Good Evening Beloved Ones!
We continue Human Rights Week here at Walk With Me On Our Journey. I am writing this blog on the ancestral land of the Chumash and remember that we are called to recognize our indigenous family members who were and are foundational residents of the communities where we live.Tonight we celebrate the Feast of Mary Magdalene. Let us hear from some of our sheroes' words of wisdom as we begin our time together.
We ponder these quotes from a few of my sheroes!
“My former bishop Allan Bjorberg once said that the greatest spiritual practice isn't yoga or praying the hours or living in intentional poverty, although these are all beautiful in their own way. The greatest spiritual practice is just showing up. And Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of just showing up. Showing up, to me, means being present to what is real, what is actually happening. Mary Magdalene didn't necessarily know what to say or what to do or even what to think when she encountered the risen Jesus. But none of that was nearly as important as the fact that she was present and attentive to him.”
― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
“Mary Magdalene"
With wandering eyes and aimless zeal,
She hither, thither, goes;
Her speech, her motions, all reveal
A mind without repose.
She climbs the hills, she haunts the sea,
By madness tortured, driven;
One hour's forgetfulness would be
A gift from very heaven!
She slumbers into new distress;
The night is worse than day:
Exulting in her helplessness;
Hell's dogs yet louder bay.
The demons blast her to and fro;
She has not quiet place,
Enough a woman still, to know
A haunting dim disgrace.
A human touch! a pang of death!
And in a low delight
Thou liest, waiting for new breath,
For morning out of night.
Thou risest up: the earth is fair,
The wind is cool; thou art free!
Is it a dream of hell's despair
Dissolves in ecstasy?
That man did touch thee! Eyes divine
Make sunrise in thy soul;
Thou seest love in order shine:-
His health hath made thee whole!
Thou, sharing in the awful doom,
Didst help thy Lord to die;
Then, weeping o'er his empty tomb,
Didst hear him Mary cry.
He stands in haste; he cannot stop;
Home to his God he fares:
'Go tell my brothers I go up
To my Father, mine and theirs.'
Run, Mary! lift thy heavenly voice;
Cry, cry, and heed not how;
Make all the new-risen world rejoice-
Its first apostle thou!
What if old tales of thee have lied,
Or truth have told, thou art
All-safe with Him, whate'er betide
Dwell'st with Him in God's heart!”
― George MacDonald
"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!" ~ Maya Angelou
"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences." ~ Audre Lorde
Phenomenal Woman BY MAYA ANGELOU
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak." ~ Audre Lorde
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope." ~ Wangari Maathai
"Pit race against race, religion against religion, prejudice against prejudice. Divide and conquer! We must not let that happen here." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now." ~ Wangari Maathai
"True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth, universal brotherhood and good will, and a constant and earnest striving toward the principles and ideals on which this country was founded." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"The little grassroots people can change this world." ~ Wangari Maathai
"Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity and worth of cultures and peoples." ~ Rigoberta Menchu
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." ~ Margaret Mead
"I am like a drop of water on a rock. After drip, drip, dripping in the same place, I begin to leave a mark, and I leave my mark in many people's hearts." ~ Rigoberta Menchu
"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members." ~ Coretta Scott King
"We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become." ~ Clare of Assisi
"Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me." ~ Clare of Assisi
"The way of peace is the way of love. Love is the greatest power on earth. It conquers all things." ~ Peace Pilgrim
"What we would like to do is change the world - make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended for them to do....We can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing that we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as well as our friend." ~ Dorothy Day
"What I walk on is not the energy of youth, it is a better energy. I walk on the endless energy of inner peace that never runs out! When you become a channel through which God works there are no more limitations, because God does the work through you: you are the instrument - and what God can do is unlimited. When you are working for God you do not find yourself striving and straining. You find yourself calm, serene and unhurried." ~ Peace Pilgrim
"The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor." ~ Dorothy Day
"Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world." ~ Dolores Huerta
"In the Spirit which draws us into honest engagement with one another, including those who may be very different from us in various ways, God calls us to wake up and learn how to love and respect one another, period." ~ Carter Heyward
"The great social justice changes in our country have happened when people came together, organized, and took direct action. It is this right that sustains and nurtures our democracy today. The civil rights movement, the labor movement, the women's movement, and the equality movement for our LGBT brothers and sisters are all manifestations of these rights." ~ Dolores Huerta
"The only theology worth doing is that which inspires and transforms lives, that which empowers us to participate in creating, liberating, and blessing the world." ~ Carter Heyward
"True community is based on upon equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together." ~ Pauli Murray
Additional quotes on Resurrection!
"Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime." ~ Martin Luther
"Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing." ~ Frederick Buechner
"Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection." ~ Watchman Nee
"The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it." ~ N. T. Wright
"The cross is the standing statement of what we do to one another and to ourselves. The resurrection is the standing statement of what God does to us in return." ~ Richard Rohr
"And he departed from our sight that we might return to our hearts and find him there. For he left us, and behold, he is here." ~ Saint Augustine
"Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now. Every moment, a new beauty." ~ Rumi
"The man in Christ rose again, not only the God." ~ C. S. Lewis
"Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer; Death is strong, but Life is stronger; Stronger than the dark, the light; Stronger than the wrong, the right; Faith and Hope triumphant say Christ will rise on Easter Day." ~ Phillips Brooks
"A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
"Let every man and woman count himself immortal. Let him catch the revelation of Jesus in his resurrection. Let him say not merely, "Christ is risen," but "I shall rise."" ~ Phillips Brooks
"It is love that believes the resurrection." ~ Ludwig Wittgenstein
"I do not believe in death without resurrection. If they kill me I will rise again in the people of El Salvador." ~ Oscar Romero
"Let us not tire of preaching love; it is the force that will overcome the world. Let us not tire of preaching love. Though we see that waves of violence succeed in drowning the fire of Christian love, love must win out; it is the only thing that can." ~ Oscar Romero
"When we speak for the poor, please note that we do not take sides with one social class. What we do is invite all social classes, rich and poor, without distinction, saying to everyone let us take seriously the cause of the poor as though it were our own." ~ Oscar Romero
"Each time we look upon the poor, on the farmworkers who harvest the coffee, the sugarcane, or the cotton... remember, there is the face of Christ." ~ Oscar Romero
+++++
Come let us worship.
Call to Worship from A New Zealand Prayer Book
None of us lives and none of us dies for ourselves alone.
Living or dying we belong to the Lord.
Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).John 20:16
Jesus said to Mary, ‘Go to my friends and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’John 20:17
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
You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but citizens together
with the saints and members of the household of God.
Ephesians 2:19
Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). John 20:16
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
Eternal Power, be our support;
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance:
That we may seek Your face
With all our heart and mind and soul and strength.
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.
Psalm 134 Ecce nunc
Behold now, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, *
you that stand by night in the house of the LORD.
Lift up your hands in the holy place and bless the LORD; *
the LORD who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion.
Psalm 141:1-3,8ab Domine, clamavi
O LORD, I call to you; come to me quickly; *
hear my voice when I cry to you.
Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, *
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before my mouth, O LORD,
and guard the door of my lips; *
let not my heart incline to any evil thing.
My eyes are turned to you, Lord GOD; *
in you I take refuge.
God we open up our heart homes and light our candles and pray with love. We pray that we may love our family members deeply, broadly, unconditionally with hope, joy, peace, and love energy. We pray for an end to indifference, hatred, violence, and division. We pray that we may re-educate ourselves to practice radical hospitality, attitudes of gratitude, random acts of kindness, and that we may do in the words of the Prophet Micah- "To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God" We pray that we may focus our lives towards the loving care and in service to the least of these. We pray with loving hearts for our family members who have lost their lives in acts of terror of all kinds. We pray that we may light our candles in solidarity and love for those who are mourning and struggling with life's dark times. We pray that we may be light shiners, love givers, joy bringers, hope bearers, and peace makers. We light our candles as we pray for those things that are heavy on our hearts and lay them on the broad and loving shoulders of God Amen.
God we make vigil tonight for the healing of ourselves, our families, and the planet. Give us the courage to accept your healing and pray for the healing of others. Help us to pray with kind words, healing words, and loving words. Let us enter in holy silence as we make this vigil for healing.
Heal our minds O God.
Heal our spirits O God.
Heal our hearts O God.
Heal our emotions O God.
Heal our fears O God.
Heal our lives O God.
Heal everyone and everything that lives on this planet O God.
Heal the Nations O God.
Heal divisions wherever we are O God.
Heal the world of hatred, racism, bigotry, abuse, white supremacy, terror, and all isms and obias O God.
Heal what ever is on our hearts during this vigil time and help us to pray and set it free and make us whole O God.
Heal_____________________ O God.
Hear our Prayers, and Heal us O God.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.
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
"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?' These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will be many fruits, here in this world and the life to come." - Henri Nouwen
"We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that has buried its head in the sand, waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and the absence of moral leadership. We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better." ~ Thurgood Marshall
A Smudging Prayer -Metis Aboriginal Ministries
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.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.
21st Century Prophets : From Industrial Christian Fellowship
A prayer that explores how God can speak through our engagement with the world of work.
God at whose word
The whole of creation came into being,
Speak Your word through me this day
As I pursue its endeavours.
I offer every task,
And pray that in Your purpose
It might become the means by which
New light and truth are known;
And in ways unseen,
And ways made clear,
Let Your Gospel purpose
Be fulfilled in their fulfilling.
And so may Wisdom’s voice
Echo again in places and language
Where she has too long been silent;
Not only through those
Who wrestle with truths long-written
But also the research and discovery;
Success and failure;
Acheivements and disappointments;
Solutions and challenges
Of that which we choose to call
Our daily work
From The Resistance Prays
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?
