On the Anniversary of a Disaster Blog in Progress !

God of steadfast love, who led your people through the wilderness: Be with us as we remember [and grieve]. By your grace, lead us in the path of new life, in the company of your saints and angels; through Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Amen.

60 Deus, repulisti nos

1 O God, you have cast us off and broken us; *
you have been angry;
oh, take us back to you again.

2 You have shaken the earth and split it open; *
repair the cracks in it, for it totters.

3 You have made your people know hardship; *
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, *
to be a refuge from the power of the bow.

5 Save us by your right hand and answer us, *
that those who are dear to you may be delivered

130 De profundis

1 Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice; *
let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2 If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *
O Lord, who could stand?

3 For there is forgiveness with you; *
therefore you shall be feared.

4 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *
in his word is my hope.

5 My soul waits for the Lord,
more than watchmen for the morning, *
more than watchmen for the morning.

6 O Israel, wait for the Lord, *
for with the Lord there is mercy;

7 With him there is plenteous redemption, *
and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins

80 Qui regis Israel

1 Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock; *
shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim.

2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, *
stir up your strength and come to help us.

3 Restore us, O God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

4 O Lord God of hosts, *
how long will you be angered
despite the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; *
you have given them bowls of tears to drink.

6 You have made us the derision of our neighbors, *
and our enemies laugh us to scorn.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts; *
show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

23 Dominus regit me
1 The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Job 14:7-13

⁷ ‘For there is hope for a tree,
   if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
   and that its shoots will not cease. 
⁸ Though its root grows old in the earth,
   and its stump dies in the ground, 
⁹ yet at the scent of water it will bud
   and put forth branches like a young plant. 
¹⁰ But mortals die, and are laid low;
   humans expire, and where are they? 
¹¹ As waters fail from a lake,
   and a river wastes away and dries up, 
¹² so mortals lie down and do not rise again;
   until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
   or be roused out of their sleep. 
¹³ O that you would hide me in Sheol,
   that you would conceal me until your wrath is past,
   that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

Jeremiah 31:15-20

15 Thus says the Lord:

A voice is heard in Ramah,

   lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children;

   she refuses to be comforted for her children,

   because they are no more. 

16 Thus says the Lord:

Keep your voice from weeping,

   and your eyes from tears;

for there is a reward for your work,

says the Lord:

   they shall come back from the land of the enemy; 

17 there is hope for your future,

says the Lord:

   your children shall come back to their own country. 

18 Indeed I heard Ephraim pleading:

‘You disciplined me, and I took the discipline;

   I was like a calf untrained.

Bring me back, let me come back,

   for you are the Lord my God. 

19 For after I had turned away I repented;

   and after I was discovered, I struck my thigh;

I was ashamed, and I was dismayed

   because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ 

20 Is Ephraim my dear son?

   Is he the child I delight in?

As often as I speak against him,

   I still remember him.

Therefore I am deeply moved for him;

   I will surely have mercy on him,

says the Lord. 

Romans 8:35-38

³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
   we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 
³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

Revelation 21:1-7

21Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home^* of God is among mortals.
He will dwell^* with them;
they will be his peoples,^*
and God himself will be with them;^* 
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘See, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ ⁶Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. ⁷Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Romans 8:18-25

18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in^* hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes^* for what is seen?²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Luke 6:20-26

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
‘Blessed are you who are poor,
   for yours is the kingdom of God. 
²¹ ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
   for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
   for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you^* on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 
²⁴ ‘But woe to you who are rich,
   for you have received your consolation. 
²⁵ ‘Woe to you who are full now,
   for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
   for you will mourn and weep.

26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Mark 13:14-27

14 ‘But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; ¹⁵someone on the housetop must not go down or enter the house to take anything away; ¹⁶someone in the field must not turn back to get a coat. ¹⁷Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! ¹⁸Pray that it may not be in winter. ¹⁹For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be. ²⁰And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days. ²¹And if anyone says to you at that time, “Look! Here is the Messiah!”^* or “Look! There he is!”—do not believe it. ²²False messiahs^*and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. ²³But be alert; I have already told you everything.

24 ‘But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
   and the moon will not give its light, 
²⁵ and the stars will be falling from heaven,
   and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 
²⁶Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. ²⁷Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.