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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

give your life away, day 2

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,
     Help me to realize the many voices of hunger, the many sounds of thirst, the many cries of loneliness, the many callings of sickness and nakedness and imprisonment.  Help me to hear in all of them something of You calling to me to become more than I am.  More understanding.  More compassionate.  More involved.  More like You. (Reflections on the Word by Ken Gire)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 82

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 61:1-6


Reading for Reflection: 


     Real training for service asks for a hard and often painful process of self-emptying.  The main problem of service is to be a way without being “in the way.”  And if there are any tools, techniques and skills to be learned they are primarily to plow the field, to cut the weeds and clip the branches, that is, to take away the obstacles for real growth and development.  Training for service is not a training to become rich but to become voluntarily poor; not to fulfill ourselves but to empty ourselves; not to conquer God but to surrender to his saving power.  All this is very hard to accept in our contemporary world, which tells us about the importance of power and influence.  But it is important that in this world there remain a few voices crying out that if there is anything to boast of, we should boast of our weakness.  Our fulfillment is in offering emptiness, our usefulness in becoming useless, our power in becoming powerless. (Reaching Out by Henri J.M. Nouwen)
 
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: For All the Saints
 
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
 
 
Closing Prayer:
Go forth now as God’s servant.  Remember God’s presence often and draw strength from the knowledge that the One who calls and sends also sustains.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck)

Monday, April 29, 2013

give your life away, day 1

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,
     Help me to realize the many voices of hunger, the many sounds of thirst, the many cries of loneliness, the many callings of sickness and nakedness and imprisonment.  Help me to hear in all of them something of You calling to me to become more than I am.  More understanding.  More compassionate.  More involved.  More like You. (Reflections on the Word by Ken Gire)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 82

Scripture for the Day: Ezekiel 34:1-16


Reading for Reflection: 


To suffer with another person does not mean to drown oneself in the other’s suffering; that would be as foolish as jumping into a pool to save a sinking swimmer only to drown oneself.  More to the point, I doubt that it is even possible to enter fully into another person’s pain, for suffering is a profoundly solitary experience.  To suffer with another person means to be there in whatever way possible, to share the circumstances of the other’s life as much as one can—not to add to the world’s pool of suffering, but to gain intimate understanding of what the other requires.
     What we usually learn, once we are there, is that there is no “fix” for the person who suffers, only the slow painful process of walking through the suffering to whatever lies on the other side.  Once there, we learn that being there is the best we can do, being there not as a cure but as a companion to the person who suffers on his or her slow journey.  There is no arm’s-length “solution” for suffering, and people who offer such only add to the pain.  But there is comfort and even healing in the presence of people who know how to be with others, how to be fully there. (The Active Life by Parker Palmer)
 
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: For All the Saints
 
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou in the darkness drear, their one true light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!



Closing Prayer:
Go forth now as God’s servant.  Remember God’s presence often and draw strength from the knowledge that the One who calls and sends also sustains.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck)












Sunday, April 28, 2013

compassion, day 7

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: Isaiah 58:6-12


Reading for Reflection: 


Love is one of the most misused words in our language.  It is unfortunate that a word so precious has become so abused.  Love is a Word that can become flesh in each of our lives.  This fleshed-out Word of Love is a mystery.  It is the Mystery of God living and acting in our lives.  It is the Mystery of God ministering through our touch, and though our voice.  It is God seeing through our eyes.
     Love is blind, we like to say, but no; Love is not blind.  The ego is blind.  All it can see is itself.  But Love is not blind.  Love is pure vision!  God, seeing through us!  The more we will notice a great healing taking place in the world. (Seasons of the Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr)
 
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Saturday, April 27, 2013

compassion, day 6

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: John 13:1-17


Reading for Reflection: 


Try to imagine the scene.  You are sitting at the table with Jesus and his friends on the night before he died.  A confusing sorrow overshadows you.  Yet a mysterious hope has settled in your heart.  Suddenly Jesus is standing in front of you.  He looks into your eyes and immediately you are filled with an awareness of your tremendous worth.


            Supper was special that night
            There was both a heaviness and a holiness
                        hanging in the air
            We couldn’t explain the mood
            It was sacred, yet sorrowful.
            Gathered around the table
                        eating that solemn, holy meal
                        seemed to us the most important meal
                        we had ever sat down to eat.