My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.
-Galatians 5:13-17 (The Message)
God of Love and Life, thank you for the gift of freedom. Guide our thoughts and actions so that we will choose self-giving love over selfishness, sharing over hoarding, and abundance over a mentality of scarcity. Teach and inspire us to freely and fully choose love and justice as we collectively strive for a world in which all humankind may flourish. Amen.
42 Quemadmodum
1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *
so longs my soul for you, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, *
while all day long they say to me,
"Where now is your God?"
4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things; *
how I went with the multitude and led them into the
house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, *
among those who keep holy-day.
6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me?
7 Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him,
who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
Out of the night where hope had died,
to tomb once sealed, now gaping wide,
the Magdalene made haste, to mourn
and bring her spices through the dawn.
She gazed in disbelief and pain
where Jesus in his death had lain,
until the radiant angel said,
Seek not the living with the dead.
Soon trusting love cast out her fears;
she rose and brushed away her tears.
As first apostle, Mary ran
to tell God’s resurrection plan.
Jesus is risen! Mary cries,
Lift up your hearts and dry your eyes,
Jesus is risen–come and see–
and goes before to Galilee.
All glory be to God above,
for Mary’s apostolic love,
all praise to God whom we adore
for ever and for evermore. Amen.
From The Saint Helena Breviary, Church Publishing 2006
Matins of St Mary Magdalen
Merciful God,
your Son restored Mary Magdalene to health
of body and mind
and called her to be a witness
of his resurrection;
heal us and make us whole
that we may serve you
in the power of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Sweet is your friendship, Saviour Christ;
Mary you accepted,
Mary you drew to the foot of the cross,
Mary you met in the garden;
grant us a like redemption.
Hear this prayer for your name’s sake.
Amen.
God our healer, whose mercy is like a refining fire: by the loving- kindness of Jesus, heal us and those for whom we pray; that being renewed by you, we may witness your wholeness to our broken world; through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Spirit. Amen.
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
Loving God
You have called us to be salt and light;
Beacons of hope,
And agents of change.
You have called us to be leaven,
Working in the hidden places
To make pleasant and light,
What would otherwise be unpalatable.
In my working life
May I be known
Not only for the person I am
But the difference that I make
May my faith not be the thing
that separates me from others,
But rather that which binds me to them
Compelling me to journey with them
In every shade of life’s experience.
And as we offer our working lives
As a living sacrifice to you,
Inhabit our praise we pray
That workshop and office tower,
Boardroom and factory floor
May be transformed by your presence;
Made manifest
Through the everyday endeavours of Your people
For Survivors of Abuse and Violence
Holy One, you do not distance yourself from the pain of your
people, but in Jesus bear that pain with us and bless all who suffer
at others’ hands. Hallow our flesh and all creation; with your
cleansing love bring healing and strength to N.; and by your
justice, lift her/him up, that in the body you have given her/him,
she/he may again rejoice. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
In Times of Personal Distress
Lord Christ, you came into the world as one of us, and suffered
as we do. As we go through the trials of life, help us to realize
that you are with us at all times and in all things; that we have
no secrets from you; and that your loving grace enfolds us for
eternity. In the security of your embrace we pray. Amen.
In the Evening 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 sake. Amen.
God help us to commit to each other every day to be mindful that everyone matters.
God help us we pray to commit our lives to the care of all of our family members nearby and far away.
God help us we pray to commit to the equality and well being of all and that we will speak truth to power in solidarity with the marginalized as we remember especially_________.
God help us we pray to commit our Love Energy and Heart Homes to making peace on our streets and through out the world.
God help us we pray to commit our care muscles in the care of all our family members and especially the least of these and our many family members who are ill in body, mind, and spirit.
God help us we pray to commit our compassion muscles in lovingly supporting our family members who are grieving and having life struggles.
God help us we pray to commit our energy to be good conservationists of your Cathedral of Life.
God help us we pray to commit ourselves to the fight of injustice, being a voice for the voiceless, and speaking truth to power and letting justice roll down.
God help us we pray to commit ourselves to the inclusion of all human beings into our lives and be fully accepting of them as our brothers and sisters.
God help us we pray to commit our energies in the service of all our family members who are in trouble, danger, escaping tyranny and unsafe nations.
God help us we pray to commit ourselves to protecting all who labor in factory, farm, and everywhere.
God we commit ourselves to you,
God we commit to being Loving towards you, our family members, and ourselves.
God we commit to walk the walk and talk the talk without fear and reservation,
God we commit to speak lovingly towards each other with dignity and respect.
God we commit to get to know our family members from other faith communities as our brothers and sisters.
God we commit to the affirmation that All Lives Matter and All means All and not Some.
God we commit to enter into daily silence and go deeper to the center to be in communion, conversation, and listening with you and hear with our heart homes and with the necessary Love Energy you Give us.
God we add our additional prayers and thanksgivings now remembering especially__________
Accept these our prayers in name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment