Feast of the Visitation

jesusmafa

Blessed is she who believed that the promise of the Holy One to her would be fulfilled!

Sunday Prayer: Trinity

(photo from the files of Mompriest, Sunrise, Escalante, Utah)

Listen! Wisdom is calling!

Before all began,

God , Word, and Wisdom

Creating, calling,

from the foundations of the deep

Listen! Wisdom is calling!

From the mountain tops

Earth, fields and sea

Creating, calling

From the foundations of the deep

Listen! Wisdom is calling!

To those who suffer

God’s love is given

Endurance blossoms

From the foundations of the deep

Listen! Wisdom is calling!

Daily, God’s delight

You, me, every one

Given hope, grace, love

As the foundation of our lives

Listen! Wisdom is calling!

Poured into our hearts

That we may become

Christ’s hand and heart, love

As the foundation of our lives

Listen! Wisdom is calling!

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Saturday Prayer

Loving God of Justice and of Mercy;

Show us when to shake the dust from our feet in Your Name, turning our backs on hypocrisy and oppression, shame and abuse,
And when to stay, invited to be transformed through your limitless healing.

Show us how to love those who answer both calls, to respect their obedience to you.

Give us the integrity to act and speak at all times only as you bid us, not as we, led by ego and insecurity, might do.

And in the midst of discernments, teach us to love both the shaming and the shamed, the abuser and the abused, knowing that each of us is both.

Crossposted on The Kitchen Door.

Thursday Prayer

God of creation, the earth is yours
with all its beauty and goodness,
its rich and overflowing provision.

But we have claimed it for our own,
plundered its beauty for profit,
grabbed its resources for ourselves.

God of creation, forgive us.
May we no longer abuse your trust,
but care gently and with justice for your earth.
Amen.
Jan Berry, in Bread of Tomorrow

Wednesday Prayer

Tuesday Prayer--A Benediction

A Benediction
May your Ultimate Concern, the Divine, the Real, the Triune God, the God of many names, guide your paths and be with you. May you find meaning in your existence in light of the values you hold true. May you find comfort and acceptance in a loving, graceful, and creative God. Amen.
--The Rev. Dr. Wanda Deifelt, Associate Professor of Religion, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.

Sunday Prayer: Pentecost

God of creation, God of fun and sport
God who created Leviathon, just
Because you could, God of fun
God of life, God who delights
In diversity and randomness
We rejoice with you this day!

God who sends forth as the Holy Spirit
God who comes to all, women, men,
Young, old, to all colors, all people
God who speaks all languages and
Loves all people and accepts all
We rejoice with you this day!

God who sends forth an advocate
To lead, to guide, to speak for
All, you, me, all creation
God who loves each one as if,
as if, only one - and yet - all!
We rejoice with you this day!

Fill us we pray, with your Holy Spirit
May we know your fire of
love deeply in our being, may
We be your love. May we bring
Your love. May your love reign
As we rejoice with you this day!

In my words and in my silence in my
Prayers and in my meditation in my
Joy and in my sorrow in my despair and
In my hope, may I know your glory
May I sing to you, to your glory
May we rejoice with you this day!

And may the peace that surpasses all
Understanding, the peace that calms
My troubled heart, the peace that
Soothes my fears, the peace that
You give. For the peace that you give,
May we rejoice with you this day!

Amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and SeekingAuthenticVoice

Saturday Prayer

Teach me work that honors Thy work,
the true economies of goods and words,
to make my arts compatible
with the songs of the local birds.

Teach me patience beyond work
and, beyond patience, the blest
Sabbath of The unresting love
which lights all things and gives rest.
-Wendell Berry, from Given

Thursday Prayer

Help me see the good
and the bad,
O God,
as equal opportunities
to lean closer
into your loving embrace.

Wednesday Prayer (for Pentecost)

O God the Holy Ghost
Who art light unto thine elect
Evermore enlighten us.
Thou who art fire of love
Evermore enkindle us.
Thou who art Lord and Giver of Life,
Evermore live in us.
Thou who bestowest sevenfold grace,
Evermore replenish us.
As the wind is thy symbol,
So forward our goings.
As the dove, so launch us heavenwards.
As water, so purify our spirits.
As a cloud, so abate our temptations.
As dew, so revive our languor.
As fire, so purge our dross.


