People's Prayers

Monday, February 27, 2023

Prayers of the People: Rebirthing ~ 2nd Sunday in Lent '23 Yr A

For Sunday, March 5, 2023, Readings: Genesis 12:1-4a, Psalm 121, Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17

So Abram went, as the LORD had told him... [Genesis 12:4a]

I lift my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come? My help comes from the LORD; the maker of heaven and earth. [Psalm 121:1-2]

Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness...For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham...through the law but through the righteousness of faith. [Romans 4:3b]

Jesus answered...no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit...If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?...For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:3, 12, 16]

Faith takes center stage in the readings for this week. God commands Abram to leave all he knows behind and go to a new land where God will make of him a great nation. Abram went. Later in Genesis, God commands Abraham – formerly Abram – to sacrifice his son Isaac, and he prepares to do just that before the reprieve. Abraham had faith; righteous faith, that is, he was right with God. He trusted God and that trust was demonstrated by his obedience. Some of the stories of Abram/Abraham are overwhelming in terms of the magnitude of his willingness to just obey God, seemingly without question. Farther along in Genesis, we discover that neither Abraham nor his wife, Sarah, were perfect in all ways.

Paul helps us along by opening us up to the understanding that anyone/all of us can be in right relationship with God even in our less-than-perfect ways. Righteousness of faith and obedience are less about the defined commandments given to Noah and more about commitment and attitude.

Nicodemus engages Jesus for the first of three times in John’s Gospel in this reading. A high-status member of the Great Sanhedrin, the governing council of the Jews at that time, Nicodemus stands firm in and for Jewish orthodoxy/the Law. Yet something about Jesus and his unconventional path as a religious teacher draws Nicodemus to seek Jesus out, although only at night. It is in this passage that the famous John 3:16, seen on placards at sporting events, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life is found. Martin Luther describes this passage as “the Gospel in miniature.” We aren’t deserving but God is giving us every opportunity to bring our penitent hearts and imperfect faith to this relationship.

Following on in John 3:17, Jesus tells Nicodemus that God did not send the Son…to condemn the world, but…that the world might be saved through him. Coming to Jesus begins when we take stock of the earthly “values” that separate us from God and one another and opens us to the realization of the Spirit already shining within us. That awakening is as a new birth and the brilliance within begins to show through us. It deepens our faith and commitment and strengthens us to attempt more obedience, have more trust, and be more faithful to the life that Christ is teaching us to follow. We leave behind the notion of a vengeful god only wanting us to be punished and draw near to the love of God who never leaves us behind.

Faith can be shaken and still endure. Faith can be sought even if not understood. Thomas Aquinas, 13^th century theologian/philosopher, whose influence still pervades Christian thought today, said, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” To move deeper into faith and commitment is to journey as Abraham – new land, new language, new life. With the baptism of the Spirit we are reborn, we take new steps in faith, and follow Christ. We aren’t called to be perfect but we are perfectly called by a love greater than mere human words can express, it is our rebirthing that gives us true life.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Lord, our Maker and our Help, sustain us in our flawed and uncertain attempts with faith as we seek to know the grace of new birth through Your Holy Spirit. Guide our efforts to be earnest in the desire to live this life as preparation for eternal life with You.

O God of Constant Mercy

RESPONSE: Deliver us from doubt

~ O Lord, our Maker and our Help, we lift our eyes to You, in these confusing and unsettled times, to guide us and the leaders of all governments across this Earth, this Nation, and this Community to genuine clarity of judgment and charity of heart. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Constant Mercy

Deliver us from doubt

~ O Lord, our Maker and our Help, calm the distress of those who are ailing in body, mind, or spirit, and grant stamina to those who give care. We now join our hearts to pray for those in need… add your own petitions

O God of Constant Mercy

Deliver us from doubt

~ O Lord our Maker and our Help, comfort those who grieve with a foretaste of the joy and celebration enfolding all who now live forever with You. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

O God of Constant Mercy

Deliver us from doubt

~ O Lord our Maker and our Help, 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 Constant Mercy

Deliver us from doubt

~ O Lord, our Maker and our Help, fortify the souls of all who are anointed to lead Your Church as they strive to impart to us the faith of Abraham and the willingness to seek only the heavenly things of salvation through Christ. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Constant Mercy
Deliver us from doubt

The Celebrant adds: Living and Eternal God, for the mere price of our enduring faith, You promise us life unending and love without limit. May these reflective days of Lent turn our hearts to repentance as we examine and deepen our commitment to You. We ask this through Your Only Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ; and Your Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier; who live and reign with You, as One God, now and for evermore. Amen.

