Monday Morning Offering: 3/16

Good morning, good God!

So, Lent’s half over, Lord,

    and Easter's only three weeks away...

I should be at least half-prepared,

    half-ready to celebrate Easter

        - but I’m not!

Back on Ash Wednesday I was doing OK,

    right up 'til, oh,

        maybe the First Sunday of Lent.

 

(I know, Lord - that was only 4 days!)

So, I offer you my sketchy record here

    and ask you to forgive my unkept Lenten pledges…

I acknowledge my lack of self-discipline

    - and how I excuse myself so easily...

So many promises, Lord,

    made with firm intentions,

        but all too often a real FAIL in follow-through…

I confess my laziness,

    hoping you'll forgive me

and accept my renewed pledge

    to pray more often,

    to sacrifice some things I crave

    and to reach out to the poor…

And this time, Lord,

    let me not try to do this on my own

but rather 

    to depend and lean on you...

Be with me, Lord,

    and be my strength in every temptation,

especially when I'm tempted

    to give up on Lent,

    on you

    or on me...

• When I put off prayer,

    draw me to a quiet place

        and sit me down to be with you,

    to speak with you

        and rest, calmly, in your presence…

• When I’m tempted to indulge myself

    on what I’ve given up for Lent

        (or on anything else, for that matter!)

    remind me of my pledge and the reason for it:

        to empty out my fullness 

    and to learn from hunger

        what truly feeds my mind and heart...

• When I spend first on myself

    and consume more than I need.

   show me how much I already have

      (and where and how I have too much)

    and help me be more generous

        to those with ittle or nothing at all…

And if I’ve failed from the very beginning

    to pray and fast and sacrifice,

let today be my “Ash Sunday,”

    "day one" of Lent for me:

this day's the day that you’ve made, Lord,

    a day for me to grow in your mercy and your grace...

Lord, I offer you my renewed Lenten pledge:

    strengthen my resolve,

    deepen my commitment

    and keep me faithful to you

        as I prepare for Easter

            and the peace you offer me...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 3/15

On Sundays, Night Prayer takes its lead from some element from the day's liturgy. Today is the Third  Sunday of Lent, the half-way point of this season, a day often called "Latetare (Latin for Rejoice!) Sunday....  In an email this morning, a friend reminded me of how in Advent, I have in my homily sometimes broken into song with "We Need A Little Christmas" from the musical, "Mame!" (Video)  He mused that in the days at hand, "We Need a Little Easter!"  I thought that to be a great connection with Laetare Sunday - thus tonight's prayer...

 

It's true, Lord: 

    We need a little Easter! 

 

This Earth we call our common home thirsts

    for a springtime of renewal and waits

for the sun to rise with light and warmth

    to coax new growth 

from what's lain buried in cold ground

    these long, dark wintry months...

 

Humanity's spirit, Lord,

    needs a little Easter!

 

The world's people hunger

    for Passover's bread of affliction*

        to be shared as the bread of freedom;

    for the paschal dough of Jesus' bread 

        to rise in our communion...

 

And our nation's tortured soul, Lord

    - needs a little Easter!

 

We need to be raised up - and out 

    of what splits and divides us;

we need to be delivered, renewed

    as those who claim, In God we trust;

we need to know once more

    that all that rises must converge... 

 

We need the earth to shake again

    and shudder in amazement

that you have conquered sin and death:

    our sin and our death;

that you have risen from the grave

    of selfishness and envy, of grudge and greed,

        of lust and hate, of lies and threats,

    of all that has entombed us

      in our prejudice and pride...

 

We need a little Easter, Lord

    - we need a lot of Easter, Lord!

 

We need the peace you offered us

    in laying down your life;

we need the grace that saves us

    in your rising from the dead;

we need the life that can be ours

    if we but rise with you...

 

Oh, yes - we need a little Easter, Lord,

    that we might rise again

        with you and in your peace... 

 

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. 

 

* In Jewish tradition, Passover matzo is called "the bread of affliction" — of suffering — and also "the bread of freedom" Those are two main themes of the story of Passover ... fleeing oppression and finding liberation.  

 

I Am the Bread of Life by Susanne Toolan, RSM

 

 

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Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 3/15

First, a little background on this day. It's Laetare (Rejoice!) Sunday, the halfway point of Lent. There are two ways to look at this day: "Lent is half over!" - or - "We're halfway to Easter!" Or both! Today the somber purple of Lent is lightened to rose, calling us to rejoice, even in this season of sacrifice and penance. Sometimes life is like this - is it not? We're called to rejoice when our hearts are heavy... We're called to be at peace in the midst of war... We're called to believe when our doubts are many...  In such times and in every season, we''re called to find what we need most in God - from whom all blessings flow...

Let''s pause and pray: 

Lord, help me find the joy of your Spirit
   even and especially 

        when things aren't going well...

 

Help me find your consoling peace
   when I'm burdened 

        with sorrow and with grief...

 

Help me find my refuge in you
   when I'm and feeling lost

        andhave no place to go...

 

Help me find the gift of faith
   when my thoughts are all unsure

        and my mind is filled with doubt...

 

Help me know your wisdom, Lord, 
   when I'm tempted to be foolish,

        negligent or careless...           

Help me find new hope in you
   when my hope is all but gone

        and I'm not sure whom to trust...

 

Help me find your grace and strength
   when surrounded by temptation,

        when I'm tempted to give in... 

 

Help me find your healing love
   when my heart is scarred by hurt

        and my memories wear me down...     

 

Help me know your faithful presence

    when I'm longing for some company 
       and feeling all alone...     

 

Help me find my joy in you, Lord 
   in the middle of this Lent

and halfway now to Easter

    and the peace your promise holds...

Amen.

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Night Prayer: SATURDAY 3/14

I was working on this prayer for another purpose and thought I might share it here with you.  It's based on the story of the prodigal son who, when he found himself alone, broke and remorseful, came to his senses and decided to return home to his father...

 

Lord...

 

When guilt and shame consume me

   - help me come to my senses -

and remember how your mercy never fails me...

 

When I’m confused and don't know where to turn,

  - help me come to my senses -

and learn to trust your Spirit guides me...

  

When I’ve made some foolish choices

   -- help me come to my senses -

and turn to the truth of your wisdom, word and will…

 

When I'm down and I’ve hit bottom,

  - help me come to my senses -

and take the hand you offer

   to help and lift me up… 

 

When I'm lost in grief and sadness

  - help me come to my senses -

and remember you’re my peace, my consolation...

 

When I’m afraid of what you think of me,

  - help me come to my senses -

and trust in your forgiveness, love and mercy…

 

When I’m hiding in self-pity

  - help me come to my senses -

and turn to those who care for me…

 

When the walls are closing in on me,

  - help me come to my senses -

and find freedom in my faith…

 

When I wonder if you’ll take me back,

  - help me come to my senses -

and see you have already

   - and will never let me go…

 

When I fear that you’ve forgotten me,

  - help me come to my senses -

and find that you’re right there,

   that you’re always by my side..

 

When I'm backed into a corner, Lord,

  - help me come to my senses -

and see that moving toward you

   is the only way to go…

 

When the time drags on and on,

    - help me come to my senses -

and remember you are with me,

   all day long and through the night…

 

When I'm jealous, green with envy,

  - help me come to my senses -

and be grateful for the gifts I have,

   the blessings that are mine…

  

When I'm afraid of what's ahead of me

  - help me come to my senses -

and trust all shall be well,

   that all things shall be well…

 

When I feel like all is lost, Lord,

   - help me come to my senses –

and remember - I’m already found…

 

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.

 

Find My Way Home by Nonah

 

If a video doesn't appear below, click here! 

