Good Evening Dear Ones!
I hope all is well. In just two weeks we will be entering the holy season of Lent. That means we will complete our Good Book Club readings of the Gospel of Mark and leave the season of Epiphany. We are also entering the first orbit around the Sun with multiple pandemics in March. For the next two weeks and beyond, it is time for deep introspection and inner being work. To begin this work we have quotes by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to reflect upon. We also have 4 readings from the Gospel of Mark from the Good Book Club,The Feast of Anskar from Holy Women, Holy Men, The Daily Office, and Eucharistic Readings. They pair up nicely. Our collects are from the Feast Days of Anskar and The Dorchester Chaplains as a reminder of the Communion of Saints to which we all belong. So let us begin with words of wisdom from Dietrich Bonhoeffer whose birthday is tomorrow.
"God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Jesus calls men, not to a new religion, but to life." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The person who’s in love with their vision of community will destroy community. But the person who loves the people around them will create community everywhere they go." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christian should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"May God in His mercy lead us through these times; but above all, may He lead us to Himself." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God, who will thwart our plans and frustrate our ways time and again, even daily, by sending people across our path with their demands and requests. We can, then, pass them by, preoccupied with our important daily tasks, just as the priest-perhaps reading the Bible-passed by the man who had fallen among robbers. When we do that, we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised in our lives to show us that God’s way, and not our own, is what counts." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Comfort the troubled, and trouble the comfortable." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"In me there is darkness, But with You there is light; I am lonely, but You do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with You there is help; I am restless, but with You there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with You there is patience; I do not understand Your ways, But You know the way for me.” “Lord Jesus Christ, You were poor And in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am. You know all man’s troubles; You abide with me When all men fail me; You remember and seek me; It is Your will that I should know You And turn to You. Lord, I hear Your call and follow; Help me." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Come let us worship.
One thing I have asked of the Lord, which I long for: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on your beauty O Lord: and to seek you in your temple.Psalm 27:4,5
Do not ask anxiously, What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What shall we wear? The whole world runs after such things. Set your heart and mind on God’s commonwealth and justice first, and all the rest will come to you as well. So do not be anxious about tomorrow. Today has enough problems of its own; tomorrow can look after itself.Matthew 6:31–34
Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him.
Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and
I will refresh you. Matthew 11:28
God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,
to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. John 3:16
This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15
If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous; and he is the perfect offering for our
sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole
world. 1 John 2:1-2
Let us light our candles and enter into God's loving presence as we meditate, make vigil, and be at prayer!
The Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh: A Litany for Peace
As we are together praying for Peace, let us be truly with each other.
Silence
Let us pay attention to our breathing.
Silence
Let us be relaxed in our bodies and our minds.
Silence
Let us return to ourselves and become wholly ourselves.
Silence
Let us be aware of the Source of Being common to us all and to all that is.
Silence
Evoking the presence of the Great Companion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion—towards ourselves and toward all living beings.
Silence
Let us pray that all living beings realize that they are all nourished from the same Source of Life.
Silence
Let us pray that we ourselves cease to be the cause of needless suffering.
Silence
Let us pray that we may live in a way which will not needlessly deprive other living beings of air, water, food, shelter, or the chance to live in health.
Silence
With reverence for Life and with awareness of the sufferings that are going on around us, let us pray for the establishment of peace in our hearts and on earth.
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.
LITANY OF LOVE-Prayers for Today: Services for Congregational Worship
O God, the source of all being and all joy, let Your blessings be upon us, and fill us with Your love. From all jealousy and envy, from all unkindness, from offense given or taken, from unrighteous anger and an impatient spirit, from a hard and unforgiving temper, and from evil speaking, O God, deliver us.
From all ambition and greed which bring want and distress to multitudes and debase the bodies and souls of many, shutting from them the fullness of life, O God, deliver us.
From an unquiet and discontented spirit, from despondency and gloom, from doubts of Your boundless love, and from forgetfulness of the manifold goods of life, O God, deliver us.
