5/14/18

Monday Morning Offering: 5/14


Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza


Good morning, good God!

Late yesterday afternoon, Lord,
as I was locking up the church,
I walked through the sanctuary and the light,
the early evening springtime light,
lit the space in shades of pale gold
and for some reason that glow
took me back to 1982
to memories of that same light
filling the chapel of Morrissey Manor,
the Notre Dame home of my prayer
for four years...

That light stopped me in my tracks, Lord,
so I sat in its aura and prayed
and began to remember so many places
where I've met you in prayer
and where, in prayer, I'ved found your peace,
your presence, your grace...

So this morning, Lord, I offer you
memories of places,
memories of prayer,
memories of meeting you...

I offer you the years of nights
when my mother, my father,
came to my bedside to hear my prayers
just before the lights went out...

I offer you moments of morning prayer,
just before school began,
in the chapel at Bishop Fenwick High School
where I prayed to know if, indeed,
you were calling me to be a priest...

I offer you times of prayer alone
in seminary chapels in Jamaica Plain
and Brighton and South Bend,
chapels where I struggled to know
your mind, your will, your plan
for me, for my life, for my love...

I offer you the sanctuary of St. Ann's,
on St. Stephen Street, at Northeastern,
and memories of Evening Prayer
sung and offered by college students
at the end of day...

I offer you the twin chapels in my present home:
my prayer room and my porch,
sacred space where you're always there
to meet me in the power of your Spirit,
morning and night by sunlight and candle light...

So many places, Lord,
and these I've named are not the only ones:
there's no place on earth where I might go
but that I'd find you there,
find you waiting to meet me in prayer...

I offer you my thanks and praise, Lord,
for all the chapels of your presence
where I have sat with you
and leaned my soul upon your heart
seeking companionship and peace,
mercy and pardon,
understanding and wisdom,
consolation and comfort...

I offer you my love for the light
glowing in church yesterday,
the light that took me back to Morrissey
and memories of sitting with you
in prayer and in peace...

Help my readers, Lord, help them remember
and bring to mind and heart the places,
the chapels and churches,
the beaches, trails and heights
where you have found them and, in peace,
walked with them, sat with them,
kept them company in the silence,
in fading light or sunrise bright
and sheltered them, tenderly,
in the shadow of your wings...

Receive as my prayer, Lord,
this offering of memories,
warmed by the light of your Spirit
and stirred by the power of your grace,
ever the source of my prayer,
always the peace of my soul...

Amen.







 

     
Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please THINK before you write
and PRAY before you think!