Mother's Day

Great God, who parents us all and embraces us in the great family of heaven and earth, I come today to thank you for mothers, for their nurturing, and for the different ways that families come together, and change, and still remain family. All experience is here from the salvation of birth to death's goodbye; and it is here that we learn to belong, that we are loved, and that we can love.

Thank you, precious Lord, for the blessing of my mother. The most loving and grace-filled person I've ever known, and who influenced and shaped my life more than I could have ever imagined, and continues to do so even today.

There are so many hugs, kisses, laughter and quiet moments I'm looking forward to sharing and embracing when I see her again in heaven.

I love you mom.

All Things New

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is making all things new. Our past does not prescribe our future. God opens our eyes and hearts to the sufferer and the stranger. In them, we can find and serve our God. In our service to others will be discover a new way of being.

Thanks be to God!

Some Children See Him

Some children see Him lily white,
The baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
With tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
With dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,
This Savior whom we kneel beside.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
With skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they,
Sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
And, ah! they love Him, too!

The children in each different place
Will see the baby Jesus' face
Like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,
And filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing
And with thy heart as offering,
Come worship now the infant King.
'Tis love that's born tonight!

To You, Oh God

All Creatures Sing!

An assurance of Pardon

Our Savior says, "Let not your heart be troubled. In my Father's house are many rooms .... I go to prepare a place for you .... that where I am you may be also." Friends, the love of God is roomy, full of welcome. Know that you are forgiven; receive the welcome of God, where you will always find shelter.

Come

Come as a child to the kingdom!

Come believing in angels on heavenly errands, with eyes for a wandering star and ears for the message of dreams. Come as a child who hears the angel proclaim, "With God all things are possible!"

Come as a child to the miraculous kingdom of our miraculous God!

Take My Life

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee;
Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my will and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal Throne.

Where Charity and Love Prevail

Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found;
Brought here together by Christ's love, by love are we thus bound.

With grateful joy and rev'rent heart true charity we learn;
Let us with heart and mind and strength now love Christ in return.

Everything good

Everything good that is done in the world is done by hope.

- Martin Luther

The 13th Psalm

O Lord, how long wilt Thou forget me?
How long wilt Thou withhold Thy favor from me?
How long mush I cherish a daily grief?
How long is my foe to triumph over me?

Look to me, O Lord, my God, and answer me.

O Lord, revive me, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
O Lord, revive me, lest my foe claim, "I have master him."
O Lord, revive me, lest my enemies exult over my downfall.

But on Thy kindness I indeed rely,
let me exult over Thy saving aid;
I will sing unto the Lord!
For He hath dealt with me so lovingly.

Praise your name always

Oh God, sometimes You seem so far away. I cannot always sense Your presence or feel Your power. At times there seems to be only darkness around me. How long do Ihave to live in this void, O God? How long?

Break into the night around me, O God; fill in the vast emptiness. Enter into my conflict lest I fall and believe I cannot rise again. I continue to trust in Your ever-present love. I shall again discover true joy in my relationship to You. I will proclaim Your praises, my Lord, for you will never let me go. I know that nothing can be hidden from you. I can only acknowledge my errors and accept your loving forgiveness.

O Lord; heal the hurts of those who have been affected by my failures. Restore to me the joy and assurance of a right relationship with you. Reinstate me in your purposes, and help me to avoid the snares and pitfalls along the way. It is only then that my tongue will be set free to sing your praises and my hands to perform the tasks you have set before me. It is only then that I can relate deeply and meaningfully to all those I encounter and communicate to them the message of reconciling love.

I come to you with only the desire for a new spirit in my heart. I come with a sincere desire to be your servant, to walk in your course for my life, to receive your love and channel it to my fellow human beings about me.

I thank you, God, that this is acceptable to you and that I will remain your child forever. And I will praise your name always.

Bless God!

Bless God, O My soul!
All within me bless God's name!
Bless God,
who was,
and is,
and shall ever be the same!

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Maker's throne
Let all my needs and wants be known.
In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter's snare
By your return, sweet hour of Prayer!

Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life!