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Meditation Moment in Lent ~ Day 5, Give Up, Take On, Pray '23

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was an extraordinary human being. A Jesuit priest born in France and who later lived in New York, he also trained as a paleontologist and geologist and was involved with some spectacular discoveries. Yet, as with others who were ahead of their times, some of his writings were considered contrary to doctrinal teachings in the Catholic church and banned by the Vatican from publication in his lifetime. Today he is widely praised, including by Catholic hierarchy. Simply put, one of his beliefs ~ as with St. Paul ~ was that our everyday work in secular surroundings is every bit as important in our spiritual development as our religious activity when we offer that work to the service of God. And, furthermore, all that we do in everyday life is a necessary part of Creation. Are you ready to experience some spiritual growth in your everyday human life?

Creator God, I'm slowly recognizing that I am truly part of Your Holy Creation. I have had the thought that I had to give full days off to a soup kitchen, spend every possible moment in Church, and be hours on my knees in prayer and, partly, that only those who are ordained or living in monastic communities are truly doing Your work. Today, I will give up feeling spiritually inadequate and take on my everyday activities with a new spirit of dedication ~ each morning when I wake and breathe deeply, I will offer all that I do to Your service, even the most mundane task. I will pray for continuing confidence in my growing relationship with You, through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as my Guides. I give thanks for this season of Lent, a purposeful time as a spiritual being to explore my human experience with and for You. amen.

For more on Pierre click on these links:

Biography: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-Teilhard-de-Chardin

Writings by de Chardin, free: https://teilhard.com/teilhard-de-chardin-resources/

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Meditation Moment in Lent ~ Day 4, Give Up, Take On, Pray

February 25, 2023

Life moves at warp speed for many of us. So many have-to's, so many must-do's, so many want-to's, so many didn't do's...so many shoulds, coulds, woulds...so little time. How do we know how to prioritize what is most important? How can we stop doing so much and find time to just be?"

Mystic/Trappist Monk/Author Thomas Merton (1915-1968) wrote:

We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time

or no imagination left for being.

As a result men [sic] are valued not for what they are

but for what they do or what they have

~ for their usefulness.

Dearest Holy Parent, today I will give up trying to be everywhere and do everything and live into everyone else's wants and expectations for my life. Today I will take on stealing time from my worldly life to spend with You ~ my God ~ as a way to build up my spiritual life. I pray for Your Presence as I start with just 5 minutes each day breathing deeply with intention, even if I have to do it hiding in the bathroom or behind the garage. I do want to be more faithful in my prayer life. To that end, I will take small slow steps starting with a pause in my busy-ness for deep breathing several times a day, and move toward small, short prayers ~ while breathing ~ just to say, "Hello, God, this is me, I'm glad we're here in this moment together. I'll come back more often, I promise." amen.

(Start with 3 deep breaths in and then out and slowly work up to 6 and then to 10 as you wake, at mid-day, and before bed and then add another time or two whenever you think of it. Hold your hands and arms together in a prayer position, up in front of your face, the tips of your fingers at your forehead. Imagine filling a balloon in your abdomen/belly by pushing it out on the inhale while raising your arms at the elbows and keeping your hands together. Hold the air in for a count of 3. Then, with your hands together, close your elbows, using them as a bellows to exhale the breath, counting to 3 as you pull in your abdomen/belly to empty. Breathe through your nose on the inhale and through your mouth on the exhale. Soon you'll be deep breathing in and out regularly without realizing it, but still stop intentionally, using your arms and counting on inhale and exhale several times a day. Another breath prayer can be something like, on inhale: Jesus be with me now; on the exhale: and I will be with you. There are no right or wrong words!)

Here's a link on how to do deep breathing properly. This says to lie down or sit. Personally I find it easier to stand or sit most of the time except when I first wake up:

