Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 3/25

Annunciation by Tanner

Today, March 25, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the moment when, at the message from the angel Gabriel, Mary conceived the Christ Child in her womb. (Note that exactly 9 months from today we'll be celebrating Christmas!)  Of the four gospels, only Luke tells the story:

The angel Gabriel was sent to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.  And coming to her, the angel said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High..

Pause for Prayer

 

Sometimes, Lord, my heart 

    aches for a message,

    looks for an angel, 
    and listens for a much-needed word from you...

My heart waits to hear what you might speak 
    to my life and my worries,
    my fears and confusion,
    my decisions and choices... 

My heart waits 
    for tidings of encouragement,
    for a word of wisdom and counsel
        to strengthen and empower me,
        to guide my way and guard me...

My heart waits to hear you say,

    Don't be afraid... I am with you...

    I am always with you... I will never leave you...

    I am beside you, before you and behind you,

    above you, below you, within you...

My soul strains to hear you say:

    I've found favor with you...

    I care for you... I care about you...

    I watch for you... I watch out for you...

    You have a place in my heart,

        a place I keep for you,
        a place where I hold you...

Send an angel, a message, a word, Lord,

    and speak to my heart...

Speak to me as you spoke to Mary:

    when I'm not expecting you...

    when I'm confused and don't understand...

    when I'm not sure what you're asking of me...

    when I'm afraid of what tomorrow may bring...

Fill my heart with your grace, Lord:

    help me see every angel you send my way

        and hear every word you speak to my heart,

    that I might always welcome and treasure

        each message of your love...

 

Amen.

 

First Sting and then VOCES8 offer us the 13th century Basque carol, "Gabriel's Message." 

 

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The angel Gabriel from heaven came
His wings as drifted snow his eyes as flame
"All hail" said he "thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favored lady," Gloria! "

For known a blessed mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honor thee,
Thy Son shall be Emanuel, by seers foretold
Most highly favored lady," Gloria!

Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head
"To me be as it pleaseth God," she said,
"My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name."
Most highly favored lady. Gloria!

Of her, Emanuel, the Christ was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn
And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say:
"Most highly favored lady," Gloria!

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 3/24

 

 

The somber season of Lent is interrupted tomorrow by the Solemnity of the Annunciation: the feast that reminds us of an angel visiting Mary to announce that she would bear the Christ in her womb. (Here's the story.) This feast persists in its place on the calendar because nine months from today will be Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Mary's child, Jesus.  Here's a beautiful contemporary painting of the Annunciation by John Collier. As in most renderings of this scene, there's a book (the Word of God took flesh in Mary's body) and a lily, a symbol of Mary's purity.  MMMMMMM

 

What I'm offering for prayer this night departs from "the usual."  I found this wonderful poem by Denise Levertov and wanted to share it with you. It's a little long, not metered, doesn't rhyme and invites our careful reading - but I believe you'll find it a beautiful way to prepare for tomorrow's feast...

 

Listening to a reading of the poem as you read it may help...*

 

 

 

Annunciation

Denise Levertov

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.

       Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.

       The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.

         God waited.

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.
                  ____________________

Aren’t there annunciations
of one sort or another
in most lives?

         Some unwillingly
undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.

More often
those moments
      when roads of light and storm
      open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from

in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
                                 God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.

                   ____________________

She had been a child who played, ate, slept
like any other child–but unlike others,
wept only for pity, laughed
in joy not triumph.
Compassion and intelligence
fused in her, indivisible.

Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail,

  only asked

a simple, ‘How can this be?’
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel’s reply,
the astounding ministry she was offered:

to bear in her womb
Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness,
nine months of Eternity; to contain
in slender vase of being,
the sum of power–
in narrow flesh,
the sum of light.

                     Then bring to birth,
push out into air, a Man-child
needing, like any other,
milk and love–

but who was God.

This was the moment no one speaks of,

when she could still refuse.

A breath unbreathed,

                                Spirit,

                                          suspended,

                                                            waiting.

                   ____________________

She did not cry, ‘I cannot. I am not worthy,’

Nor, ‘I have not the strength.’

She did not submit with gritted teeth,

                                                       raging, coerced.

Bravest of all humans,

                                  consent illumined her.

The room filled with its light,

the lily glowed in it,

                               and the iridescent wings.

Consent,

              courage unparalleled,

opened her utterly.

                 ___________________

  

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. 

