11/2/26

Moving Day!


Today, Monday, November 2 is  moving day and I'm very excited! 

I've scheduled an All Souls Night Prayer which will appear later today - and then I'll be taking a quick break.  Once I've unpacked and set up my rooms to reasonable degree of livability - I'll resume posting - and I hope that's no later than Thursday.  In the meanwhile - pray for me as I will for you! 

  

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Posted by Concord Pastor at 7:00 AM 0 comments

11/1/26

Monday Morning Offering: ALL SOULS DAY

Morning Coffee by George Mendoza

 


 

 

 

 

  

November wraps its dampened shroud
‘round nature’s shrugged shoulders:
    our souls know well the chill, Lord,
    of summer gone and winter oh-so-near...

Bare limbs scratch against gray skies,
and snatch the mourner’s veil
from hearts laid bare in shivering loss,
    alone, exposed in grief…

November, Lord: no other month
    could better claim the name All Souls
or set the scene for praying, weeping,
    grieving those before us gone, 
        marked with faith's signed Cross…
 
So this November morning, Lord,
I offer you my loved ones:
    created by your hand, 
    claimed by saving grace
    now held, I pray, in your embrace…

I offer you from my heart's depths
    the ones I can't let go…

I offer from my hands to yours
    the ones whose hands held mine...

I offer you a prayer of tears
    for those whose absence haunts my days…

I offer from my selfish heart
    the ones I hurt and bruised:
I pray you heal the wounds I caused
    and with your gentle mercy, Lord, 
        forgive and pardon me...

I offer you a prayer, O Lord,
for those with none to pray for them:
    brothers, sisters never met,
    yet sisters, brothers nonetheless
    for all are one in you...

I offer you all souls who wait  
    your final purging touch
to ready them for heaven,
    for life with you forever,
        for peace that has no end...

I offer you my grief, O Lord,
refresh me in your tender care:
    help me trust I'll see again
        the ones I've lost to death, when
    gathered in your kingdom's joy,
        your mercy brings us home...

Beneath November’s canopy
walk others, Lord, who know as well as I
the depths of this month’s memories
and All the Souls for whom we pray:
    make us gentle with each other,
    mindful of the loss and grief
    that binds us in your love…
 
Accept my mourning offering
on this dark November day 
until it dies and wakes again, 
a new day born, 
a promise 
of what's yet to come:
the day that has no end...

(Take a few moments now to remember,
to write down or speak aloud,
the names of those who've died,
for whom you pray this All Souls Day...)

May these and all souls of the faithful departed,
through your mercy, O God,
rest in peace... 

Amen.

 
For your prayer this day: Pie Jesu from Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Below are the words in both Latin and English.

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



Pie Jesu,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem,
sempiternam, sempiternam requiem.

Sweet Jesus,
you take away the sins of the world,
give them rest.
Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
give them rest,
eternal rest.

  

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Posted by Concord Pastor at 10:30 PM 0 comments

Night Prayer: SUNDAY 11/1


It's the night before I move to Boston and last-minute details have my attention - so here's a prayer from my archives which matches just precisely
the scene just outside my back door...  
 
The leaves fall fast and furious!
They lay a rusty earth-toned carpet 
stretching from my backdoor 
to the church across the yard...
 
I cannot simply walk here, Lord:
some muscle memory, deep within,
sets my gait to shuffling 
as I scuffle through the crisp and crunch 
of leaves beneath my step...

As when I was younger, Lord:
a child on my way to school
or out in my backyard,
looking for a heap of leaves, 
raked in rounded piles,
inviting me to jump, to dive 
and softly land with glee and and pure delight  
on pillows left each autumn
- fall's leafy parting gift...
 
I love that lovely swooshing sound:
- a soft shoe -
tapped on your dance floor
and whispering of your presence 
underfoot and all around... 

I'm too old now for diving 
into heaps and piles of leaves
but grateful just to shuffle, Lord,
and softly dance and make my way
'cross autumn's backyard carpet
from my backdoor to the church...
 
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, just the natural music of a walk through fallen leaves...
 
Walking on Fallen Leaves 

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

  
    


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Posted by Concord Pastor at 6:52 PM 0 comments

Homily for Nov 1: All Saints Day

 
Here are the scriptures for today's mass, All Saints Day - and here's a link to a video of my homily, the text of which follows below.

ALL Saints' Day.
There's a cue for a song if I ever heard one! 
🎵 ðŸŽµðŸŽµ
Oh, when  the saints, go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, Lord, I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in
Who are ALL these saints?
Do I want to be numbered among them? 
(We just sang that.)
What would I need to do to be a saint?
Could I ever be a saint? 
Could *I* ever be a saint?.
Yes, you could - in fact, you may be.
 
Who are the saints? I have two simple answers to that question. Saints are people who pay attention - and who pay attention to making sure that they strive every day - to pay attention.
 
And to what do saints pay attention? Two things. 
They pay attention to GOD, 
    and they pay attention to their NEIGHBOR.
That's what saints do. 
Saints are simply people who pay attention
    to the presence of God in their lives,
    to the presence of God in their prayer,
    to the presence of God in creation all around us,
    to the presence of God in other people,
        and especially those who are right around us
AND those who are anywhere in the world
    who are most in need.
 
Saints are people who pay attention to the presence of God at home – the place you left - where you came from this morning. God was there. You may have thought you'd come to God's house but God was already living in yours. Saints, pay attention to the presence of God at home, at work, at school, in their neighborhood, in the community, and in the world -especially in the lives of those who are poor and most vulnerable.
 
Saints are people who pay attention
    to being honest. and faithful,
    to being fair and just,
    to being loyal and trustworthy,
    to being pure and compassionate,
        day by day by day.
 
Saints are people who pay attention
    to their own faults and failings,
because saints HAVE faults and failings
    - saints, sin!
But they ACKNOWLEDGE their faults and failings.
They acknowledge that they're flawed,
    that they're not perfect.
Saints aren't perfect.
Saints are people who make amends
    for the sins they acknowledge and confess.
Saints are people who forgive those 
    who harm and hurt them.
 
Saints are people who pay attention
    to the implications and the consequences
        of their habits, their decisions, their choices.
 
Saints are people who pay attention
    to their political stands and opinions,
    to their investments and how they spend their money,
    to how they entertain themselves.
 
Saints are people who pay attention
    to their attachment to their possessions
        and how they share those possessions.
 
Saints are people who pay attention
    LESS to their own counsel and comfort
and MORE to the demands
    of the wisdom of the ages,
    the Word of God,
    the truth, the truth, that has survived
        the test of time and the tumult of history.
 
Saints are people who know the difference
    between paying attention
        - and not paying attention.
Saints are people who pay attention
    when no one else does.
Saints are people who pay attention,
    even and especially,
        when others REFUSE to pay attention
            to what's right in front of them.
 
And among all the saints who have paid attention,
    all the saints we honor and celebrate today,
among all those saints
    are the people in my life and yours
        - who paid attention to us,
    because they paid attention to God:
the saints in our lives who paid attention
    and provided for our needs and took care of us.
 
Today, we celebrate all the saints,
all the men and women, in our lives
who gave us life,
who loved us,
raised us,
who rocked us in their arms…
 
Who first told us the story of Jesus,
who brought us to church,
who raised us in the ways of faith,
who taught us how to pray…
 
Who understood us,
who educated us,
who protected us,
who always had time for us,
who dried our tears,
who schooled us in fairness,
who taught us to love our neighbor,
who were patient with us,
who corrected us,
who loved us
    even when we did not love ourselves….
 
Who walked the extra mile with us,
who sheltered us from harm,
who taught us to tell the truth,
who forgave us
again and again and again…
 
Who gave us a good example,
who taught us right from wrong,
who were honest with us,
who believed in us,
who shared in our joy,
who shared their joy with us,
who lifted up our spirits when we were sad,
who touched our souls in so many ways,
who healed our hearts,
whose integrity shaped our standards…
 
Who always remembered and never forgot us,
who lived a life of faith,
who inspired us,
who sacrificed for us
    in more ways than we know or remember…
 
who shaped and helped us make
    our best memories,
whose wisdom came from God,
who kept our secrets,
who comforted us,
who encouraged us,
who challenged us,
who defended us,
who chastised us,
who consoled us,
whose lives modeled faithfulness,
whose courage made us brave…
 
Who were there for us through thick and thin,
who taught us how to cope,
who taught us how to hope,
who trusted us,
who took our side,
who taught us to care for those around us,
who recognized and nurtured
    our gifts and our talents,
who had our back,
who gave us a second chance,
    again and again and again…
 
Who were our rock and our refuge,
who cared for us when we were sick,
who helped us become the persons we are,
who spent their whole lives loving us,
who prayed for us and prayed for us
    - and pray for us still.
 
THESE are all the saints we honor and celebrate today.
These are the holy men and women
    who have been in our lives
        - my life and yours –
    who have been God's gift to us
        and for whom, today,
            we give God thanks and praise….
 
And we pray that ALL of US
    - that we might be counted among the saints,
        numbered among the saints –
we pray that in our own day,
    in our own ways,
        in the eyes of God
            and in the lives of those around us,
    that we too
        might be counted, loved, and remembered
            in the company of ALL God's saints.

  

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Posted by Concord Pastor at 4:39 PM 0 comments

Russia targets Ukrainian clergy and houses of worship

     Dormition Cathedral, Kyiv
 
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in an October 31, 2026, interview on This Week on Capitol Hill with host Tony Perkins that Russian forces have deliberately killed approximately 120 members of the Ukrainian clergy and destroyed or damaged nearly 800 houses of worship.

All this is perpetrated by Putin whom Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff recently "saluted, commended and thanked" for being "a humanitarian."  
Zelenskyy emphasized that the killings of religious figures and the strikes on churches and other institutions were intentional and carried out using massive drone, cruise, and ballistic missile attacks.
He noted that among the nearly 800 damaged or destroyed religious sites are historic monuments dating back up to 1,000 years, representing irreplaceable losses to history, art, and architecture.
If a video of the interview doesn't appear below, click here.
 

 

  

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Posted by Concord Pastor at 1:57 PM 0 comments

All Saints Day: an opportunity to sing and pray this beautiful litany



 As I do every year on All Saints Day, I'm posting John Becker's beautiful and beloved Litany of the Saints.  True to the spirit of All Saints Day, the litany's refrain here pleads "All you holy men and women, pray for us!"  Today the church celebrates all the holy men and women from our families and friends and through history who are with the Lord now, forever in peace.  
 

 LITANY OF THE SAINTS 
        by John D. Becker,  from OCP 

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


(Verse 6 here includes the intercessions sung at the Easter Vigil when adults are being baptized.)
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
1.
Mary and Joseph, pray for us.
Michael and all angels, pray for us.
Anna, Joachim, Elizabeth, pray for us.
Elijah, Moses, John the Baptist, pray for us.
Isaac, Sarah, Abraham, pray for us.
Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, pray for us.
Ruth, David and Solomon, pray for us.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, pray for us.
 All you holy men and women, pray for us.
2.
Peter, Paul, Andrew, pray for us.
James, John, and all apostles, pray for us.
Mary Magdalene, Veronica, pray for us.
Barnabas, Matthias, pray for us.
Stephen, Philip, and Cornelius, pray for us.
Prisca and Aquila, pray for us.
Timothy and Titus, pray for us.
Linus, Cletus, and Clement,pray for us.
 All you holy men and women, pray for us.
3.
Lawrence and Chrysogonus, pray for us.
Innocent, and Boniface, pray for us.
 Hippolytus and Origen, pray for us.
 Athanasius and Basil, pray for us.
Felicity, Perpetua, pray for us.
Cosmos and Damien, pray for us.
John Chrysostom, and Justin, pray for us.
Lucy, Agatha, and Agnes, pray for us.
 All you holy men and women, pray for us.
4.
Jerome and Eusebius, pray for us.
 Scholastica and Benedict, pray for us.
Ambrose, Monica, Augustine, pray for us.
Martin and Gregory, pray for us.
Clare, Francis, and Dominic, pray for us.
Francis Xavier, Ignatius, pray for us.
Elizabeth and Catherine, pray for us.
Louis and Wenceslaus, pray for us.
 All you holy men and women, pray for us.
5.
Lord, be merciful, save your people.
From all evil, save your people.
From every sin, save your people.
From everlasting death, save your people.
By your incarnation, save your people.
By your death and resurrection, save your people.
By your gift of the Spirit, save your people.
Have mercy on us sinners, save your people.
Christ, hear us. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.
6.
Lord, give new life, hear our prayer.
To these chosen, hear our prayer.
By the grace of baptism, hear our prayer.
O Jesus, Son of the living God, hear our prayer.
Send your Spirit, hear our prayer.
In its fullness, hear our prayer.
On your sons and daughters, hear our prayer.
Who believe and profess you, hear our prayer.
Christ, hear us. Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.

  

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Posted by Concord Pastor at 12:00 PM 0 comments
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