the Holy Spirit, Counselor to our souls, and our Creator Lord, who together are One God, now and forever. Amen.

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Monday, October 31, 2022

Prayers of the People: The Saints Among Us ~ 5th Sunday in the Season of Creation '22 Yr C

For Sunday, November 6, 2022; Readings: Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9, Psalm 126, Sr. Joan Chittister**,

Matthew 5:1-12

Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones... [Wisdom of Solomon 3:9]

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. [Psalm 126:4]

(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… [Sr. Joan Chittister, A Passion for Life...**]

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [Matthew 5:11]

*The Season of Creation originated in the Anglican Church of South Africa and was formalized in 2008. It is designed for us to explore our faith from a Creation perspective. We use Biblical and other readings that pertain to the specific theme of each of the 7 weeks of the Season. Alternate readings used are posted with asterisk.

Click here for more information about: Season of Creation ~ In The Beginning

Week V's Theme is: The Saints Among Us

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. What comes to mind when you think of a Saint? For many of us, I expect, the mind-image that arises is of someone many centuries and continents removed from our everyday place and time in this world; someone who is an example of complete perfection in every facet of life that is unattainable for us mere mortals, and, if we're honest, living a life undesirably difficult for us to accomplish. The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios [hadgee-ose in US English, or hyee-ose in Greek], which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious.” Yet most saints and Saints, the ordinary and the officially designated, are/were flawed humans with real human frailties and struggles, and even, a few sins along the way. When and how then did their lives become so exemplary? The best discussion I have found is from Sister Joan Chittister**, which follows. This piece offers us some food for prayerful thought on ways we might discover our inner saint and seek to, at the very least, support the very basic tenets of the Greatest Commandment [Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-28].

"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."

Sr. Joan has not painted an easy picture of a lifestyle for our time-limited journey in earthly existence. There are choices to be made and sooner rather than later. It’s important to remember that there is always an opportunity for us to seek God first above all else as the Lord has done great things for us. It requires some dedication, some intention, and some transformation. Jesus calls us to come out from our self-imposed tombs and unbind ourselves from the temptations that lock us away from our divine endowment. In that release we can change not only ourselves but the culture we live in. Author Parker Palmer*** says it best, [We] can transform our culture only as we are inwardly transformed. So, let us begin, again, together.

**Sister Joan Chittister, Roman Catholic nun and former Prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA, an activist, author and speaker on a variety of subjects such as spirituality, religious life, peace, and justice among others. The excerpt is from: A Passion for Life: Fragments of the Face of God, Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 1996

***Parker J. Palmer is an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is the founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal; see: https://couragerenewal.org/parker-j-palmer/

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O God of Grace and Mercy, in these times of trial and travail, strengthen us to arise each day with the inner peace of knowing Your face at our center and purity of intention in our hearts. Open our conscious thoughts and actions to humility and humanity, following the example of the Saints who have gone before, and the saints who live among us now.

O Lord of Truth and Love

RESPONSE: Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, endow us, who abide with You in love, with the perseverance to guide Local, National, and Global Leaders away from falsehoods and fraud toward the just reward of all who seek You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Truth and Love

Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, deliver from distress all in anguish from illness of body, mind, or spirit, and infuse those who give them care with gentle and peaceful hearts. We now join our hearts together to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

O Lord of Truth and Love

Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, as You bless and wipe the tears of all who mourn, keep us all in the knowledge that death will be no more in the joy and gladness of all who live again, reaping their newness of life with songs of joy. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

O Lord of Truth and Love

Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

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

O Lord of Truth and Love

Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

~ O God of Grace and Mercy, inspire the hearts and minds of all who lead us in Your church, who encourage and remind us, through Word and Sacrament, how to lead faithful lives by Your grace and mercy. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Truth and Love

Fill us with faith, hope, and trust

The Celebrant adds: God of us all, Saints and Sinners together, set our hearts free from the prison of hate, the emptiness of self-importance, and the mindlessness of earthly privilege. May we each claim our divine endowment of trust, truth, grace and mercy as we strive to stand always with You. We ask through Jesus, our Redeemer Christ; in the Unity of the Holy Spirit; who together with You, are One God above all, through all, and in all, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayers of the People: Begin Again, Together ~ All Saints Sunday; 22 Sunday after Pentecost '22 Yr C

For Sunday, November 6, 2022 ~ Readings: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Psalm 149, Ephesians 1:11-23, Luke 6:20-31

But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever – for ever and ever. [Daniel 7:18]

Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song; sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful. [Psalm 149:1]

[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. [Ephesians 1:17-19]

Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy… [Luke 6:22-23a]

Today we celebrate All Saints' Day, and our readings let us know in Daniel’s vision, that those who are designated as the holy ones receive…the kingdom from the Most High. The letter to the Ephesians prays for the wisdom of the congregation to know Jesus and the hope to which he has called them, the glorious inheritance among the saints. Jesus, in his blessings and woes Sermon on the Plain, says that the blessings are upon those who are having a difficult times in their lives and conversely, those who are doing well may expect a reversal of fortune, so to speak, or at the very least, some rough roads ahead. He gives us the advice we all know well, whether we have ever heard this passage or not, whether we were raised Christian or not: Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, give to those who beg, etc., and, what every religion or spiritual philosophy counts as “golden” ~ Do to others as you would have them do to you. But who were these Saints, besides names on calendars and churches? What do Saints have to do with my everyday life?

The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious." The people we think of as "saints" or who have been given the official title of Saint, all seem to be all of that definition and more: Special people who are set apart for a special purpose and presumably given all they need to accomplish God's purpose. Yet, God has called ALL of us to be saints, that is, to be sanctified (made holy) in Christ, to build up the Body of Christ, and to seek and serve Christ in all persons, yes even “those” people. Too bad we can't just leave the work to those who are beatified or canonized by an official Church process. It’s also important to remember that “all” saints have been human and behaved like humans, have been tempted and succumbed to some temptations. In other words, in their sometimes extraordinariness, they also had ordinariness. They were able to want to do God’s work in ways we may not have yet developed. But we know people among us today who are giving of themselves, living non-perfect lives yet with humanity, humility, mercy, seeking justice for all and hope for this world.

Let us begin again. Jesus is giving us a comprehensive list of those who will be blessed by God. It also gives us clear direction on what attributes to adopt in our own lives to draw on all of our God-given gifts and self-developed flaws, to be a part of the total Creation, to seek to be accepted into the great reward that is the Kingdom. All we have to do is look at the list of woes and make a few life-course corrections! We already know what to do, and with prayer, a bit more self-dedication and consciousness in thoughts, words, and actions, we can find a seat at that heavenly banquet, on bleacher seats at least!

Author Parker Palmer* says it best: [We] can transform our culture only as we are inwardly transformed. Let us begin, again, together. As the Psalm says, Sing to the Lord a new song! So, let us Sing a Song of the Saints of God and all mean to be one, too.

*Parker J. Palmer is an author, educator, and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is the founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal;

see: https://couragerenewal.org/parker-j-palmer/

** click on words in light blue above for links to more information

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O God Most High, in these times of trial and travail, strengthen us to arise each day with the inner peace of being called to the inheritance of Your Kingdom. Open our conscious thoughts and actions to humility and humanity, following the example of the Saints who have gone before, and the saints who live among us now.

O Lord of Wisdom and Hope

RESPONSE: Enlighten the eyes of our hearts

~ O God Most High, endow us, who abide with You in love, with the perseverance to guide Local, National, and Global Leaders away from falsehoods and fraud toward the just reward of all who seek You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O Lord of Wisdom and Hope