People's Prayers

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Prayers of the People: To Claim and Be Claimed ~ The Baptism of Jesus, 1st Sunday after the Epiphany '20 Yr A

For Sunday, January 12, 2020, Readings: Isaiah 42:1-9, Psalm 29, Acts 10:34-43, Matthew 3:13-17

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. [Isaiah 42:1]

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. [Psalm 29:2]

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. [Acts 10:42-43]

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” [Matthew 3:16-17]

We’re in fast-forward mode. Last Sunday, the Magi visited the Christ Child, leaving town in a hurry to avoid Herod. In between then and now Joseph received a dream that caused him to take Mary and the Child to Egypt as Herod was killing all the children under two. It was after Herod’s death that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus returned to settle in Nazareth. We now pick up where we left off in Advent just after John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” for their false piety when they presented themselves for Baptism. John is a God-sent herald to warn them to turn away from their corruption. As he says “one more powerful than I is coming” and now, this week Jesus, a grown man beginning his public ministry, comes to John for Baptism.

But why does Jesus ask to be baptized? Even John wonders and is reluctant. After all Jesus is without sin; God’s own Son brought to human incarnation to lead Israel from the old Law of Moses into the new Way of The Great Commandment [Matthew 22:36-40]. Yet Jesus prevails – as he does with Peter and the foot-washing later on – and chooses to identify as the good Jew he was raised to be. Through Baptism he claims the sinfulness of the Hebrew nation in this communal rite of repentance and purification. In a very short time, he will claim the sinfulness of the World – past, present, and future – to take to his crucifixion.

As Jesus rises from the water, God announces from on high, "This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." The Holy Spirit descended as a dove to mark this man Jesus as God-sent, of God-nature, One with God, God’s own Human Image.

In this awakening time of Epiphany, let us begin again to discover and define our own public and private ministry. With the glitter of Christmas put away, all the turmoil in every corner of the world claims our attention or repels us and it’s easy to be distracted and distanced from the calling of Jesus. Whether you were officially baptized or not, take some time to think about the ritual of Baptism and its deep significance. For many Christians, though not all, Baptism is a Sacrament of purification, a Rite of Initiation, a formal adoption into the Christian faith. A simple definition is that the word comes from a hybrid of Latin and Greek and literally means "washing." This Sacrament is intended to be a means of and a visible form of God’s grace, just as the dove descending was for Jesus. It was, for Jesus, the beginning of his journey as Messiah.

You can read and pray through the ritual of the US Episcopal Church, learn or revisit its purpose and understanding at www.BCP.org and clicking Holy Baptism on the left sidebar. The five questions* are asked of and answered by either the one being Baptized or, in the case of a child, a Godparent or Sponsor. Along with the five promises* that are part of the Baptismal Covenant, these questions and promises are our operating principles, our acceptance of our charge and responsibilities as followers of Jesus. They are intensely serious and not meant as mere platitudes in a sweet ceremony. We revisit them at least five times per year in the Liturgy to remind us of what we might need to work on, a chance to reflect on how we managed at the end of a day or a month. One or more of them may even point to possibilities to shape our mindset for daily activities, or perhaps a new direction in vocation or volunteering as we make our way through our short human existence.

My favorite part of this Sacrament is near the end, after all the words have been spoken and the water has been poured. It is then that the Celebrant takes the chrism that was blessed in Holy Week and anoints the forehead of the one Baptized. The words at that moment stir my heart and my self-reckoning: you are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own for ever.

Whether by actual Baptism or a Baptism of desire, whether or not officially anointed, we are each claimed as Christ’s own for ever. As mortal beings we will fail and fall away yet we can and may always return to the One who raises us with Him. Our hearts love to claim the Babe in the Manger. Let us now stake our soul’s claim to the Christ who leads us on His Way to our Salvation.

*The Questions:

*Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?

*Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

*Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you
from the love of God?

*Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your
Savior?

*Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?

*The Promises, the answer for each is I will, with God’s help:

-Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and
fellowship, in the breaking of the bread, and in the
prayers?

-Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

-Will you proclaim by word and example the Good
News of God in Christ?

-Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
your neighbor as yourself?

-Will you strive for justice and peace among all
people, and respect the dignity of every human
being?

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, You are the Covenant God has made with us all, the bright beacon of love that can reach into the darkest of hearts and blindest of eyes. Animate our wills to answer Your call, enter the beauty of holiness, and worship You with our lives.

