Good Evening Dearly Beloved Community!
Happy Wednesday! As I was preparing to write this blog I had all our readings ready when, I decided we needed a time of mindfulness and prayer. Tomorrow we will return to the God News as found in Luke and John. I do have times in this period of recovery where I do need to take time and dial it down. This is one of those days! We need to give ourselves permission to do this. I hope you will do the same. Let us begin with "The Be Stills", make vigil and pray. We are dedicating this blog to those who have been victims of gun violence and an end to this terrible form of terrorism.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be
Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be
Light of the World Phos hilaron
Light of the world, in grace and beauty,
Mirror of God’s eternal face,
Transparent flame of love’s free duty,
You bring salvation to our race.
Now, as we see the lights of evening,
We raise our voice in hymns of praise;
Worthy are you of endless blessing,
Sun of our night, lamp of our days.
IN LAK’ECH
Tú eres mi otro yo.
You are my other me.
Si te hago daño a ti,
If I do harm to you,
Me hago daño a mi mismo.
I do harm to myself.
Si te amo y respeto,
If I love and respect you,
Me amo y respeto yo.
I love and respect myself.
Luis Valdez
A Litany for Gun Violence from Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice remembering all who have been harmed by gun violence, both intended and accidental. We lament that an American child is 12 times more likely to die by a bullet than are the children living in all twenty-five other industrialized nations combined. We acknowledge the deep pain and grief in our communities and nation. Will you commit to tear down the walls that divide us, and build-up the one human family, grounded in nonviolence, justice and love?
People: We will with God’s help.
Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice remembering all perpetrators and the families of those who commit acts of gun violence. We acknowledge that their lives are also devastated and their hopes dashed. For their sake and ours, will you pray for healing of the pain radiating from every act of violence?
People: We will, with God’s help.
Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice, united in our grief for the violent deaths of over 30,000 Americans by gunfire each year. Will you commit to prayer, study and action, ever hopeful that repentance and transformation will move us forward toward God’s peaceable kingdom?
People: We will, with God’s help.
We also add this litany for Economic Justice as we remember all those who are the least of these.
A Litany for Economic Justice
Leader: We stand before this Wall of Injustice remembering immigrants, refugees and sojourners in our Bible story. From Eden, all have traveled to the lands of the Earth. The People of Israel crossed the Red Sea in search of freedom, answering the call of God. God of Noah, Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, open our hearts to refugees and sojourners around us. Will you remember our shared history as a refugee people?
People: We will, with God’s help.
Leader: We stand at the Wall of Injustices remembering Joseph, sold into slavery, First Nations Peoples forced from their lands, Africans captured, separated and sold for profit, the dispossession of Palestinians in the ongoing Nakba. We recognize that there are more displaced people on our planet today than at any time since World War II. Will you pray that the example of Jesus’ open table fellowship will inspire us to offer hospitality to strangers in our midst?
People: We will, with God’s help.
Leader: We stand before the Wall of Injustices praying for a spirit of abundance, to replace our fear of scarcity and our suspicion of the stranger. As Jesus stood with the workers in the vineyards calling for just wages, God calls us to stand with workers today, calling for living wages and just working conditions. Will you work and pray for abundant life to be shared among all members of the One Human Family?
People: We will, with God’s help.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Eternal Spirit,
Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be,
Father and Mother of us all,
Loving God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen.
We Join together in prayer
We join our hearts with all of our brothers and sisters all over the world God as your family of love, peace, and mercy to pray for our family members who have become refugees, outcasts, and the persecuted.
We join our hands and hearts in love and pray for peace. God may we with you become peace makers.
We join our hands, feet, eyes, ears, and voices in service to you God.
We join our voices to speak truth to power and to speak out for the least of these.
We join our minds to help become the educated Children of God.
We join our hands and hearts in prayers for those who have come to us asking for prayers on behalf of others.
We join our hearts in prayer with those who mourn and those who are keeping vigil at the bedside of their loved ones who are transitioning into the glorious Heavenly Thin Places.
We join our voices, hands, feet, and minds to speak out for health care, human rights, the homeless, the hungry and the lost, Help us to feed these hungry hearts with courage and love.
We join our prayers for those who are dying and those who have died today.
We join our bodies to help become stewards of God's Cathedral of life.
We join our hearts in love and pray for an end to hate and violence.
We join together to pray that there may be an end to war and terror in this Your Fragile and broken world O God.
We join together to add our prayers, thanksgivings, celebrations, and remembrances to you now O God. Accept these our prayers in the Name of your only Son Jesus. 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.
“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.”
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.
“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 Avila
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.
Live without fear: your Creator has made you holy, has always
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 Beloved Community! May we all find rest for our bodies,minds, and spirits this night and always. I love you and give thanks to God for you always.
Peace, love, prayers, and God's Blessings!
Sara
Resources
Enriching Our Worship.
Quote Sites for Prayers
Episcopal Peace Fellowship for Litanies
Walk With Me On our Journey.
In Lak'Ech Luis Valdez
A New Zealand Prayer Book
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