            We were dwelling in the heart of mystery
            Though dark the night
            Hope felt right
                        as if something evil
                        was about to be conquered.
            And then suddenly
            the One we loved startled us all
            He got up from the table
            and put on an apron.
            Can you imagine how we felt?

            God in an apron!

            Tenderness encircled us
                        as He bowed before us.
            He knelt and said,
                        “I choose to wash your feet
                         because I love you.”

            God in an apron, kneeling
            I couldn’t believe my eyes.
            I was embarrassed
                        until his eyes met mine
            I sensed my value then.
            He touched my feet
            He held them in his strong hands
            He washed them
            I can still feel the water
            I can still feel the touch of his hands.
            I can still see the look in his eyes.

            Then he handed me a towel
                        and said,
            “As I have done
             so you must do.”
            Learn to bow
            Learn to kneel.

            Let your tenderness encircle
everyone you meet
            Wash their feet
                        not because you have to,
                        because you want to.

            It seems I’ve stood two thousand years
                        holding the towel in my hands,
            “As I have done so you must do,”
                        keeps echoing in my heart.

            “There are so many feet to wash,”
                        I keep saying
            “No,” I hear God’s voice
                        resounding through the years
            “There are only my feet
            What you do for them
                        You do for me.”
(Seasons of the Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr)
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Friday, April 26, 2013

compassion, day 5

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: Matthew 25:31-46


Reading for Reflection: 


One of the ways Christ said He speaks to us is through those who are hungry and thirsty, through those who are strangers and those who need clothes, through those who are sick and in prison.  And what does He say to us through them?
     "Please give me something to eat."
     "I'm so thirsty."
     "I'm so very lonely.  Please stay a while and talk with me."
     "Please don't stare.  I'm embarrassed enough as it is."
     "Please don't be afraid of me.  I'm sick, that's all.  And I need help."
     "I am isolated from everyone in this prison.  Please come and visit me."
     Just as there are needy people on the street, there are needy people at the office...the factory...in the classroom...and at home.
     "I am hungry," they are saying, and maybe what they are hungry for is just a crust of human kindness.
     "I am thirsty," they are saying, and maybe what they are thirsty for is someone who will refresh them with a smile or a pat on the back or an e-mail of encouragement.
     "I am lonely," they are saying, and maybe what they are lonely for is someone who will befriend them, understand them, have lunch with them, and listen to them.
     Behind all of those voices of hunger and thirst, of loneliness and nakedness, of sickness and imprisonment, behind all of those voices is His voice calling us out of ourselves to Himself. (Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire)
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Thursday, April 25, 2013

compassion, day 4

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: Psalm 41:1-3


Reading for Reflection: 


The question is not: How many people take you seriously?  How much are you going to accomplish?  Can you show results?  But:  Are you in love with Jesus?  Perhaps another way of putting the question would be:  Do you know the incarnate God?  In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men and women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that reaches out and wants to heal.  In that heart there is no suspicion, no revenge, no resentment, and not a tinge of hatred.  It is a heart that wants only to give love and receive love in response.  It is a heart that suffers immensely because it sees the magnitude of human pain and the great resistance to trusting the heart of God who wants to offer comfort and hope. (In the Name of Jesus by Henri J. M. Nouwen)
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

compassion, day 3

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: Luke 4:14-21


Reading for Reflection: 


A lot of giving and receiving has a violent quality, because the givers and receivers act more out of need than out of trust.  What looks like generosity is actually manipulation, and what looks like love is really a cry for affection or support.  When you know yourself as fully loved (by Jesus), you will be able to give according to the other's capacity to receive, and you will be able to receive according to the other's capacity to give.  You will be grateful for what is given to you without clinging to it, and joyful for what you can give without bragging about it.  You will be a free person, free to love. The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

No man ever receives a word from God without instantly being put to the test by it.  We disobey and then wonder why we don't go on spiritually. (My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers)

 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

compassion, day 2

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: Micah 6:6-8


Reading for Reflection: 


