Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 5/11

May is a month of special devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. And in any month of the year, Saturdays are are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. And this particular Saturday in the month of May is the day before Mothers Day!   After today's Pause for Prayer text (a litany) you'll find a hymn based on the Hail Mary.

O, Mary, our sister,

Mary, our Mother,

Mother of Jesus,

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Spouse of the Spirit,

Woman of the Promise,

Mystical Rose,

Consoler of souls,

Queen of Peace

Mother of Mercy, 

Star of the Sea,

Seat of Wisdom,

Doorway to Glory,

Help of all Christians:

    pray for us all

        in good times and bad,

        in sorrow and joy,

        in sickness and health;

    pray for us sinners

        in need of God's mercy,

   pray for us now,

        every day, every night

    and then at the end

        at the hour of our death...

 

Amen. 

This song interpolates some Latin phrases from

the Hail Mary with some expanded translation

of the same.

Ave Maria by Gregory Norbet

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Ave Maria, gratia plena
O holy Mary, full of grace
Dominus tecum

with you the Holy One,
such is your gift to know God in your heart.

Benedicta, 

blest among women
Benedictus 

the child that you bore,
Jesus the Saviour, God's love incarnate
Benedicta

deep woman of faith.

Ave Maria, Ave, Ave Maria

Sancta Maria 

Holy Mary
Mater Dei

Mother of God
Ora pro nobis

pray for our faithfulness
All through the seasons of life

with hope and with love
Ora pro nobis

pray for our faithfulness
all through the seasons of life

with hope and with love.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 5/10

It's Mothers Day weekend, Lord,

a time of gratitude and love

for millions of women and their families,

grateful for the wonderful blessing

our mothers are in our lives...

 

But Mothers Day, like all holidays,

can be lonely and bittersweet

so I pray tonight for women and children

who'll sadly find this special day a burden

more than a blessing...

 

    I pray for those who pray to be mothers:

        hear their prayer, O Lord, and give them grace

            to trust in you and your love...

           

    I pray for mothers estranged from their children

        and children estranged from their mother:

    open their hearts to the healing and peace 

        that has power to bring them together...

    

    I pray for those who have lost their mother

        and for mothers who've lost their children:

    give them faith that one day they'll meet again

        when you gather us all to yourself...

    I pray for those who don't know their mothers

        for many reasons, in many ways:

    hold them close, O Lord, as a mother would,

        and cradle their hearts in your peace...

    And I pray for all whose maternal care

        has given us tender comfort

    in times and places when we reached out

        for the love only mothers can give...

 

Come with peace this weekend, Lord,

    bless our joy and heal our heartache;

mother us all in your warm embrace:

    we're your children, born of your love... 

Protect us, Lord while we're awake

    and watch over us while we sleep

that awake, we might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

 

Tonight's song is a prayer to the one we name 

    Mother of God, Mother of Jesus 

        and Mother of us all...

 

Gentle Woman by Carey Landy

 

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Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 5/10

Image source

 

Every day, Lord,
    I check my calendar,

    I check my watch,

    I check my email,
    I check my voice mail,
    I check my snail mail,
    I check my texts,
    I check my Tweets,
    I check my FB messages...

Well, "every day" isn't really accurate:
    I should have said,
    "three, four or more times" every day...

I do a lot of checking in, Lord,
    and some days it seems I check in with just about everybody
        - except you...

So today,
    (especially when I'm checking in
        at one of my regular check-in spots)
    today, Lord, help me find a quiet time and place
        at least once today, 

    just to stop to check in with you,

       to pray...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Ascension Thursday

Ascension Day is almost over. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus instructed his friends not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit - and so they waited 9 days, until Pentecost.

 

We know the story, Lord,

    of your gathering with your friends

        and ascending from their sight

    leaving them the promise

        that the Spirit was soon to come... 

 

So for nine days your friends waited 

    and prayed for the Spirit's coming

in wind and grace and blessing,

    with the fire of your love...  

 

I picture them huddled together, Lord,

    in that same upper room 

where, on the night before you died,

    you broke the Bread of Life

        and blessed your saving Cup...

I hear them telling, again and again, the stories of your life:

    - the story of your calling them 

            and naming them your friends;

    - the stories in your parables,

          the truth you came to share;

    - the stories of your healing those
          distressed, bent low in body and in spirit;

    - the stories of your traveling 'round

          to share your Father's mercy;
    - the story of your passion, your suffering and your death,
          and how they fled in fear and left you all alone;
    - and the story of your rising, your meeting them again,
          greeting them with blessings of pardon and of peace... 

 

Tonight, then, Lord, help me remember

    - the story of your calling me

          and my coming to know you and your love;
    - your parables of wisdom

         and how they've touched my heart, my life;
    - the stories of your healing me
          mending me in my brokenness;
    - the story of your following me,
          never ever leaving my side...
    - the story of your saving me, 

           offering your life upon the Cross,      

      in spite of - because of - all the ways I've failed you

            and betrayed your faithful love;
    - the stories of your showing up

            along the path I walk
       in ways I've least expected you

          - but when I really needed you;
    - the story of my life with you, 

            the story of your love for me,

       a story we're still writing, sharing, living 

            - you and I...

