Good Evening Beloved Ones!
Happy Wednesday! I hope all of you are taking time to breathe! This is a time where we all need to come together and be truly family. Each of us bring our own set of unique gifts and presence to our gathering, table, and to our Beloved Community. Each and everyone of us is precious and we need to affirm this daily. God has the hairs on our heads counted and knows where we are on each of our particular journey. We need to trust the pathway that we are called on to. It is never easy. On Saturday I received word that I have been denied SSI. I could have cried, threw things, but I didn't I see this as an affirmation of physical and mental health. It also helps me know that I must step out boldly and trust where God is leading me on life's journey and pilgrimage that I'm currently on. God is good! I do not have anything to fear. I must always remember this as we begin our time together as the beloved Family of Love and God:
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.
Dear Ones this is our time for our Virtual Candlelight Prayer Vigil and light our candles and pray that the world may be illumined with God's light of love and peace. We pray that we may see each other as the beautiful child God made in God's own image and likeness. We pray for and end to fear, violence, and hatred."Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with us"!
He who would valiant be against all disaster; let him in constancy follow the Master. There's no discouragement shall make him once relent; his first avowed intent to be a pilgrim.
John Buchan
"The true Christian is in all countries a pilgrim and a stranger." - George Santayana
"We are Godseekers all, though some be churchgoing believers and others pilgrims to an unknown shrine." - Robert Breault
A pilgrim is a wanderer with purpose.
Peace Pilgrim
I am a pilgrim in the world, but at home in my God. In the earth I wander, but in God I dwell in a quiet habitation.
Charles Spurgeon
A Song of the Wilderness
Isaiah 35:1-7,10
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, *
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
It shall blossom abundantly, *
and rejoice with joy and singing.
They shall see the glory of the Lord, *
the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weary hands, *
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to the anxious, “Be strong, do not fear! *
Here is your God, coming with judgment to save you.”
Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, *
and the ears of the deaf be unstopped.
Then shall the lame leap like a deer, *
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness *
and streams in the desert;
The burning sand shall become a pool *
and the thirsty ground, springs of water.
The ransomed of God shall return with singing, *
with everlasting joy upon their heads.
Joy and gladness shall be theirs, *
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
"We are all pilgrims in search of the unknown." - Paulo Coelho
"Pilgrims are poets who create by taking journeys." - H. Richard Niebuhr
A Song of Wisdom Sapientia liberavit
Wisdom 10:15-19,20b-21
Wisdom freed from a nation of oppressors *
a holy people and a blameless race.
She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord, *
withstood dread rulers with wonders and signs.
To the saints she gave the reward of their labors, *
and led them by a marvelous way;
She was their shelter by day *
and a blaze of stars by night.
She brought them across the Red Sea, *
she led them through mighty waters;
But their enemies she swallowed in the waves *
and spewed them out from the depths of the abyss.
And then, Lord, the righteous sang hymns to your Name, *
and praised with one voice your protecting hand;
For Wisdom opened the mouths of the mute, *
and gave speech to the tongues of a new-born people.
"Today the artist has inherited the combined functions of hermit, pilgrim, prophet, priest, shaman, sorcerer, soothsayer, alchemist." - Thomas Merton
"A PILGRIM IS A WANDERER WITH A PURPOSE. A pilgrimage can be to a place - that's the best known kind - but it can also be for a thing. Mine is for peace, and that is why I am a Peace Pilgrim." - Peace Pilgrim
"This world is magnificent for strangers and pilgrims, but miserable for residents." - Henry Ward Beecher
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.
81 Exultate Deo
1 Sing with joy to God our strength *and raise a loud shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and sound the timbrel, *
the merry harp, and the lyre.
3 Blow the ram's-horn at the new moon, *
and at the full moon, the day of our feast.
4 For this is a statute for Israel, *
a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He laid it as a solemn charge upon Joseph, *
when he came out of the land of Egypt.
6 I heard an unfamiliar voice saying, *
"I eased his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were set free from bearing the load."
7 You called on me in trouble, and I saved you; *
I answered you from the secret place of thunder
and tested you at the waters of Meribah.
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.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, *
and their punishment would last for ever.
16 But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat *
and satisfy him with honey from the rock.
Sixteenth Day: Evening Prayer
82 Deus stetit
1 God takes his stand in the council of heaven; *
he gives judgment in the midst of the gods:
2 "How long will you judge unjustly, *
and show favor to the wicked?
3 Save the weak and the orphan; *
defend the humble and needy;
4 Rescue the weak and the poor; *
deliver them from the power of the wicked.
5 They do not know, neither do they understand;
they go about in darkness; *
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 Now I say to you, 'You are gods, *
and all of you children of the Most High;
7 Nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, *
and fall like any prince.'"
8 Arise, O God, and rule the earth, *
for you shall take all nations for your own.
Numbers 11:24-35
24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. 25Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.
26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27And a young man ran and told Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.’ 28And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men,* said, ‘My lord Moses, stop them!’ 29But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!’ 30And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
31 Then a wind went out from the Lord, and it brought quails from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits deep on the ground. 32So the people worked all that day and night and all the next day, gathering the quails; the least anyone gathered was ten homers; and they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. 33But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. 34So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah,* because there they buried the people who had the craving. 35From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth
The Song of Hannah
1 Samuel 2:1-8
My heart exults in you, O God; *
my triumph song is lifted in you.
My mouth derides my enemies, *
for I rejoice in your salvation.
There is none holy like you, *
nor any rock to be compared to you, our God.
Do not heap up prideful words or speak in arrogance; *
Only God is knowing and weighs all actions.