http://ptsd.about.com/od/selfhelp/ht/breathing2.htm

Friday, February 24, 2023

Meditation Moment in Lent ~ Day 3, Give Up, Take On, Pray '23

For Friday, February 24, 2023

The Season of Lent conjures up a dreary and lengthy period of time centered around self-denial, fasting, and hours on your knees. But, as said here yesterday, let's fast from more than just food or addictive substances during this time. Let us voluntarily give up conscious and discover our unconscious habits that are physically and spiritually unhealthy. We can seek ways to take on a new daily spiritual activity in this Lenten season, even if we already have a regular practice. Trying out different forms of prayer or meditation, reading a biography of or the writings of a current or classic biblical scholar or authors on different forms of spiritual/prayer practices can give us ideas for fresh ways of living our faith. Look for a variety of inspirational quotes or readings in and out of Christianity for a broader perspective. People such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Dali Lama, Amy-Jill Levine, the poet Rumi, Pema Chodron, mystic monk Thomas Merton, or Evelyn Underhill, to name a very few. Start slowly. This soul work isn’t meant to be difficult or overwhelming but rather to spend a few minutes a day to whet our appetites for continuing to grow in Christ. As we dedicate those acts to God for the benefit of our spiritual life, we can pray as we go that, by the end of this Lent, we will find new ways of living a more positive and fulfilling Christian life beyond these 40 days.

Dear God of Us All,

Every day “civilization” seems to be getting ever more crass and distasteful. Even TV entertainment seems to revolve around the "reality" of watching people's "real lives" crash and burn, with no dignity attached. Illegal “outlaw” activities, 90 day relationships, easy online gambling, lots of naked and nearly, and so much more. Even the commercials are mostly 30 second sound bites or full-on infomercials with explicit details of intimate self-care and every conceivable “clinically tested but not FDA approved" remedy for everything. But if big football heroes, tv doctors hawking their own expensive brands, and aging actors approve… I wonder, in what basement is that “clinic?” What does this do to the souls of those participating or my own if I watch beyond the previews?

For today, I'm going to give up tv and take on gathering those usable clothes and household things that I’ve been meaning to donate and actually do it. I'll pray for those who will use them and spend time in prayers of thanksgiving for all the blessings of life that I have. I'll also work on reducing the amount of time I spend on thinking mean thoughts about people on certain types of tv, oh, and especially those people I encounter while I'm driving. amen.

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Meditation Moment in Lent: Spring Cleaning ~ Lent Begins, Ash Wednesday 2023

Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023

I do not think you should get rid of your sin

until you have learned what it has to teach you.

[Richard Rohr, O.F.B*]

Here we are again at Ash Wednesday as Lent begins the Christian 40-day journey to Easter. Some will give up chocolate, junk food, or alcohol as an expression of penitence. Others will take on a new prayer or meditation discipline for the period, and some will be well-intentioned, begin in good faith, but falter along the way - not unlike "New Year's Resolutions." Some, of course, won't give Lent any particular attention.
Some of us will receive ashes on our foreheads - which can be a stark and somber emblem of our individual and collective mortality - from dust we came and to dust we will return. It is also a graphic symbol of our faith commitment, our team logo, a temporary tattoo of our family crest, the sign of the Presence of Christ, the Light of the World.
Let's not make this Lent a dark and dreary trudge through the wilderness of gloom and doom. Life is a gift of God, a treasure, a miracle. While we must take the time to examine our sins and acknowledge the everyday idols that lead us astray, let us also do as Fr. Richard Rohr suggests - learn what our sins can teach us about ourselves. We go through much of life unconsciously and we can't get rid of something we don't know we have. Lent is a time to look closely and discover what we've been hiding in basement of our souls. Just like Spring cleaning - or Fall if you're in the southern hemisphere - it's time to awaken to the best of ourselves, re-discover what it means to commit our lives to Christ, and throw the sin out with the trash. Let us repent with eagerness, with attention and intention, let us turn toward the Light and thrive. (by the way, repent actually means to have a change of heart, a new consciousness, and more importantly, to turn toward God)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me the joy of your saving help again

and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.

~ Psalm 51:11-13

*Fr. Richard Rohr [1943- ] is a Franciscan priest, the inspirational author of more than 20 books of practical books on contemplative prayer, Christian mysticism, spirituality, the Perennial Tradition, etc., and is internationally recognized as an ecumenical teacher and speaker having shared presentations with Sr. Joan Chittister, The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, the Dali Lama, Pastor Rob Bell, and so many others. He is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he resides. See http://www.cac.org for more information.

Monday, February 20, 2023

Prayers of the People: With Opened Eyes ~ First Sunday "in" Lent '23 Yr A

For Sunday, February 26, 2023, Readings: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 4:1-11

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were both naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. [Genesis 3:7]

Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not conceal my guilt. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin." [Psalm 32:6-7]

For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ...the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness... [Romans 5:15b, 17b]

The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" [Matthew 4:3-4]

This day, in some Christian denominations, is the First Sunday in* Lent, a season of prayer, reflection, and repentance. While Lent officially began last week on Ash Wednesday, we now begin in earnest over forty days, symbolic of both Moses’ time on Mt. Sinai and Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. Temptation is the theme that undergirds this season. Genesis tells us about the man and woman, later known as Adam and Eve, who succumb to the temptation offered by the serpent, thinking they understood the consequences. With their eyes wide open after partaking of the forbidden fruit, they are suddenly aware of being naked. Paul reflects on the difference between the couple in the Garden and how Jesus stood firm on the mountain. Matthew’s Gospel is more explicit about Jesus' confrontation with the Devil.