Jesus, Lord of All

RESPONSE: Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, as a Light to the Nations give strength to Your people and the blessing of peace. Grant open hearts filled with mercy and justice to all who lead the governments of this World, this Country, and this Community, that they may work together, and with us, to serve with humility and righteousness. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, shower Your healing mercies upon all those who are ill or filled with worry and dread, and refreshment for those who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, grant solace for those in sorrow through joy in the memories of those well-loved, now returned in eternal glory to You. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

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

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

~ Jesus, God’s Beloved, endow all who lead us in Your Church with the grace, wisdom, and strength of spirit to shake us from the wilderness of apathy, and guide us to the fullness of faith and forgiveness in You. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Lord of All

Our Hope and our Salvation

The Celebrant adds: Living Jesus, in Whom God’s soul delights, You rose from the waters of Baptism to bring new life to God’s people. Raise us with You that through repentance to purify our souls, we may give the glory due Your name, and claim You, always, as our Redeemer Christ. We ask through the Holy Spirit, the Fire of our Faith, and the Creator of All That Is, who together with You are One God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Monday, December 30, 2019

Prayers of the People: It's Magi-cal Time ~ 2nd Sunday after Christmas Day/Readings for Epiphany Yr A '20

For Sunday, January 5, 2020 ~ Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you…Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. [Isaiah 60:1, 3]

For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper. [Psalm 72:12]

Of this gospel I have become a servant accord to the gift of God’s grace…This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. [Ephesians 3:7a,11-12]

“Go and search diligently for the child…” When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. [Matthew 2:8b, 10]

Twelfth Night has arrived. Now is the time to put the Magi/Wise Men into the family Nativity Scene; well, except they're either already there or part of all that is now being packed away for another year. The Epiphany – a sudden intuitive understanding – is also a theophany – the manifestation of God visible to humans such as the shepherds, and Magi, and later to those who knew Jesus in his human life and beyond. Yet, for many of us, this gleaming incarnation has, perhaps, lost its luster. We have come through the four weeks of anticipation in Advent, the hustle and bustle of preparation for gifts and food and gatherings, followed by the pageantry and the glorious music of Christmas Eve and the “magic” of Christmas Day. Then comes the usual “let down.”

Epiphany, January 6, is the day that Christmas and the Baptism of Jesus are celebrated in many Orthodox traditions. More often, in the western Christian denominations where it is recognized, it has been reduced to an anti-climax. However, Epiphany as the end of Christmas is also the beginning of our journey to the Risen Christ.

In the compression of time given in the Gospels and the Church calendar, it is a short season indeed before we begin the unfolding of the ministry, miracles, teaching, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus, the Christ. Before all that, let us rediscover the astonishment, the amazement, the true adoration in this event. It is a new dawn, another chance to listen and to hear deep within. The Epiphany moves us into the reason for which this Child was born; the revelation of God’s eternal purpose is truly upon us.

Let us keep watch again this night with the Three Kings, engage with the experience of being overwhelmed with joy, and understand the Magi-cal gifts the Kings presented to this sacred Child. Gold is symbolic of Christ as King and Frankincense speaks to His Divinity. But what of Myrrh – its bitter perfume, breathes a life of gathering gloom, a medicinal spice used often in those times to anoint the dead. Kingship, Divinity, Foreboding....

Come, let us adore Him Who is the heartbeat of God. Let us search diligently for the Child within us and around us that call us to pay homage and follow. Epiphany is the time to seek the Magi-cal gifts we’ve each been given and to begin again to live into the light and life of Christ in boldness and confidence through faith in him.

It's Magi-cal time. Arise, shine; for your Light has come!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Holy Messiah, Heartbeat of God, as we arise in the shining Light of Your glory, lift up our eyes and gather us to You, to seek and know the joy that You bring to us again and again, as heirs to Your eternal promise.

Jesus, Light of Our Souls

RESPONSE: Our Hope and our Redeemer

~ Holy Jesus, Heartbeat of God, draw all nations to come to Your light, and all leaders of governments to the brightness of Your dawn. Grant them the courage to rule with righteousness, compassion, and peace to reverse the damage of violence and injustice in our own time. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Our Souls

Our Hope and our Redeemer

~ Holy Jesus, Heartbeat of God, shine through the pain of all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit, and comfort all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Our Souls

Our Hope and our Redeemer

~ Holy Jesus, Heartbeat of God, calm the sorrows of all who grieve as those we loved in this life now live in the glory of a radiant eternity with You. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Our Souls

Our Hope and our Redeemer

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

Jesus, Light of Our Souls

Our Hope and our Redeemer

~ Holy Jesus, Heartbeat of God, lavish special blessings upon the wise women and men who lead us in Your Church, as they prayerfully bring us Your words, works, and wonders on our life’s path toward Redemption. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Jesus, Light of Our Souls

Our Hope and our Redeemer

The Celebrant adds: Most Holy Christ, God’s Eternal Purpose, quicken our desire to be Your servants according to the gift of God’s grace, and with bold and confident faith to offer Your Good News through all that we are and all that we do. We ask with deep humility and hope through our Almighty Creator, and the Holy Spirit, who together with You are One God, now and beyond the time that the Moon is no more. Amen.

