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.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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
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!
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.
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!
Thanks be to God!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
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.
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
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
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