Christina Rossetti (AD 1830-1894)

Blessed is the Spot--Tuesday Prayer

BLESSED IS THE SPOT
Baha'u'llah

Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place,
And the city, and the heart, and the mountain,
And the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land,
And the sea, and the island, and the meadow,
Where mention of God hath been made, and his praise glorified.

At the Lamb's High Feast We Sing

At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing
By: office hymn, 17th cent.

At the Lamb’s high feast we sing
Praise to our victorious king,
Who has washed us in the tide
Flowing from his pierced side.
Alleluia!

Praise we him, whose love divine
Gives his sacred blood for wine,
Gives his body for the feast
Christ the victim, Christ the priest.
Alleluia!

Where the paschal blood is poured,
Death’s dread angel sheathes the sword;
Israel’s hosts triumphant go
Through the wave that drowns the foe.
Alleluia!

Praise we Christ, whose blood was shed,
Paschal victim, paschal bread;
With sincerity and love
Eat we manna from above.
Alleluia!

Mighty Victim from the sky,
Hell’s fierce powers beneath you lie;
You have conquered in the fight
You have brought us life and light.
Alleluia!

Now no more can death appall,
Now no more the grave enthrall;
You have opened paradise,
And your saints in you shall rise.
Alleluia!

Easter triumph, Easter joy!
This alone can sin destroy;
From sin’s power, Lord, set us free,
Newborn souls in you to be.
Alleluia!

Father, who the crown shall give,
Savior, by whose death we live,
Spirit, guide through all our days;
Three in One, Your name we praise.
Alleluia!

Notes:
Hymn # 126 from Lutheran Worship
Author: Bohemian Brethren
Tune: Sonne Der Gerechtigkeit

(In the video it is sung to Salzburg, and the alleluias just in my heart--in loving memory of my oldest daughter whose 18th anniversary of death was Saturday. It was the closing hymn at her Easter season funeral.)

Sunday Prayer: Easter 7

(Photo of Moon setting at sunrise, Escalante, Utah, files of Mompriest)

Bright Morning Star, Holy God
Joy of my heart,
Water of life
Gift to all
Hear our prayer.

Comfort those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit
Those who thirst for your mercy and grace
Those who yearn for the peace of Christ.

Bright Morning Star, Holy God
Joy of my heart,
Water of life
Gift to all
Hear our prayer.

Have mercy on those who struggle to follow
Your desire, your hope, your way,
May your Name be known to them.

Bright Morning Star, Holy God
Joy of my heart,
Water of life
Gift to all
Hear our prayer.


God of love, pour out abundantly like
A river, like flood waters, like a dam opening
Your love overflowing on this house and that

Bright Morning Star, Holy God
Joy of my heart,
Water of life
Gift to all
Hear our prayer.

God of the morning, God of water, Giver
of life in you I am complete for through you
I know love, I become love, yours.

Bright Morning Star, Holy God
Joy of my heart,
Water of life
Gift to all
Hear our prayer.

Amen.

crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and Seeking Authentic Voice

Feast Day of St. Isidore

In honor of St. Isidore the farmer, this prayer:

Almighty God, we thank you for making the earth fruitful, so that it might produce what is needed for life: Bless those who work in the fields; give us seasonable weather; and grant that we may all share the fruits for the earth, rejoicing in your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-BCP, p.824

A Gardener's Springtime Prayer

Here are my hands, Spirit of Earth and Space,
mysterious Wisdom within and behind everything that is
and is promising,

Gardener ever ancient, ever new,
who fashioned out of those colossal explosions at our beginning

all the avenues to life, to its complexities,
and to the communion we are destined for,
here are my hands.

Give them the skills of a midwife
to put good order into expectations,
to coax along the natural forces of life and growth

that are already within the earth,
and to help wisely with the harvesting.

Here are my hands,
and here are my dreams.