The bows of the mighty are broken, *
but the weak are clothed in strength.
Those once full now labor for bread, *
those who hungered now are well fed.
The childless woman has borne sevenfold, *
while the mother of many is forlorn.
God destroys and brings to life, casts down and raises up; *
gives wealth or takes it away, humbles and dignifies.
God raises the poor from the dust; *
and lifts the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with the rulers *
and inherit a place of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are God’s *
on which the whole earth is founded.
Romans 1:28-2:11
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. 29They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters,* insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32They know God’s decree, that those who practise such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practise them.
2Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. 2You say,* ‘We know that God’s judgement on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.’ 3Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgement of God? 4Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgement will be revealed. 6For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: 7to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honour and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. 9There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11For God shows no partiality.
A Song of Christ’s Humility
Philippians 2:6-11
Though in the form of God, *
Christ Jesus did not cling to equality with God,
But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, *
and was born in human likeness.
Being found in human form, he humbled himself *
and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Therefore, God has highly exalted him *
and given him the name above every name,
That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, *
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, *
to the glory of God the Father.
Matthew 18:1-9
18At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2He called a child, whom he put among them, 3and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!
8 ‘If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell* of fire.
A Song of Pilgrimage Priusquam errarem
Ecclesiasticus 51:13-16,20b-22
Before I ventured forth,
even while I was very young, *
I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.
In the forecourts of the temple I asked for her, *
and I will seek her to the end.
From first blossom to early fruit, *
she has been the delight of my heart.
My foot has kept firmly to the true path, *
diligently from my youth have I pursued her.
I inclined my ear a little and received her; *
I found for myself much wisdom and became adept in her.
To the one who gives me wisdom will I give glory, *
for I have resolved to live according to her way.
From the beginning I gained courage from her, *
therefore I will not be forsaken.
In my inmost being I have been stirred to seek her, *
therefore have I gained a good possession.
As my reward the Almighty has given me the gift of language,*
and with it will I offer praise to God.
Let us pray!
God, as we daily walk our earthly pilgrimage with you and each other may remember wherever we walk it is holy ground on loan from you.
God, as we walk the path you have chosen and called us on to help us to inwardly trust you, the journey, ourselves, fear not and know that you are a Loving God.
God, as we walk into each day that comes, remind us with that gentle tap on the shoulder that we are not alone on this path and you are ever present.
God, as we walk in your Cathedral of life give us the courage to become conservationists of your creation and help to heal the earth from environmental disasters.
God as we walk our way into our night's rest we pray for__________________
God we pray and remember on this World Refugee day all refugees and the aid agencies who are helping them to find safe places in which to live and all their daily needs to live.
God we lift up these our prayers O God in the name of your only begotten Son Jesus! Amen.
"Christians are simply pilgrims who acknowledge their lostness and their desire for help in finding the way." - Philip Yancey
"Blessed is the pilgrim, who in every place, and at all times of this his banishment in the body, calling upon the holy name of Jesus, calleth to mind his native heavenly land, where his blessed Master, the King of saints and angels, waiteth to receive him. Blessed is the pilgrim who seeketh not an abiding place unto himself in this world; but longeth to be dissolved, and be with Christ in heaven." - Thomas a Kempis
"Let us not forget: we are a pilgrim church, subject to misunderstanding, to persecution, but a church that walks serene, because it bears the force of love." - Oscar Romero
"In each of us dwells a pilgrim. It is the part of us that longs to have direct contact with the sacred." - Phil Cousineau
"Pilgrims are persons in motion passing through territories not their own, seeking something we might call completion, or perhaps the word clarity will do as well, a goal to which only the spirit's compass points the way." - H. Richard Niebuhr
Diversity is what makes unity possible, especially with love in our hearts! #RespectTheDignityOfEveryHumanBeing!
Let us spend a moment and reflect on this before we continue our time together in prayer and reflection.
Let us begin!
Let us Sow Seeds of:
C= Compassion
A= Acceptance
L= Love
M = Mercy
Let us speak in words that are:
C= Comforting
A= Appreciative
L= Living and Loving
M= Mindful and Matter
Let our deeds be:
C= Caring and Compassionate
A= Admirable
L= Life giving
M= Mannerly
Let us choose to live a life of Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy. Let choose to speak in words that are courageous, amiable, enLightening, Mannered, and Make sense and don't harm or divide. Let our deeds be all these things.
A Smudging Prayer
Creator, our Father in heaven, we come to you as your children. We confess that we are weak and broken images of you. We pray for the forgiveness and healing you give in Jesus Christ. May his Spirit clean our spirits, minds, hearts, and bodies. We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to worship in spirit and truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, so that his Spirit will carry our prayers to you. 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. by Teresa of Avila.
Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks. Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn:
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek:
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful:
for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers:
for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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.
The Lord’s Prayer or the alternative is said. From A New Zealand Prayer Book
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.
Or
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.
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.
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or
weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who
sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless
the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the
joyous; and all for your love’s sakeAmen.
The Wisdom of God the Love of God and the Grace of God strengthen us to be Christ’s hands and heart in this world,in the name of the Holy Trinity. Amen.(source: Celtic)
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Good Night Dear Ones! Let us be together in God's circle of Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy. I love you and give thanks for your gift o presence in my life this night and always!
With love and courage as we journey through this sacred life God has given us,
Sara
Resources
Book of Common Prayer
Enriching our Worship
Metis Aboriginal Ministries
Satucket Lectionary Page
Walk With Me On Our Journey
A to Z Quotes
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