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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

together, day 6

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: Luke 10:25-37

Reading for Reflection: 
Without the discipline of community, solitude degenerates into self-absorption and isolation; without the discipline of solitude, community degenerates into codependency and enmeshment….The community of faith is where we learn the language of love. (Journeymen by Kent Ira Groff)

Never resign yourself to the scandal of the separation of Christians, all who so readily confess love for their neighbor, and yet remain divided.  Be consumed with zeal for the unity of the Body of Christ.

                                                                   ~The Rule of Taize


It is best to live one’s life with the support of a community which shares right values.  When someone leaves such a community temporarily, let that person guard himself or herself.  A human being is especially vulnerable when not supported by others. (Always We Begin Again by John McQuiston II)

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)