 

No greater story could I tell, Lord,

    than the story of your love,

of your holy Spirit guiding me,

    blessing me on every day,

        in good times and in bad, 

        in sorrow and in joy...

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake I might keep watch for you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

My Story by Big Daddy Weave 

 

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If I told you my story
You would hear hope, that wouldn't let go
And if I told you my story
You would hear love that never gave up

And if I told you my story
You would hear life, but it wasn't mine

 
If I should speak, then let it be of the grace
That is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and where mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

 

If I told you my story, 

you would hear victory over the enemy
And if I told you my story, you would hear freedom
That was won for me

 

And if I told you my story, 

you would hear life overcome the grave
If I should speak, then let it be of the grace
That is greater than all my sin

Of when justice was served, and where mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

 

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior, all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior, all the day long

 

For the grace that is greater, than all my sin
Of when justice was served, and when mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell

Of the grace that is greater, than all my sin
Of when justice was served, and when mercy wins!
Of the kindness of Jesus, that draws me in
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him
Oh to tell you my story, is to tell of Him

 

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my savior, all the day long

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In time for Mothers Day

Photo by Kincaid

 

I'm posting this a few days early 

    for any who might want to share or send this to others...

 
Mothers will be celebrated by their families this weekend in special ways. There will be flowers and sweets; phone calls from children who live too far away for a visit; cards and gifts; breakfast in bed or brunch or dinner at a nice restaurant.  Keep a place in your prayer this day for all the mothers who will rejoice with their families this Mothers Day weekend...


Some women will spend this Mothers' Day in anticipation of the birth of a child they're carrying - perhaps their first child - a child whose ultrasound image has already won the hearts of mom and dad. Other expectant mothers are making their way through the long process of adoption - or perhaps the arrival of their adopted love is just around the corner! Still others welcome children into their lives as their stepmother.  Keep a place in your prayer this Mothers' Day for those who are expecting the arrival of a child - and pray that both mother and child will be healthy...


I lost my mother in August of 1991. I love her and miss her but I can't say that Mothers' Day is as difficult day for me as I know it is for many others. Tougher for me than the second Sunday in May are all the times through the year when wonderful things are happening in my life, in my ministry, and I think, "I wish mom could be here for this!" Open a place in your heart to pray for those who miss the wonderful mother God gave them...


Some mothers have and raise children with no spouse to help and support them.  Some mothers have chosen this path but others have not. Let's keep a place in our prayer for those who know the burdens of single-parent mothering and, when able, open ourselves and our homes to offer what company and help we might give...


My heart goes out to women who want very much to be mothers but who, for any number of reasons, are unable to bear a child... I know this day can be difficult for them, even as they celebrate their own mothers with love and devotion. Let's keep a place in our prayer for women who long for a child with all their heart and soul...


I think of mothers around the world who live in abject poverty, who have no food for their children, no clothing, no health care, no decent shelter... I don't pretend to know or understand what must be the depths of their pain as they hold a malnourished child in their arms with no food to keep them from dying... Pray with me for change in our world to ensure that no mother, no child need face such desperation... And pray for those who even now work to bring food, clean water, clothing and shelter to those who have none...


Part of my ministry is to serve the bereaved... Just recently I celebrated the funeral of a wonderful woman, a fine mother, a woman with faith as great as it was simple, as beautiful as it was profound. Her family grieved and prayed for her and I know this Mothers' Day will be especially difficult for them. Let's keep a place in our prayer this weekend for those whose grief over losing their mother is fresh in their minds and hearts...


We live in world where children are born to families able and ready to care for them and we live in a world where millions of children will be hungry this Mother's Day.  We live in a world where some nations limit the number of children a couple may legally have.  And we live in a world where many champion the "right" to end the life of a child already conceived. For the mothers of all these children, and for their children, let us keep a place in our prayer this weekend...


Some children have mothers who failed to care for them. Their sons and daughters understand deeply the lyrics of that old song, "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child." And some mothers will be burdened today with memories of how they missed the signs of harm being done to their own by others.  Let's keep a place of prayer in our hearts for those whose hearts are heavy today...


Some mothers today will be forgotten by their children: no visit, no card, no call, no candy or flowers. Some mothers this day don't know where a son or daughter has gone or what has become of them. A mother's heart aches on this day for the child of her womb who has forgotten her or who has disappeared. Pray with me on this Mother's Day for women who wait for a call that will not come...


Many mothers will remember today a child they've lost to sickness, addiction, an accident, war or other violence, miscarriage or abortion.  A parent's grief for a child can be unfathomable - and a mother's grief is deeper than any. We Christians pray and believe that one day we shall see those who have gone before us and enjoy their love again. Keep a place in your heart for mothers who need the consolation of such faith and pray they'll trust that the Lord will indeed keep his word...