-- William Cleary

























Home Prayers Fables Books Music Opinions

Seek Justice

"Seeking justice in the everyday, though, is not something we do alone. As the Talmud, a collection of rabbinic writings, said, 'It is not upon you to complete the task, but you are not free to idle from it.' We are responsible to act, but it is not up to us to complete the task, so we shouldn't feel overwhelmed or pressured or guilty. The fate of the world doesn't rest on our shoulders. We are simply trying to follow Jesus and, for that, we have been promised aid."

Clawson, Julie. Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2009. 187.

Wednesday Prayer

Tuesday Prayer--I Only Ask God

Mo Ghrá'sa, Mo Dhia (My Love, My God)

Lyrics:

Curfá:
Ailelú, ailelú
Ailelú mo Shlánaitheoir
'S Tú mo Dhia, 's mé do ghiolla
Ailelú mo chroí go deo

Mo ghrá-sa, mo Dhia, mo ghárda, mo liaigh
Mo ghrá geal, mo Thiarna
Mo ghrá, mo Chríost, mo ghrá, mo chroí
Mo ghrá ar fad thú a Rí na glóire

(Curfá)

Mo ghrá-sa go h-úird, naomhtha id chúirt
Mo ghrá-sa do chroí is do cló geal
Mo ghrá-sa do thread, is fada do shead
Mo ghrá, mo shoilse, mo neart, mo Rí

(Curfá)

'S Tú mo Dhia, 's mé do ghiolla
Ailelú mo chroí go deo

English Translation:

Halleluia, halleluia
Halleluia, my Savior
You are my God, I am your servant
Halleluia my heart forever

My love, my God, my guardian, my rock
My fair love, my Lord
My love, my christ, my love, my heart
My love in full, You, my glorious King

(Chorus)

My love __, holy in your court
My love, your heart and your fair appearance
My love, your flock, long is your path
My love, my light, my strength, my king

(Chorus)

You are my God, I am your servant
Halleluia my heart forever

Sunday Prayer: Easter 6

God, who created the heavens and the
Earth and all that lives
Bless us, heal us.
Make Your face to shine
Upon us and bring us peace.

May all leaders
Of governments,
nations, cities, towns, villages
through Your grace, be filled with
Your wisdom. May Your desire for
Life may be fulfilled.

Bless us, heal us,
May your face shine upon us
and bring us peace.

May suffering
Of body, mind,
or spirit be healed through
love -Yours, through faith - mine, ours.
Embrace us deeply. Take my troubled
Heart and my fears.

Bless us, heal us,
May your face shine upon us
and bring us peace.

Strong and yet ,
Gentle God, Mother
of all - birthing life
nurturing life, love food -
grace fuels hope, mercy, comfort,
her people, hers.

Bless us, heal us
May your face shine upon us
And bring us peace.

In thanksgiving
for the gift of life
and the mothers who birthed us
and those who nurtured us
and the nurturer within each
of us, and also for
Your most profound expression
of love, Jesus.
amen.

Crossposted on RevGalBlogPals and Seeking Authentic Voice

Saturday Prayer

Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of all comfort:
Deal graciously, we pray thee, with all those who mourn, that casting every care on thee, they may know the consolation of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-BCP p. 489

Thursday Prayer

O God of mercy, we cannot understand. . .
why all of our needs are provided
while others are still oppressed with need.
We could have been born in another land.
We pray for all who lack food and clothing,
who are cold and ill,
who have lost home and country,
who are disheartened and discouraged,
who are unemployed or underemployed.
Give us the will and provide the grace to love them all in you
and in loving to help bear their burdens and meet their needs.
In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.

~~Mildred Tengbom

Lyn Klug (ed.). Soul Weavings: A Gathering of Women's Prayers. Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1996. 96.

A New Commandment

Saturday Prayer

God, it is your joy to call men and women to serve you
across the barriers of race and language and culture:
Give them strength and courage,
and satisfy their longing to make known the good news of Christ.
Bless those who are called along the humble road,
to serve and support but not to lead.
When they face danger, save them from fear;
When they are disheartened, be their friend;
When they think they have failed, show them the cross.
Give them peace in their hearts,
and peace in their homes,
and the joy of acceptance by those whom they serve.
For Jesus Christ's sake.
-John Kingsnorth