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life!
Such a Way as gives us breath,
Such a Truth as ends all strife,
Such a Life as killeth Death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength!
Such a Light as shows a feast,
Such a Feast as mends in length,
Such a Strength as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart!
Such a Job as none can move,
Such a Love as none can part,
Such a Heart as Joys in love.

- George Herbert

A Prayer

We thank you, for you are our God and God of our fathers and mothers forever. You are the Refuge of our life, the Shield of our help. From generation to generation may we thank you and count your praises - evening, morning, and noon.

For our lives, which are committed into your hand,
For our souls, which are entrusted to you,
For your miracles, which are with us every day,
For your wonders and goodness at all times.

O Good One, your compassion does not fail!
Oh Merciful One, your loving kindness never ceases!

Forever we hope in you.

Strong Faith

Friends, you are sons of Abraham and daughters of Sarah, heirs of God's blessing and covenant!

May we too walk in God's presence, trusting in the guidance of God.

Know that God's chosen ones find divine power beyond all human comprehension and God's ways of mysterious, miraculous. As gracious as the dawn to those longing for light, so welcome is God's love to those who have endured in trust and hope.

Then may we live and worship with the strong faith of Rachel and Jacob, open to God's call and presence.

Prayer of Sorrow

Holy God, whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are not our thoughts, grant that your holy Spirit may intercede for us with sighs too deep for human words.

Loving God, in our sorrow, hold us gently in your arms.

On this day, we would look to you for guidance in the manner in which we relate to one another.

Help us to give as we would receive,
To hear as we would choose to be heard,
To speak as we would choose to be spoken to,
And to forgive as we would choose to be forgiven.

Bring forth from the very depths of our hearts a willingness to be patient. Help us perceive time as a healing balm that soothes the deepest wounds, while conquering the greatest anxiety.

Through the veil of our tears and the silence of our emptiness, assure us again that ear has not heard, nor eye seen, nor human imagination envisioned, that you have prepared for those who love you. As we celebrate life, we ask for your presence to comfort our grieving spirits.

And when we are again able, direct us in an ongoing effort to be your hands in the world desperately in need of tender touching.

Amen.

Celebration of Life

When we have passed the tests we were sent to Earth to learn, we are allowed to graduate. We are allowed to shed our body, which imprisons our soul the way a cocoon encloses the future butterfly and when the time is right we can let go of it.

Then we will be free of pain, free of fears and free of worries - free as a beautiful butterfly returning home to God, which is a place where we are never alone, where we continue to grow and sing and dance, where we are with those we loved and where we are surrounded with more love than we can ever imagine.

- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Assurance of Forgiveness

The mercy of God is not diminished by the wavering strength of our faith or by our capacity for joy. The mercy of God is poured upon us, faithful and faithless, joyful and joyless alike, that all may come to know the boundless love of God.

Friends: Simply accept the good news!

In Jesus Christ we are forgiven and given new life!

A Prayer of Confession

God of truth, how difficult it is for us to be truthful before you. We want to hide our anxieties and fears, our resentments and self-centeredness. Cut through our evasions with the truth of your word, and help us to be honest.

God of mercy, your hopes for us are greater than our own, yet the times that we fall short of the mark do not surprise you. Forgive us, we pray, even for the separation from you that we cannot see or find too painful to confess.

God of love, we know that you accept us as we are. Help us to accept ourselves.

Teach us to affirm what is good in our lives and to put behind us what is unworthy, that by your grace we may live in confidence and joy, in the manner of Jesus our Christ.

Amen.

Season of Lent

This is the season of Lent, a season to remember more clearly the life of Jesus Christ. A season to remember that to follow Christ is to take up your crosses and to be servants of all.

Thanks be to God!

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.

Light

O God of ferocious tenderness and disarming insistence, put Your ear to our hearts, listen to what we long for, and touch us with healing and with hope. Sometimes the darkness of doubt is upon us, doubt of our worth, our power, our possibilities, our connection with others, our kinship with You.

O God, separate once more the light from the darkness. Make light of us.

Dispel our gloomy grudges and guilty fears. Transform our self-preoccupations into a filament of trust, a radiant confidence in You.

O God, make light in us.

Make light in us to mount one small reformation of trust, and so to span some gap and tip some scale toward justice.