Some mothers today will not know or recognize their children when they come to visit. Time has robbed them of their memory of even those they love the most. Keep a place in your prayer today for mothers who may know their children in their heart of hearts but are unable to remember or speak their names. And pray for those sons and daughters who tell their mothers of their love, hoping that a mother's heart will hear what her mind no longer holds...


This Mothers' Day, we turn our hearts to Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all: Christ's sisters and brothers. With a mother's care she raised her Son and lived the joys and the grief that only a mother's heart can know. Whatever our spirits on this Mothers' Day weekend, the Mother of Jesus embraces us all, so let us pray...

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.

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Pause for Prayer: ASCENSION THURSDAY

        The Ascension of Christ by Dali (click for larger version)

The perspective of Dali's Ascension never fails to draw me in!  The earthy feet of the Risen Jesus ascending into heaven to reign for ever at the Father's right hand in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

It's not Ascension Thursday everywhere!

Is it Ascension Thursday where you live? In some parts of the Catholic world, the observance of the Ascension has been transferred to this coming Sunday. Or will your local church celebrate Ascension today? The answer can be found here.

You can find the scriptures for Ascension day here. This Preface prayer for the Ascension offers a brief theological summary of what the Church celebrates on this 40th day after Easter. The theology is in the verbs!

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks and praise. Today the Lord Jesus, the king of glory, the conqueror of sin and death, ascended to heaven while the angels sang his praises.

Christ, the mediator between God and humankind, judge of the world and Lord of all, has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope. Christ is the beginning, the head of the Church; where he has gone, we hope to follow.

The joy of the resurrection and ascension renews the whole world, while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

The Ascension is so much more than just an exit line after the Resurrection: the Ascension, the rising of the Risen Lord, home to his Father in heave, fulfills Jesus' mission and brings it to completion.  The Risen One rises...

Pause for Prayer

Just 40 days after Easter, Lord,
you brought your friends together,
to say goodbye, to bid them all farewell...

Taking leave was bittersweet:
    the memory of what was,
    the promise of what yet would be,
    the pledge that on a day to come
    you'd all be one again...

There'd been coming and going, meeting and knowing,

    sorrow and sadness, miracles and joy,

    deserts and dinners, feasting and fasting,

    preaching, parables, words of wisdom, 

    comfort and conflict, judgment and suffering,

    surrender and sacrifice, dying, rising

    and hope born again with promise for all

    of life without end...

You left your friends
    but didn't abandon them,
you promised your Spirit, the Spirit of truth
    to lead and guide, console and comfort
to show us the path we're called to walk,
    the way that leads us home to you
and to that day, still yet to come,
    when all will be one, Lord, once again...

Amen.

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 5/8

We are the clay, Lord, and you the potter:
we are all the work of your hands...

     Isaiah 63:7  

 

 

Like clay in your moist hands, Lord,
    shape me, form me, make of me
        the person you desire me to be...

Turn me on the wheel of all my joys and sorrows,

     mold me in your image, Lord,

and bake me in your kiln, 

    in the furnace of your heart ,

        in the fire of your Spirit

and let your warm fingerprints 

    mark me as your own....

Let me be as clay in your gentle hands
    for you know better than I, Lord,
        the person you desire me to be...
 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace... 

 

Amen.

Change My Heart: You are the Potter  by Eddie Espinosa

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Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 5/8

 

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 5/7

I was out on the road, Lord,

    it was no more than a couple weeks ago,

when I found myself wondering  when at last

    there'd be leaves on the trees...

And this morning I noticed: 

    they've arrived!

 

Now, I know they didn't appear of a sudden,

    overnight, just this morning,

they've been slowly growing, growing greener

    day by day by day...

And I missed that, Lord - was I distracted?

Or simply not paying attention

    to all you were doing, 

what you were creating and coaxing to life 

    right in my back yard and all along Cochituate...

 

Makes me wonder what else I'm missing, Lord

    - what else I've missed!

 

What other beauty are you bringing to life

    right outside my window

beauty I miss because I'm focused on

    - on something less than beauty...

 

Spring's still on its way, Lord,

    so I pray you'll open my eyes 

and make me aware of all the subtle silent ways

    you show yourself in glory...

 

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.

 

I Believe In Springtime by John Rutter

 
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I believe in springtime: fresh and new and bright;
I believe in morning dew and shining morning light.
I believe in sunbeams, melting all the snow;
And I believe when winter's done
The streams will run and rivers flow.

I believe in eagles soaring up so high;
I believe in trees and mountains reaching to the sky.
I believe in green things; all the gifts of earth;
Growing up from tiny seeds that spring has brought to birth.
I believe in summer; I believe in fall:
But most of all I believe in God
Who made it and blessed it all.

I believe in people, living all as one;
Sharing all their songs and laughter, happiness and fun;
I believe in friendship: taking time to care;
And feeling sure of someone else,
And someone feeling glad you're there.
Then I start to wonder how it all might be
If the world could live together just like you and me.
I believe in hoping; I believe in prayer;
I believe in trying hard and learning how to share.
I believe in dreaming; and, when dreams are through,
Then I believe in trusting God
To help me make dreams come true

 

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