Good Evening Dear Family of God and Love!
I keep forgetting that we all need a welcome blog on occasion, and this is one of them. We welcome all new blog readers to our family. We talk a lot about being family members here at Walk With Me On Our Journey. It is not put on but sincere. You are all welcome here. This is your soft place in which to fall. This is where you can still request prayers and contact me by the email address :Walkwithmeonourjourney@gmail.com . If things become rocky, we are here for you! Just know that you are loved and welcome here.
Last evening we did the vigil for Oscar Romero and the Martyrs of El Salvador, we are going to use the lessons and collect again with the lessons for today.Tomorrow we will continue with our 40 days of Psalmody. Before we do this let us take time to place our worries, mads, fears, anxieties, etc into our Worry/Sabbath box, jar, or journal. For those of you who are new to this we write down on sticky notes all those things that are troubling our hearts and minds and place them in our Worry Sabbath -Box, Jar, or Journal and leave them there over the weekend. We take a Sabbath from Worry etc. You will find peace for at least a few days.
Let us begin our time together with the Be Stills.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Inhale
Exhale
Pause
Repeat
Anthem at the Candle Lighting!
With you, O Lord, is the well of life, *
and in your light we see light.
With you, O Lord, is the well of life,
and in your light we see light.
Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the clouds:
And in your light we see light.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
With you, O Lord, is the well of life,
and in your light we see light.
V. Abide with us, O Lord:
R. For it is toward evening.
God and Creator of us all we pray and light our candles this night at a time where we are finding ourselves sorely divided one from another by a myriad of circumstances. We pray that we may start to learn from each other and place our egos and the need to be right at the door. We pray that we may use gentle speech and kind actions when we meet someone who differs from us. We pray that we may lovingly enfold them in our arms and extend to them radical hospitality and welcome. We pray that we may continually beat the weaponry of hate into ploughshares and turn the spears of division into pruning hooks and that we may grow into a peace-filled and loving world. We pray this night for all who are enduring any kind of pain that they may be comforted and that we may lovingly respond to their needs. We pray and ask this night for forgiveness of any action or word we have done or spoken this day and that we may turn away and repent of the wrongs we have done. We pray that we may spread God's light of love, peace, and learning to this world and that we may be beacons of hope, joy, love, and peace. We pray that we may follow Jesus and imitate him by being CALM (Compassionate, Accepting, Loving, and Merciful) and show the world that we are carried aloft by the Holy Spirit's Love Energy and that our Hearts and heart homes may be enlarged and that truly we may become one family of God and Love and brothers and sisters one to another. Amen.
Grant us, O Lord our Strength, a true love of your holy Name; so that, trusting in your grace, we may fear no earthly evil, nor fix our hearts on earthly goods, but may rejoice in your full salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Almighty God, you called your servant Oscar Romero to be a voice for the voiceless poor, and to give his life as a seed of freedom and a sign of hope: Grant that, inspired by his sacrifice and the example of the martyrs of El Salvador, we may without fear or favor witness to your Word who abides, your Word who is Life, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be praise and glory now and for ever. Amen.
Isaiah 2:5-7
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!
6 For you have forsaken the ways of* your people,
O house of Jacob.
Indeed they are full of diviners* from the east
and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they clasp hands with foreigners.
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.
A Song of Hosea
Hosea 6:1-3
Come, let us return to our God, *
who has torn us and will heal us.
God has struck us and will bind up our wounds, *
after two days revive us,
On the third day restore us, *
that in God’s presence we may live.
Let us humble ourselves, let us strive to know the Lord, *
whose justice dawns like morning light,
its dawning as sure as the sunrise.
God’s justice will come to us like a shower, *
like spring rains that water the earth.
Hosea 14:1–9
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take words with you
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit of our lips.
Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”
I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily,
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.
His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They shall again live beneath my shadow,
they shall flourish as a garden;
they shall blossom like the vine,
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your faithfulness comes from me.
Those who are wise understand these things;
those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
A Song of God’s Love
1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another, *
for love is of God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, *
for God is Love.
In this the love of God was revealed among us, *
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through Jesus Christ.
In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us *
and sent his Son that sins might be forgiven.
Beloved, since God loved us so much, *
we ought also to love one another.
For if we love one another, God abides in us, *
and God’s love will be perfected in us.
Psalm 31:15-24
15 My times are in your hand; *
rescue me from the hand of my enemies,
and from those who persecute me.
16 Make your face to shine upon your servant, *
and in your loving-kindness save me."
17 Lord, let me not be ashamed for having called upon you; *
rather, let the wicked be put to shame;
let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be silenced which speak against
the righteous, *
haughtily, disdainfully, and with contempt.
19 How great is your goodness, O Lord!
which you have laid up for those who fear you; *
which you have done in the sight of all
for those who put their trust in you.
20 You hide them in the covert of your presence from those
who slander them; *
you keep them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord! *
for he has shown me the wonders of his love in a
besieged city.
22 Yet I said in my alarm,
"I have been cut off from the sight of your eyes." *
Nevertheless, you heard the sound of my entreaty
when I cried out to you.
23 Love the Lord, all you who worship him; *
the Lord protects the faithful,
but repays to the full those who act haughtily.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, *
all you who wait for the Lord.
A Song of Ezekiel
Ezekiel 36:24-28
I will take you from among all nations; *
and gather you from all lands to bring you home.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you; *
and purify you from false gods and uncleanness.
A new heart I will give you *
and a new spirit put within you.
I will take the stone heart from your chest *
and give you a heart of flesh.
I will help you walk in my laws *
and cherish my commandments and do them.
You shall be my people, *
and I will be your God
Psalm 81:8–14
Exultate Deo
8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: *
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; *
you shall not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said, *
"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."
11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, *
and Israel would not obey me.
12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, *
to follow their own devices.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! *
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I should soon subdue their enemies *
and turn my hand against their foes.
A Song of Christ’s Goodness
Anselm of Canterbury
Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you; *
you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride, *
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds, *
in sickness you nurse us and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying, we are born to new life; *
by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness; *
through your gentleness, we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead, *
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy, heal us; *
in your love and tenderness, remake us.
In your compassion, bring grace and forgiveness, *
for the beauty of heaven, may your love prepare us.
Revelation 7:13-17
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ 14I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
Mark 12:28–34
One of the scribes came near and heard Jesus and the Saducees disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
John 12:23-32
23Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.28Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’30Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people* to myself.’
The Song of Mary Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in you, O God my Savior, *
for you have looked with favor on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
you, the Almighty, have done great things for me,
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you *
from generation to generation.
You have shown strength with your arm *
and scattered the proud in their conceit,
Casting down the mighty from their thrones *
and lifting up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things *
and sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel, *
for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
The promise made to our forebears, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.
“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
― Teresa of Ávila
The Beatitudes - Matthew
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (5:3)
Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. (5:7)
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10
God we thank you that in times of stress,grief, anxiety, fear, and disillusionment we can and do have times of peacefulness and calmness. We pray for these times always especially when we are facing life's challenges.
God we thank you for the journey of life you have placed us on.
God we thank you for the lives of loved ones who have entered your presence in the Thin Places. We remember by name our own loved ones who have died________________
God we pray this night for all of us who are on grief's long journey.
God we pray for all of our family members who are ill in body, mind, and spirit.
God we pray for sound governance and peace in all nations of the world.
God we pray for and end to all acts of violence.
God center our beings with you this night so that we may find rest when we feel weary.
God help us to listen before we speak and to speak lovingly and with your guidance.
God enfold us in your loving arms when we feel lonely and insecure.
God heal tired feet so that we may walk with you on the journey you have set before us.
God we pray for justice, equality, universal human rights, and inclusion.
God help us to love courageously and unconditionally without limits and with perfect joy.
God may we have loving hands, feet, and hearts to serve the least of these our family members.
God may we add our own special prayers of intention and on behalf of our family members, and thanksgivings________________
God we lift up our prayers in the name of Jesus your Only Son. Amen.
A Prayer attributed to St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.
The Song of Simeon Nunc dimittis
Luke 2:29-32
Lord, you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Or these with optional prayer vigil.
God, we light our candles tonight and pray that we may become the loving and welcoming family of Love/God. We pray for our family members who haven't received warm welcomes in their lives, families, places of work, and worship. We pray that we may become kind to all of your children at any time of the day or night. We pray that we may encircle all of humanity with a warm prayer quilt of welcome and Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy. We pray for peace in this fragile and broken world. We pray that we may listen with kind and non judgmental ears as we welcome our new family members who have been strangers to us and now becoming friends. God lead and show us how to be kind, loving, and welcoming in all that we do each and everyday. Help us always to remember that The Light of Christ in Me Recognizes the Light of Christ in you. Amen.
Welcome all ! Let us welcome all of our family members by telling them we love them. I also want to tell you this even if your faith community isn't the same as mine (Episcopalian)
The Light of Christ in me Recognizes the Light of Christ in You!
Let us do our breathing exercises!
Breathe in the Holy Spirit.
Exhale love.
Breathe in the Holy Spirit.
Exhale love.
Breathe in the Holy Spirit.
Exhale love.
Be still and know that I am God!
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Be still and know that I am God!
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Be still and know that I am God!
Be still and know
Be still
Be
Let us pray !
God we thank you for welcoming us into your family.
May we welcome all of our family members and be lovingly welcoming.
God we thank you that we feel your loving presence each day.
May we give all of our family members the gift of our presence.
God we thank you that you for the joy you give us as we welcome new family members with love.
May we give all of our new family members a welcome filled with joy and love.
God we thank you that you are always on the journey with us.
May we hold hands together as we journey on as true family members united in peace, joy, justice, and equality.
God we thank you that you give us sensitive hearts, empowering spirits, and minds to think.
May we have empathy, sympathy, zest, and intelligence to be the beautiful people of God that you created.
God we thank you for opportunities to serve and care for the least of these.
God we thank you for opportunities to care for the caregiver.
God we thank you for courage to be a voice for the voiceless, to speak truth to power, and to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you .
God we thank you for the tenderness to care for our family members who are ill and lovingly with compassion shepherd those who are mourning who are going through their grieving process.
God we thank you and pray for___________________
Accept these our prayers in the name of Jesus. Amen.
protected you, and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow
the good road and may God’s blessing be with you always. Amen.
(source: from Saint Clare)
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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you! Have a blessed and restful night. Feel welcome here. You are loved, appreciated, welcome, wanted and you matter. I give thanks to God for you this day and always.
With radical love and hospitality,
Sara
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