O God, make light through us, igniting a dawn of reunion, a wave of laughter, a glow of peace, a splendor of joy, leading to a magnificent resurrection of Your Love.

Something Heavy

Everyone, no matter who, carries something heavy. Approach everyone you meet with compassion and love.

Silence

When we try to express communion with God in words, we rapidly reach the end of our capacities. A fairly long period of silence to listen to the voice of God deep within, therefore, is essential in discovering the heart of prayer.

A very simple reality

When we open the Gospel, each of us can say, "These words of Jesus are rather like a very ancient letter written in an unknown language. But since it is written to me by someone who loves me, I am going to try to understand it's meaning, and to put into practice right away the little I have grasped."

Extensive knowledge is not important at the outset. In time that will be of great value. But it is through the heart, in the depths of themselves, that human beings begin to grasp the Mystery of Faith. Everything is not granted at once. An inner life is developed step by step. Today, more than in the past, we enter into the faith by going forward in stages.

Right at the depth of human condition, lies the longing for a presence, the silent desire for a communion. Let us never forget that this simple desire for God is already the beginning of Faith.

Moreover, no one is able to understand the entire Gospel in isolation from others. Each person has to say, "In this unique communion that is the Church, what I do not understand of the faith is understood by others who are living from it. I do not rely on my faith alone but on the faith of Christians of all times, those who have gone before us, from the time of Mary and the apostles to those of today. And day after day I prepare inwardly to put my trust in the Mystery of Faith."

So it becomes clear that faith - trusting in God - is a very simple reality, so simple that everyone could receive it. It is like surging upwards again and again, a thousand times, throughout our life, and until our very last breath.

- Brother Roger of Taize

Psalm 96:1-4

O sing unto the Lord, sing a new song all the earth.
Bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. Declare his glory among the heathen; declare his wonders among all the people. For the lord is great and greatly to be praised.

A Prayer

Holy God, we come before you with awe, for you are great in love and power!

Some of us come with sadness and some with joy, yet we know you receive us as we are.

Mighty God, stay with us always, as we worship and as we share the risk and challenge of living our faith. By your Spirit, turn our fear to courage and our confusion to confidence.

Teach us God, with your healing fire.
Speak to us through your word.

Abide always in our prayers, the spoken and the unspoken; and make your Word come true in our hearts.

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Let Us Worship God!

God in Christ has told us, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

We stand at the doorway of this new day and new week.

With the bold confidence of God's beloved children, we raise our hands to knock: that the living God may oil the hinges of our hearts' doors, that they may swing gently and easily to welcome God's coming.

Let us worship God!

I love you unconditionally .....

And there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

- God

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to God!

It is right and joyous to come together in the presence of God and one another, invited to share in the gifts of creations and to become stewards of God's bounty for the world.

We praise you, O God, for your abundant mercy; from your goodness we have received grace upon grace.

Gathered as your people, we remember all you have done in our world: the beauties of nature you have molded with your hands, the prophets you have inspired with your vision of righteousness, the poets and psalmists into whom you have breathed the sustaining music of your spirit.

We remember especially Jesus Christ, who showed us in his life and teachings, that you will never stop drawing all creation back to your embrace, and that your call for love and justice cannot be defeated.

Loving God, Almighty Creator, who sent a star to guide the magi to where Christ was born, and whose signs and words in every age lead people to Him: We thank you for showing us Jesus, the light of the world, through whom we are baptized into your service.

Amen.

A New Years Prayer

Almighty God,
Your Son has come to be a part of our world.
We rejoice that he is here!

He has your eyes and he has seen us.
He has your mouth and he speaks to us.
He has your heart and he cares for us.

Help us now to receive Him with joy, so that the light He brings may fill our lives and be reflected to people young and old all over this world, not only today, but also through this New Year.

Amen.

Epiphany

When the song of the angel is still
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among peoples,
To make music in the heart!

Send us, O God, into your world, to be your hands and feet, to speak the truth and to seek justice for all. Unite us with all who are fed by Christ, that, from now forward, we may allow the light of Christs love to shine through us in an uncertain world.

Amen.

What Sweeter Music

What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol for to sing
The birth of this our heav'nly King?
Awake the voice! Awake the string!
Heart, ear and eye and ev'rything.
Awake! The while the active finger
Runs division with the singer.

- Michael Fink

There is no rose

There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu.
For in this rose contained was heaven and earth in little space.
Res miranda (a wonderful thing).

There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu.
By that rose we may well see that He is God in persons three.
Pari forma (of the same form).
The angels sungen the shepherds to: Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gaudeamus (letus rejoice).

There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu.
Leave me all this worldly mirth, and follow we this joyful birth;
Transeamus (let us go).

There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu.

- Howard Helvey
Words traditional 15th-century carol

In this Season

In this season of bleak sun and chilling wind a voice of infinite warmth and tenderness is heard: "I shall comfort my people." It is God come to us in splendid mercy, in human form. Let God gather you as a shepherd sweeps up a lamb into his arms.

There, rest in joy.

Let us worship the good Shepherd who gathers us unto himself.

Advent - The Word

When God begot His first-born Son on earth,
He called us to assist the wondrous birth.
What good is Mary's greeting, Gabriel,
If you be not my messenger as well?

- Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)

The Good Shepherd - A Prayer

All we like sheep have strayed from the Good Shepherd.
We have often forsaken the Shepherd's voice, each following our own way.
Let us ask for God's mercy and blessing.

O Spirit of the Shepherd God,
Bend over us, as angels brushing low.
Open our eyes to the splendor!

Bid us rise to our feed, as the shepherds rose out of fear,
Rising into the peace and the favor of God.

O Spirit of the Shepherd God,
Bend over us, as angels brushing low.

Then send us, too, seeking Christ in humble please.
With glad hearts we stand ready to welcome your Son.

Glory to God in the highest!

A Communion Prayer

Bountiful God, we give you thanks for the gift of our Savior's presence in the simplicity and splendor of this holy meal. Unite us with all who are fed by Christ, that we may faithfully proclaim the good news of your love in an uncertain world.

Amen.

Good Christians, all Rejoice!

Good Christians, all rejoice!
With heart and soul and voice;
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ was born to save!
Calls you one and calls you all,
To gain his everlasting hall.

Christ was born to save!
Christ was born to save!

- In Dulci Jubilo

Advent - A time of Anticipation

Advent is a time of anticipation, a time to give concrete form to spiritual concepts.

It is a time when feelings become gifts, thoughts become prayers, and faith becomes loving action.

It is a time when we remember that God's gift of light became known to us through Jesus Christ.

As quietly as the winter steals upon us, this season of light approaches.

We wait for our Redeemer, for God's promises to be fulfilled.

The day is coming quickly!
The God of mercy draws near.

Therefore we wait with joy, attentive to all the signs of God's coming.

Christmas Comes Again This Year

Christmas comes again this year.
It is coming, ready or not.
Christ is coming, ready or not.
He's the one for whom we have no room,
Not then, not now, not ever.
Until we take His Advent
Seriously.

- Wayne Saffe

Prayer of Dedication

The creator of all life and love has endowed our earth with bountiful blessings.
We return to God portions of what God has given us:

Our time
The fruits of our labors
Our commitment.

May the giving from the fullness of our lives be acceptable in God's sight.
May the gifts we bring prove God's Rule is at hand -

both now
and in the days to come

Amen

Thanksgiving

For the joys and hopes and dreams of children, and for the safety of home,

We thank you, loving God.

For the exuberance and energy of youth, and for the ability to question and find one's own way, never deserted by your love and care,

We thank you, loving God.

For the girts of maturity, and the opportunity we are given to nurture others in our family and our community, and when we are given the occasion to bring our gifts into the world,

We thank you, loving God.

For the accumulated wisdom of experience, and the knowledge that you never desert us, and for the chance to help those who walk the paths we have already walked,

We thank you, loving God.

Thanksgiving prayer after meditating

We give You thanks, Lord God Almighty, for all the benefits You have given us. May all our intentions and works this day be directed solely to the greater glory of Your Divine Majesty. May Your grace dwell always in us. We ask these things of You who live and reign forever and ever.

Amen.

Commitment Prayer

Jesus, I love you.

I am sorry for my sins. I thank You for dying on the cross for me personally. I celebrate Your resurrection this beautiful day by giving life to You.

I invite You into my life, in my home, into my business, into my school, into my recreation, into whatever I am.