If someone asked you if you were compassionate, you might readily say yes.  Or at least, “I believe so.”  But pause to examine the word compassion and answering gets more complicated.  For the word comes from roots that mean literally to “suffer with”; to show compassion means sharing in the suffering “passion” of another.  Compassion understood in this way asks more from us than a mere stirring of pity or a sympathetic word.
     To live with compassion means to enter others’ dark moments.  It is to walk into places of pain, not to flinch or look away when another agonizes.  It means to stay where people suffer.  Compassion holds us back from quick, eager explanations when tragedy meets someone we know or love. (Turn My Mourning Into Dancing by Henri J. M. Nouwen)
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Monday, April 22, 2013

compassion, day 1

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Loving Father, teach me to love and care for those that need you today.  Those who are passed over and do not feel love unless I love them for you.  May Christ's love for others be felt through me today.  In your name and by your power I pray these things.  Amen. (Disciplines for the Inner Life by Michael Benson and Bob Benson)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 103

Scripture for the Day: Luke 6:27-36


Reading for Reflection: 


This is the Season of Love.  What happens in us is the miracle of discovering our potential to care for others.  And so, we become foot-washing, water-walking, healing, beatitude people.  Our lives begin to bless.  We are compelled to respond to the Word of God, to speak in the Holy Name, to live out our ministry of love.
     We are fragile vessels whose love often gets tired.  We need to be converted over and over again.  And so, the healing act of our growth continues.  We empty ourselves that we may be filled.  We uproot that we may proclaim.  We take off our masks.  We call forth gifts.  We bless.  We wash feet.  And somewhere between the shedding of our masks and the foot-washing, we discover that it is not so much what we do that touches lives as who we are becoming.  And so we rest in the truth that what is most important is not how much of ourselves we leave with others, but how much we enable others to be themselves. (Seasons of the Heart by Macrina Wiederkehr)
 
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Our God Reigns
 
So much holy So divine
Yours and so much mine
By the morning Light is Thine
Perfect by design
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know

Our God Reigns Over the Heavens
Over the earth Our God reigns
Praise His name All still standing
All that was, all that remains
Our God reigns

In devotion To His bride
Standing by her side
Mighty to men Light of the earth
Sending the son To echo his worth
Breaker of sin, Winner of souls
Every creature will know
 

Closing Prayer:
Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, to use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and the world.  Let us pray for each other as we allow Jesus to love in us and through us with the love with which His Father loves him. (Seeking the Heart of God by Mother Teresa)

Sunday, April 21, 2013

together, day 7

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

All praise and thanks to thee, most merciful God, for adopting us as thine own children, for incorporating us into thy holy Church, and for making us worthy to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  Grant us, we pray, all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 133

Scripture for the Day: John 13:31-35


Reading for Reflection: 


Accept with gratitude the companions God gives you to go with you on the way.  Your task is to serve and upbuild one another as members of one body.
     To the extent that you are filled with His Spirit and ready to die that others may live, to that extent will you grow in unity and reflect the face of Christ more and more clearly.
     And to the extent that you are ready to die together that others may live will your community bear fruit for the coming of the Kingdom.
     Then put aside ambition, and no longer concentrate on yourself.  Be constantly converted to your companions and place yourself in God’s hands.
     Give instead of demanding, trust others instead of compelling their trust, serve instead of being served, bless instead of cursing. (Rule for a New Brother by H. van der Looy)
 
Indeed, the Christian community is an extension of the very life of God the three-in-one. (The Transforming Power of Prayer by James Houston)
 
 
Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Blessed Be the Tie That Binds
 
Blessed be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like that to that above.
 
Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.
 
We share each other's woes,
Our mutual burdens bear;
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear.
 
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart,
And hope to meet again.
 
This glorious hope revives
Our courage by the way;
While each in expectation lives,
And longs to see the day.
 
From sorrow, toil and pain,
And sin, we shall be free,
And perfect love and friendship reign
Through all eternity.

Closing Prayer:
O God, fountain of love, pour love into our souls, that we may love those whom you love with the love you give us, and think and speak about them tenderly, meekly, lovingly; and so loving our brothers and sisters for your sake, may we grow in your love, and live in your love, that by living in your love we may live in you; for Jesus Christ’s sake. (E. B. Pusey, quoted from Classic Christian Prayers by Owen Collins)