Temptation is, simply, the lure of the wanted, the desired. Our mortal time is filled with unlimited varieties of attractions that entice and stimulate our appetites. Temptation is as small as an unhealthy sugary delight, a second glass of wine, or a third helping at the buffet table, and as large as a forbidden relationship, abuse of power, or murder. Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist theologian, ethicist, and preacher once said: Temptation starts with a question of identity, moves to a confusion of the desires, and ultimately heads to a contest of futures. In short, there’s a reason you want what you do not want to want. Temptation is embryonic, personality specific, and purpose directed.** We cannot free ourselves of it which is why we have this season – and beyond – to consciously examine what triggers the desires, and what, as in the case of Adam and Eve, keeps pulling us to the knowing “fall” into the clutches of the wanted-not-wanted. That brings us to repentance and a renewed desire to improve our resistance to those enticements.

The word repent in Biblical Hebrew is represented by two verbs: to return and to feel sorrow. In the post-Resurrection New Testament of Christianity, it can be defined as: to think differently after; to make a change of mind and heart. Unlikely as it is that many of us will find ourselves in an actual wilderness for these forty days, it still is an opportune time to take ourselves away symbolically for a few minutes or more each day. We can look for ways to simplify our wants in this temporal life, to dig down into our deepest selves to find the living Presence of God in Christ within us. We can seek and experience a positive change, to feel sorrow for our sins, and with open eyes, return to the conscious work of living as God intends. It is far less about giving up a piece of chocolate/beer/or bad habit, and more about taking on a spiritual practice to discover again, or for the first time, what true life is all about and how to live it in an authentically Christian way.

Resistance builds on itself and looks ahead rather than in the heat of a moment, as having a spare tire in the trunk of the car. When we summon the courage through the grace of God to resist even mild temptation, we invite the spiritual growth that gives us ever increasing strength and grace to resist more, and so, to grow into the Life in Christ that beckons us. Moore tells us further: Don’t let your urges scare you. Let them instead drive you to pray for the wisdom to see what you were created to be and to do…seek to direct your appetites toward the ways in which the Word of God…tell us they can be fulfilled.

Lent is the perfect time to examine the temptations and distractions, the emptiness or even destructiveness of some activity in our lives, the nakedness in our souls. Through prayer and reflection, meditation, etc., within small groups, on one's own, or both, or even with a pastoral counselor or spiritual director, we can discover ways that bolster our ability to resist evils small and big and bigger. Whether through a Lenten study guide online or in hand, the practice of Morning and Evening Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer or another source, or the daily reading of Scripture, among many other ways, one small step begins the journey. The more we resist the glitter and lure of the temporary earthly delight, the less prone we will be to sliding into the cold chill of the shadows of sin, leaving behind the warmth of God's embrace. We can build on the fortitude of Christ within us. Yes, we’ll fail, often, and perhaps spectacularly. So fill that spiritual trunk with the spare tire of prayer and repentance and begin again and again. You won’t be turned away.

Jesus, ultimate Resistor of Temptation, give me strength to walk consciously on the path toward You with opened eyes, as my grace-filled heart and soul seek renewal and strength of faith in each step and each moment of each day.

*FYI: The Sundays in the Season of Lent do not “count” in the time span of 40 days which is why the heading is the x/th Sunday in Lent rather than of Lent. The Sundays of Epiphany or Advent do count in the time up to their Holy occasions, Christmas and Epiphany. The Sundays beyond the Epiphany and also Pentecost are noted as the # Sunday after...

**from ”Tempted and Tried” by Russell D. Moore, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public-policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Creator Lord, You have given us eyes to see ourselves as we truly are and the heart to accept Your free gift of grace through Christ. Fill us now with the courage to step forward in faith, to repent of our sins, and to turn the life we have been given to Your guidance and to Your service.

O God of Mercy

RESPONSE: We now confess and begin again

~ Creator Lord, impel the political leaders in our World, in our Nation, and in our Community, to rally to Your call and forsake the temptations and vanity of the power of power, and to govern with integrity, equity, and truth. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

O God of Mercy