Monday, December 23, 2019

Prayers of the People: Always the Right WORD ~ 1st Sunday after Christmas Day Yr A '19

For Sunday, December 29, 2019, Readings: Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Psalm 147, Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18

For the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up...the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all nations.

[Isaiah 61:11a; 62:1a]

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds...The LORD lifts up the lowly, but casts the wicked to the ground. [Psalm 147:3, 6]

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law...So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. [Galatians 4:4, 7]

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God...What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it...The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [John 1:1-2, 3b-5, 17]

He became what we are

that he might make us

what he is.

In the familiar language of the opening to John’s Gospel, the Word he speaks of comes from the Greek, logos, and we understand that the Word is Jesus. As God’s self-expression, Jesus was with God from the beginning, and was sent to be among us with flesh, blood, breath, and beating heart. His mission was and is to make God known to us and to reconcile us to God so that we would know that no amount of our human sin could keep God from loving us. All we need to access that incomprehensible, all-encompassing love, is faith, even if imperfect and wavering. The disciplinarian God gave Moses the Law and now Abba sends us a Redeemer, full of grace and truth. Through and with Christ, we become heirs of God’s Kingdom, filled with the Light that even the deepest darkness cannot overcome.

In the first few centuries following Christ’s Resurrection, the Patristics ~ early writers of the Church ~ with Bishops Irenaeus in the 2^nd century and Athanasius in the 4^th century among them, spoke of humans becoming divine through Christ saying, he became what we are that he might make us what he is. Paul tells us in Galatians that Jesus is faith revealed to us by God. Those who followed Jesus in his time and who influenced others who came after, have all tried to instruct us in ways to be more like him, our Christ, the Messiah.

As the Church year unfolds, we will be led through the penitence of Lent and the woes of Holy Week, until the glorious Resurrection and beyond. In the meantime, let us savor this moment of Great Birth through all of the days to come. If we relinquish our resistance to seeking faith and open the eyes of our souls to see, we can experience the light in our hearts that is Jesus. When we consciously work to deepen our faith, more of God’s mysteries are revealed. It’s no easy task to set aside the temptations, desires, and expectations of our human sojourn. We trip, we slip, and sometimes we just dive right in. Yet the message is clear, we don’t have to wait for a penitential season to turn back to or begin to discover faith. That can happen any minute of any day.

This special celebration of Christ’s Birth, whether formally in a grand church service, at home alone, or with family and friends, is an opportunity to try faith again or for the first time. The mind will call up our most difficult times but, if we let it, we can also remember the moments of magic, whether as children or adults, when all our world was aglow with love and peace and happiness, even if they quickly disappear into the mist of time. Recapture those moments, difficult and lovely, and take them often in prayer to the God in Christ who comes at this time as a Child. Become a child of God again and feel loved in the darkest night. When we falter on our journey, as we will from time to time, we can know with certainty that with Jesus, then, now, and always, we are never at a loss for the right WORD to guide us on.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ Abba! Father! You have sent us Your Word, made flesh and woman-borne, in the Person of Jesus, our Redeemer Christ. Hear us rejoice with our whole beings, as heirs of Your eternal Kingdom, proclaiming Christ’s grace and truth for all to know and share.