Come, Lord Jesus.

I truly accept You as my Lord and my God and my personal Savior.
Come now and fill me with Your Spirit.
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
Fill me Lord Jesus with Your love and send me forth to my family and friends to share with them Your love and concern.

Jesus, I love You and I will follow You as Your disciple ever day of my life.

Amen.

Christ .....

.... is counting on you.

Healing prayer at bedtime

Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, go back into my memory as I sleep. Every hurt that has ever been done to me -- heal that hurt. Every hurt that I have ever caused to another person -- heal that hurt. All the relationships that have been damaged in my whole life that I am not aware of, heal those relationships.

But if there is anything I need to do -- if I need to go to a person because they are still suffering from my hand, bring to my awareness that person.

I choose to forgive and I ask to be forgiven. Remove whatever bitterness may be in my heart and fill the empty spaces with Your love.

Thank you, Jesus.

Amen

Prayer

Praise the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit,
the God who is,
who was,
and who is to come
at the end of the ages.

Christian Community

Christian Community,
the Body of Christ,
requires total mobilization:
of the head, through study;
of the knees, through piety;
of the hand and feet through apostolic action.

Statement of Faith (The United Church of Christ)

We are not alone; we live in God's world.
We believe in God; who has created and is creating;
Who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new;
Who works in us and others by the Spirit.

We trust in God:

We are called to be the Church,
to celebrate God's presence,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God!

Bless God, O My Soul

With compassion God works justice when oppression shackles truth;
Like the phoenix, God restores us to the vigor of our youth.

Bless God, O my soul! All with-in me bless God's name!
Bless God, who was and is, and shall ever be the same!

As a parent's love is endless, so God's mercy follow us: For th grade of God is great as heaven stands high above the earth!

Bless God, O my soul! All with-in me bless God's name!
Bless God, who was and is, and shall ever be the same!

Gladness of Heart

Eternal God, grant us an ease to breathe deeply of this moment, this light, and this miracle of now. Beneath the din of fury of great movements and harsh news and urgent crises.

Make us attentive still to good news, to small occasions, and the grace of what is possible for us to be , to do, to give, to receive, that we may miss neither our neighbor's gifts nor our adversary's needs.

Holy God, grant us a sense of humor that adds perspective to compassion,
Gratitude that adds persistence to courage,
Quietness of spirit that adds irrepressibility to hope,
Openness of mind that adds surprise to joy.

That with gladness of heart we may link arm and arm with the One who saw signs of your kingdom in salt and yeast, pearls and seeds, travelers and tax collectors, foreigners and fishermen.

And who opens our eyes with these signs and our ears with the summons to follow to something more of justice and joy.

Amen.

A Call to Worship

In the name of God, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
Amen!
This is the day that God has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Let us come before God, our Creator.
Let us praise God in our speaking and our praying.
Let us worship God!

Stained-Glass Windows

People are like Stained-Glass Windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
But when the darkness sets in,
Their true beauty is revealed only
if there is a light within.

Elisabeth Kulber-Ross

I Asked God

I asked God to take away my habit.
God said, No.
It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said, No.
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No.
Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No.
I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No.
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make me grow.
God said, No.
You must grow on your own! But, I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life.
God said, No.
I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.
God said...Ahhhh, finally you have the idea!!

Worship the God of our fathers and mothers!

Let us come to listen for all God seeks to teach us.
Every perfect gift comes to us from God.
God's image is a part of each one of us.
God's grace has been poured into our lives.
Wisdom and understanding are offered to us.
We honor God by honoring one another.
Let worship the God of our fathers and mothers!

Shoulders

If we stand tall it is because we stand on the shoulders of many ancestors.

- Yoruba proverb

A prayer - Fathers and Mothers

Great God, who does parent us all and embraces us in the great family of heaven and earth, we come today to thank you for fathers and mothers. For their nurturing, and for the different ways that families come together, and change, and still remain family.

We praise you all the more as you lead us to recognize Christ in our neighbors who are in need, and in responding to their needs, to know the real warmth and affection of your family.

We thank you for our brothers and sisters and also the members of our extended families. We pray that we may work and play together, letting go of harmful ways of relating, so that a new understanding can be found; for if we do not love those whom we see, how can we talk about loving you?