 

 

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Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 3/14

 

Lord, it's very likely 

    that sometime today someone will 

        push my buttons

        challenge my good will   

        misread my intentions   

        tick me off     

        try my patience 

        rattle my cage  

        judge me in haste, 

        test my kindness
          - or do all of the above...

 

When this happens, Lord,

    give me the grace I'll need
        to respond with patience
        to trust and accept
        to listen carefully
        to handle with care
        to be understanding
        to reach out in peace
        to be fair and just
        and to strive to be good 
            in all my words and deeds...

I know this is a lot to ask, Lord,
   but I need your help
if I'm to do for others
    as I'd have them do for me...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 3/13

For several years I've posted a weekly Lenten series on a selected topic.  This year, on Fridays, I'll be featuring songs we sing to honor the Cross of Jesus. (Here are links to the first and second and third posts in this series.)  The very fact that we sing of the Cross on which Jesus died is a testimony to our faith and belief that in his suffering we find our healing and our life...  Tonight's selection is Faithful Cross by fellow Rory Cooney and Tom Kendzia.  I find Cooney's lyrics here to be among the finest I've encountered in contemporary church music...

I suggest you pray with the song first, and then move on to my Night Prayer...  

If a video doesn't appear below, click here! 

 

Night Prayer

These lyrics remind us, Lord:

    how present is your Cross

    in our lives and in the tragic news

    that wounds our hearts and yours...

 

The mighty arm of Caesar 

still dares to claim your name

to defend its iron arrows 

    launched with lusty, lethal power,

    mingling human blood and spirit 

    with the mud of mother earth...

 

Your kingship, Lord, is humble,

your reign, a life of service:

    you stoop to wash our dusty feet

    to teach us now to kneel 

    and tend our neighbors' many needs...

 

Your prophet's cry still echoes, Lord,

still shouts above the fray:

    "Beat your weapons into farm tools

    and go out into the fields

    to yield a crop of justice

    and a harvest of my peace..."     

 

Your Cross reveals your wisdom, Lord,

it's gilded with your love:

    it shines with grace, 

    with light undimmed,

    enlightening every heart...

 

On the Cross you told our story

with redeeming, saving grace:

    help us now to lay down our lives,

    to let go our greed and pride,

    to surrender to your love, Lord,

    to the victory you have won... 

   

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. 

 

Perhaps you'd like to pray the song a second time...

    If a video doesn't appear below, click here!  

 

 

1. Who shall dare to sing the praises

Of the gallows tree whose limbs

Bore the carpenter of Nazareth,

Tree whose wood was borne by him?

Sing as his dear blood and spirit,

Mingled with the air and earth,

Make the tree a new creation,

Recreate the universe.

 

2. Mighty is the arm of Caesar

Who to God's own name pretends,

Strong the iron of the arrow,

Stronger still the oak that bends.

Christ's the empire unlike others,

All must put away the sword.

Here the king becomes the servant,

He who washes feet is Lord.

 

Rising from the earth to heaven,

Stretched between the mud and stars,

Terrible in pain and purpose,

Beautiful the wooden bars.

Rooted in the glades of Eden,

Tree that shaped the saving ark,

Light your frail human burden:

He the light undimmed by dark.

 

3. "Better one life than the nation,"

Argue those who plot and arm.

Guarding their civilization:

Violence and threats of harm.

Thus are prophets' voices silenced.

Privilege that fears its loss

Summons servant of the violence,

Forges nails, and builds the cross.

 

4. Love's astounding transformation

Gilds the instrument of death,

Love confounds sophistication,

Takes away the cynic's breath

Ever shunning power and glory,

Love has stripped the cross of shame,

So God saved the human story,

Taking human flesh and name.

 

5. Lifted up, his heart laid open,

Robbed of breath, his body torn,

Still his arms recall the rainbow

Promising a world reborn.

Gazing on the cross, look upward,

Til his heart arrests the glance,

And his arms direct us outward

To the world, with healing hands.

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