 

• Source of the recorded reading: The Homely Hours

The background music on the recorded reading is an except from Arvo Part's beautiful composition Spiegel im Spiegel.

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Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 3/24

 

Another day ahead of me, Lord

    and I hope and I pray and I trust
you'll be with me as I spend this day
    and all through the night ahead...

 

• I'm worried about this today, Lord:

    _______________________

     
Help me face and deal with it
- make the best of it - 

leaning on you for strength...

 

 

• And something I'm carrying today is

    _______________________

  

Help me bear and accept this burden, Lord
-  and without a trace of self-pity -

help me share its weight with you... 

 

 

• And for this I ask your pardon today:

    _______________________

 

Forgive me, Lord, help me change my ways
and share with others the mercy

that you always share with me... 

 

• And something I'm happy about today is     

    _______________________ 

 

Help me savor, enjoy and share this gift,

grateful for all the blessings, Lord,

that fall from your love to my hands... 

 

 

• And here are the people I bring in prayer: 

    _______________________

 

Help me be a friend to those in need,

gentle with those who annoy me;
make me generous, Lord, in giving myself,
as I'd have them do for me...

 

Another day ahead of me, Lord

    and I hope and I pray and I trust
you'll be with me as I spend this day
    and all through the night ahead...

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 3/23

Sometimes I forget, Lord, 

that the people along my path
are just as burdened and fragile 

as I can sometimes be
 - and just as vulnerable...

When I look to my past

I remember those I've hurt in my haste, 

in my selfishness, pride and carelessness,

in my anger, resentments and judgments...

I remember all the times I intended no harm
but my neglect and self-interest

bruised and wounded others nonetheless...

 

So, I pray this night
for all the people I've hurt and offended:

If  there are ways for me to make amends, Lord,
show me how 

and give me the courage
to say what I need to say
and do what I need to do,
sooner rather than later...

And if the times and chances for making amends
have long since passed me by,
hear my prayer for those I've hurt
and touch with tender healing

those beyond my reach... 

Give me a sensitive and forgiving heart, Lord
especially if my heart has hardened
with resentment, hurt and anger...

Help me remember 

    how much and how often,

    how fully and freely

you've always forgiven me...

 

Lord, open my eyes and ears,

    open my mind and my heart
        to the people around me now: 

make me more and more aware of their presence 

    and how often my life  and my ways

        touch theirs...

 

Give me courage, Lord, and nudge me
    to take the first step toward making peace
        in my family and my neighborhood, 

            at work and at school...

 

And give me the grace I need, Lord,
    to seek and make peace 

        between you and me...

Make me mindful, Lord,
    of all whose paths cross mine;
may I be as kind and gentle with them
    as I'd have them be with me...

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. 

 

Tonight's song, performed here by Barbara Streisand, is not a hymn but it pairs well with tonight's prayer nonetheless. Sometimes the people we hurt the most are the people we love the most...

 

I Never Meant to Hurt You by Laura Nyro

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I never meant to hurt you 

I'm not that way at all 

Please believe the words of the heart 

A heart that seems so small 

And I swear I never meant to hurt you 

 

I guess I lost my place 

Please, believe the words of the heart 

A heart that hides its fails 

Why do I do things I never mean to do? 

Oh, why did I speak so carelessly 

When all that I felt 

Was love for you? 

And I swear I never 

 

I never meant to hurt you 

I've got to make you know 

Please, believe the words of the heart 

A heart that didn't show I never meant to hurt you 

I only meant to love you 

It's true 

And when I saw you crying 

I cried too... 

 

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Monday Morning Offering: 3/23

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

I want to grow closer to you this Lent, Lord 
- but then I remember: 

    you're always beside me, always before me, 

    always behind me, above and below me! 

How much closer might I come
    to One who's always close to me?

 

And yet, I have ways, Lord - don’t I -

ways of distancing myself 

    from you who made and live within me,    

    dwelling in my mind and heart and soul…

 

In the blink of an eye I can pretend,

- for a moment or for days or weeks on end -

that I don't see you or that somehow 

I’ve slipped beyond your gaze…

 

Like a child blocking his ears,

with small hands pressed hard against his head,

    - I stop listening for you - 

and I miss what your Spirit whispers:
    my inattentive heart muffles and stifles

    the voice of your word alive within me…

When my soul chills in selfishness,
my fingers grow numb
and I lose the sense, the warmth, 

the touch of your presence pulsing 

in the wonders of the world around me,
in the people whose fingerprints are
warm upon my life…

 

I know so many ways 

    to take my leave of you,
    to keep my distance,
    to walk away from you

    - the only One
        who never leaves my side…

 

I want to grow closer to you this Lent, Lord 
- but then I remember: 

    you're always beside me, always before me, 

    always behind me, above and below me! 

