People's Prayers

Monday, May 30, 2022

Prayers of the People: Blazing Fullness ~ Pentecost! '22 Yr C

For Sunday, June 5, 2022, 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 un-trouble 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 blazing fullness of 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! 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. Un-trouble 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, injustice, and mass shootings. 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 hearts together to pray 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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Thursday, May 26, 2022

Meditation Moment: Rising to the Occasion ~ Ascension! '22

For Thursday, May 26, 2022, Ascension Day, Readings: Acts 1:1-11, Ps 47, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53

Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and,
lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them,
he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;
and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

[Luke 24:50-53]

Forty Days after Easter comes the Ascension of the Resurrected Christ into Heaven. One of the five major milestones in the life of Christ [the others are baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, and resurrection], the Ascension is professed in both the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds. Whether, actual, mystical or metaphorical, it is one of the great feasts of the Christian liturgical calendar. It signifies the completion of his earthly presence as he takes his divine presence seated at the right hand of the Father [Nicene Creed, Book of Common Prayer].
The readings for today give us a direction for our own earthly lives. In the Acts of the Apostles we hear that as Christ's body was being elevated, suddenly two men in robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?" From Ephesians, Paul prays, ...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ...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 know 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...

Holy Jesus, Son of God, as Your Church we are the Body of Christ. On this Ascension Day, let us ascend in our hearts, minds, and souls, and raise our own prayers that we may be disciples in our own day, to care for all the People of God. Guide us as we seek to discover You in our daily thoughts, words, and actions. Grant us that wisdom to know the hope to which we are called with enlightened hearts, and be eager for the time when You, who has been taken up...into heaven, will come in the same way... Amen. Alleluia!

Monday, May 23, 2022

Prayers of the People: Together, We Are One ~ 7th Sunday of Easter ~ '22 Yr C

For Sunday, May 29, 2022, 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 proselytizing or performing miracles. On the way to a place of prayer, it was his miracle in a particular slave, for which her owners lost money, that landed him and Silas in jail. 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. On this discovery, 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 [and our] word.
       Now, as this Easter season is ending, 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 and memorized formal prayers, is prayer only when I want something? How 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, I must remember that prayer can keep me connected to God in Christ and the Holy Spirit who are already and always within me.
There are innumerable volumes of books written on various forms and schools of prayer and many are worth exploring. If prayer seems difficult at times, a simple way to begin is just to have an everyday kind of conversation with God as one might take comfort with and confide in a close confidante. God is the Person who knows us better than we know ourselves. There are no right or special words, no correct procedures, just ordinary words in sincerity and faith, even if we think sometimes that our faith is wavering or weak. A plain, quiet help me, Lord can open our hearts and our souls, to the experience of faith even smaller than a mustard seed and we will be heard.

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 form ~ aloud, silently, written, poetic, scattered, rambling, angry, fearful, happy, thankful, and so on. Jesus is always the most interested non-judgmental Listener. Prayer is the opportunity 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 are with and in God Who is with and in us. Together, We are One.

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.