He us to become wise in the understanding of people, eager to live as the body of Christ, making a difference in the world.

Adoring praises now we bring
And with the heav'nly blessed sing;
"Christ has triumphed! Alleluia!"
Sing, choirs of angels, loud and clear!
Repeat their song of glory here:
"Christ has triumphed! Alleluia!"
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Hear our prayer

We find your name upon our lips, O God, for you have placed it in our hearts. However much we twist and turn and run to flee from your great love, we sense in the inmost citadel of our being that we have no future save the future that we know in you.

For minds that can think,
for hearts that can feel,
for hands and feet that can do:

We thank you, God.

For large purposes that call us; for associations and causes that unite us; for grace that restores and forgives:

We thank you, God.

In a day when the problems that confront us seem more than we can handle, open our eyes to the resources at our command as your children. You, who are able to demolish the old and bring the new to birth, work in this our city, our state, and our country and make us agents of our neighbor's good and the glory of your name.

O God, hear our prayer.

Help us to act on the truth we know lest we lose it and fall back; spare us the hypocrisy of assuming that our convictions are objectively pure while our brother and sister's point of view is slanted with self-interest;

When our grasp of you is weak,
Keep firm your hold on us;

When what you are is most hidden from our eyes,
Held us to cling to what you command,

May it be our joy and upper most intention
To rest in you,
To work for you,
To become like you.

Hear our prayer.

Springtime

Springtime changes are bursting forth around us.
The earth awakens from winter with a display of wondrous color.
The cycle of recreation continues.
As it has for ages past and will for ages to come.
Lent has passed and the celebration of Easter Sunday is over.
But the message of new life, new awakenings, and new possibilities remains with us.

Alleluia!

The Kyrie

You are the Lord, giver of mercy!
You are the Christ, giver of mercy!
You are the Lord, giver of mercy!

Litany of Confession - Maundy Thursday

God in whom the heart's deep terrors are assuaged and the furrowed brow soothed to long-sought peace, hear our prayers for all whose darkest night still lies before them. No more than Christ are we exempt from deepest distress; no less than he are we granted the deep delight of your presence.

Hold tenderly in your arms all who are weary, embattled, and shattered. Restore us, as Christ, into everlasting light.

O God, in your presence we discover who we are. Jesus washes our feet, and we learn how often we are reluctant to serve one another.

As he prepares to give himself away, we are still seeking promotions and possessions.

Often our love scarcely suffices to fulfill the requirements of good manners. And though we lift the cup and break the bread with him tonight, tomorrow he shall die alone. We have not yet read what your finger has written upon our hearts.

Loving God, we know you have forgiven us. Help us to forgive ourselves and to more completely become the creation you made and to which we aspire.

Requiem

May the angels lead you into paradise;
may the martyrs welcome you upon
your arrival, and lead you into the holy
city of Jerusalem.

May a choir of angels welcome you,
and, with poor Lazarus of old,
may you find eternal rest.

- Gabriel Faure

At The Last Supper

It was this, I feel sure, that Jesus wanted so much to make clear to Peter and the disciples. In all his days with them, but especially at the Last Supper, in his last moments with them, he wanted to underline the truth: my Kingdom is a Kingdom of Love! It is not a place where power rules or people compete. It is not a playground of pleasure or a haven for those who have no heart to try. The solemn and solitary requirement for entrance into the Kingdom of God is the choice of love as a life principle. There is only one badge of identification: "By this shall all know that you are my disciples, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:35).

"If you cannot accept this," Jesus insisted with Peter, "you cannot be my partner. The only power in my kingdom is the power of love!"

Jesus wants to know if the lesson has come through. He apparently found in the Apostles the same lack of understanding that I so often find in myself. In Mark's Gospel, Jesus asks the Apostles seventeen times (I once counted them!): "Are you still without understanding?"

I must ask myself the same question again and again: Do I really understand that such a commitment is the only way to true and abiding happiness? These are the questions whose answers lie deep inside of me. I must at least attempt a search of those deepest parts. My whole life is at stake.

(From Unconditional Love by John Powell, S.J.)

To Live Content

To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never, in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony.

William Ellery Channing