Inspire in us that spirit which suffers long and is kind; which envies not; boasts not itself, is not puffed up; which does not behave unseemly, and seeks not its own. Grant us to be filled with the fullness of Your spirit.
Quicken in us that charity which is not easily provoked, which thinks no evil, which rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things; the charity which never fails; That so by Your grace we may establish good will upon the earth.
O God, the Father and Mother of us all, who has breathed Your own spirit into Your children and made us to be one with each other as members of Your household: enable us to make Your house a refuge for every wounded spirit, a home for every aspiring soul. Amid diversities of knowledge and of faith, may we be one in spirit, in affection, and in devotion to You.
96 Cantate Domino
1 Sing to the Lord a new song; *
sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and bless his Name; *
proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations *
and his wonders among all peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; *
he is more to be feared than all gods.
5 As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; *
but it is the Lord who made the heavens.
6 Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! *
Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!
7 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; *
ascribe to the Lord honor and power.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name; *
bring offerings and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; *
let the whole earth tremble before him.
10 Tell it out among the nations: "The Lord is King! *
he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea thunder and all that is in it; *
let the field be joyful and all that is therein.
Eucharistic Lectionary
Mark 6:1-6
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
6He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. 2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence* at him. 4Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ 5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief.
The Mission of the Twelve
Then he went about among the villages teaching.
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at my end, and at my departing.
Feast day of Anskar
Mark 6:7-13
7He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ 12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at my end, and at my departing.
Mark 8:11-26 Daily Office
The Demand for a Sign
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. 12And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’ 13And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod
14 Now the disciples* had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15And he cautioned them, saying, ‘Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’* 16They said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ 17And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ 20‘And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?’ And they said to him, ‘Seven.’ 21Then he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’
Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida
22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people* brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ 24And the man* looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ 25Then Jesus* laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’*
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at my end, and at my departing.
Good Book Club Reading
Mark 12:35-44
The Question about David’s Son
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, ‘How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.’ ”
David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?’ And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
Jesus Denounces the Scribes
As he taught, he said, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.’
The Widow’s Offering
He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.’
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at my end, and at my departing.
A Song of Faith
1 Peter 1:3-4,18-21
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, *
by divine mercy we have a new birth into a living hope;
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, *
we have an inheritance that is imperishable in heaven.
The ransom that was paid to free us *
was not paid in silver or gold,
But in the precious blood of Christ, *
the Lamb without spot or stain.
God raised Jesus from the dead and gave him glory *
so that we might have faith and hope in God.
From A New Zealand Prayer BookOur 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.
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.
now and for ever. Amen.
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 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.
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.
now and for ever. Amen.
Jesus, your justice goes beyond the ancient law,
your wisdom embodies all prophetic insight;
make us glad to be yours,
and able to follow you to Jerusalem.
God of life and glory,
your Son was revealed in splendour
before he suffered death upon the cross;
grant that we, beholding his majesty,
may be strengthened to follow him
and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory;
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Collects of the Day.
Keep your church from discouragement in the day of small things, O God, in the knowledge that when you have begun a good work, you will bring it to a fruitful conclusion, just as you did for your servant Anskar; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Holy God, you inspired the Dorchester chaplains to be models of steadfast sacrificial love in a tragic and terrifying time: Help us to follow their example, that their courageous ministry may inspire chaplains and all who serve, to recognize your presence in the midst of peril; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
it is night.
Let us be still in the presence of God.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done;
let it be.
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives
rest in you.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,
all dear to us,
and all who have no peace.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys,
new possibilities.
Everything Has Its Time
3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
When the song of the angels is stilled,
We thank you for your church, founded upon your Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon you. Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars and live on through all eternity. Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace. Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God's children -- Black, White, Red, Brown and Yellow -- will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the reign of our Lord and of our God, we pray. Amen.
O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the
night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive
far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your
law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having
done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may,
when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
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