How much closer might I come
    to One who's always close to me?

So, I offer you this morning my desire 

to open wide my eyes, to see you, Lord:

    in all who cross my path

        and in all the circumstances of this day;

    to see the way you guide my steps

        and watch with care the path I walk;

    to see how you keep me always

        as the apple of your eye…

 

I offer you this morning my desire

to open up my mind and soul, to hear, O Lord,
every word you speak from your heart to my own
    in the scriptures,
    in my thoughts and in my prayer,
    in the words of others
and especially in the silence 

    - and in every breath I take...

 

Draw me close to you, Lord, especially 

    when I turn away and fail to see you,
    when I avoid the quiet where I might hear you,
    when I turn from the grace

        with which you touch me…

 

Help me to find what I trust

is already the truth of my life:
    that you are always beside me, always before me, 

    always behind me, above and below me! 

Draw me ever closer to your side, Lord
    - and never let me be parted from you…

Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 3/22

On Sundays, Night Prayer will focus on an element from the day's celebration of Mass. Tonight we'll pray from the day's gospel:

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.
 
So the sisters sent word to Jesus saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death: it is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he remained in the place where he was for two days. Then, after this, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea. Our friend Lazarus is asleep - but I am going to awaken him.” But the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he’s asleep, he’ll be saved.”  But Jesus was talking about his Lazarus’ death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for your sake that I wasn’t there, so that you may believe. Let’s go to him.”

When Jesus finally arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many people had come out to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him; but Mary sat at home.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here -- my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God -- God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha replied, “I know he will rise, Lord - in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said,  “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

When Martha had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she rose quickly and went out to him, for Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. Now, when those who were with her in the house, comforting her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the people who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the people said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the eyes of that blind man have done something so that Lazarus wouldn’t have died?”

Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe  - you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And having said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Now many of those who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done  began to believe in him.

Night Prayer

You cried, too, Jesus,

as we do when we're touched by grief,

    burdened, stunned and stung by loss;

you wept at the death of Lazarus, 

    the friend you loved so much...

 

    Jesus Wept by Dr. Linda Rozelle-Shannon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 You grieve, like us, in a stream of tears

flowing from somewhere deep within:

a coursing river, never running dry...

 

Like us, you draw from a well of tears,

    aching, deep and dark;

a well we tap in sorrow

    to bathe and soothe our wounded hearts...

 

You wept for your love of Lazarus, Lord:

    would you, do you, weep for me?

Do you weep with longing for my love

    when my words and deeds fail yours? 

Do you weep with gentle healing

    when I'm torn apart by grief?

Do you weep and wash my pain away

    til joy reclaims my soul?

 

Let one tear from your eyes, Lord,

    fall soft upon my cheek,

anointing me with gladness

    and the peace my heart cries out for,

        the joy your healing brings...

 

From the well of our shared tears, Lord,

    draw up some joy for me

and quench with overflowing grace

    my thirsty, sorrowed soul...

 

You wept for love of Lazarus 

    and so I pray tonight, Lord,

look kindly on my broken heart

    and spare a tear for me... 

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...

 

Jesus Cries by Riley Clemmons

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It’s no secret that life 

Gets a little heavy sometimes 

Like it’s too much for one heart to take 

Your smile’s wearing thin 

Just tryin’ to hold it all in 

But it feels like the dam’s gonna break 

 

You are not alone facing that flood behind your eyes 

Heaven already knows every tear that you cry 

 

So, let ‘em fall like the rain 

Let ‘em roll down your face 

Let ‘em run like a river 

That carries your pain 

To the Savior with scars 

Right there holding your heart 

When you weep, 

He’s there weeping with you 

Jesus cries, too 

 

There’s no answer sometimes 

For the hurt that’s inside 

When the healing feels so far away 

But in the ache of your soul 

There’s a love that comes close 

And catches your tears when they’re all you can pray 

 

Refrain

 

At the edge of the grave 

In the valley of pain 

When the sadness won’t shake 

It’s true

When the suffering is long 

When you can’t see the dawn 

He feels all the sorrow with you 

Jesus cries too 

He’s never been closer 

It’s true Jesus cries too 

 

Refrain  

 

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