Holy Word of God

RESPONSE: Shine in us and through us

~ Abba! Father! In the Spirit of the Son sent into our hearts, keep our voices strong and unceasing. Grant us courage to speak the glory of Your Word to lawful governments and to vengeful despots until righteousness, peace, and mercy prevail across this Earth. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Word of God

Shine in us and through us

~ Abba! Father! Heal the hearts and bind the wounds of those who are broken in body, mind, or spirit, and comfort all who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in need… add your own petitions

Holy Word of God

Shine in us and through us

~ Abba! Father! Pierce the darkness of our grief through the radiance and joy of all who now live again in the fullness of Your eternal life. We pray especially for… add your own petitions

Holy Word of God

Shine in us and through us

~ Abba! Father! We pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently… add your own petitions

Holy Word of God

Shine in us and through us

~ Abba! Father! Gladden the souls and hearts of those entrusted to bring us Your Word and Sacraments and guide us on our walk together, as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

Holy Word of God

Shine in us and through us

The Celebrant adds: O Lord our God, shine through the darkness of our own making and free us of the arrogance of spiritual independence. Till the fertile depths of our souls that we may sow and reap seeds of forgiveness and hope with righteousness and praise. Let us go forth to bear the fruit of the Gospel for ourselves and for all we meet. We ask through our Messiah, Jesus, the Light of All People; and the Holy Spirit, Your Sacred Breath; who, with You, reign as One God, now and forever. Amen.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Prayers of the People: Good News of Great Joy! ~ Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Yr A '19

For December 24/25, 2019 , Readings: Year C, Readings: Christmas Eve ~ Luke 2:1-20 at Creche, Isaiah 9:2-7, Ps 96, Titus 2:11-14, John 1:1-14;
Christmas Day ~ Isaiah 9:2-7, Ps 96, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-20

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light...For a child has been born for us, a son given to us...and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:2a, 6]

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the whole earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his Name; proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. [Psalm 96:1-2]

The grace of God appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce…worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly… [Titus 2:11-12]

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy...to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah...and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God... [Luke 2:8-11, 13]

In the beginning was the Word…What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it…The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world…And the Word became flesh and lived among us… [John 1:1a, 3b-5, 9, 14a]

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit,

he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man.

[from The Nicene Creed]

There is something almost magical, perhaps mystical is a better word, that occurs within me when I hear the words from Luke 2, especially when we get to: In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night... I become expectant. I become my 6 year old self, hearing the resonant voice of a familiar narrator. I am hope-filled. All is calm and bright in the world...for this moment.

Every Christmas someone asks, "If only we could stay this way all year." The spell cast by the words and the music, the glitter of ornaments and lights, and the chatter of little ones and bigger ones ripping paper to reap the reward, breaks all too soon. Our precious Infant has a far and difficult road to travel in only the few months between now and Easter. What part of it will we travel with him as the moment spins into what we call reality? What part of the reality of others in our community and in the world at large ~ poverty, violence, war, greed, and disasters natural or human made ~ do we shun, dismiss, ignore or, throw money to, all while decrying the lack of Christ in Christmas?

Most of the readings for this sacred season are so familiar that even non-Christians will know them. Yet what stands out for me is the short lesson from the Letter of Paul to Titus that often gets lost in the sparkle of the others. In particular, I was engaged by a phrase in the first of this only two-sentence reading: The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly… [emphasis added]. Jesus, our personal trainer, in our own time!

We are trained by parents as children, by teachers in school, for the jobs we hold, the exercise we need, and even the volunteer work we do. How is it we – or at least I – forget to be “in training” every day with Jesus for the roles we are to play in our own and others’ lives?

We are so often ~ in our own time ~ bedazzled by the glamor of this season, in stark contrast to the humble surroundings of the birth of our Redeemer and of so many in the world with us. It’s time to reawaken to the Gift we are given this day and all days. I am quite drawn to the concept of Jesus training us in the present age. The Gospels give us more than just advice, more than just reminders, more than just checklists of nice things to do, even more than teaching. Jesus is our trainer, if we accept Him and if we acknowledge our need for Him. He will keep us on track, pushing us to go well beyond the comfortable, to reach a potential of faith in action that we didn’t ever consider or, because we fear the risks, in renouncing all that is earthbound. No easy path, but with Christ as my trainer, my faith will begin to shape up, become toned, and strengthened. My conscious thoughts and actions as a CHRISTian will become more confident and natural. For me, now, the question isn’t “what is Christmas all about” but rather “what does Christmas begin in my life?”

Christ is always in CHRISTmas...let's remember to keep Christ in Mondays, Thursdays, in February, and August. Let us truly Sing to the Lord and bless his name and proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day to ourselves first! Let us live out what we believe in. Feel the JOY! The Light shines again and always. Suit up, the training begins now!

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader: ~ O Holy Jesus, God’s True Light, You come at last, our Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God who shines upon us through the darkness. Let our joy be unbounded for the arrival of our Glorious Child, One in Being with God and the Holy Spirit, who redeems and claims us for the work of Heaven on Earth.