A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 9/25

Morning Coffee by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

The leisure days of summer are gone, Lord,
and parish life is back in full swing...

Even if I'm not ready for it all,
the rush and quickening pace pick me up
and sweep me, head long,
into a "new year" of programs and prayer...

I offer you thanks and praise, Lord,
for the life all around me:
the people, the work, the schedules, the events,
the coming and goings, the new beginnings
and the opportunities all of this offers...

I offer you thanks and praise, Lord,
for all the ways your hand stirs my heart:
prodding, inviting, pushing, pulling,
tugging at my sleeve to draw me out of myself
and into the pulsing body of your presence
in the people who cross my path every day,
all day long...

I offer you thanks and praise, Lord,
for the gifts that are mine
and for all the gifts of those with whom I work
and for all the ways
you mix and match our gifts and talents,
our inspirations, thoughts, ideas and insights
as day by day, through the work of our hands,
you build up the reign of your presence among us...

I offer you thanks and praise, Lord,
for the grace and growth of working together
with sisters and brothers whose energy and excitement
charge me with new life, with hope,
with reason to put one foot ahead of the other and,
step by step, to make my way through days and nights
and weeks and months, year by year,
growing in the life of your Church
and in the joy of being members of your Body,
alive and well,
even through times difficult and dark...

I offer you thanks and praise, Lord,
for the ways in which you make of us all
so much more than the sum of our number,
how you multiply our efforts as we share in the work
you've entrusted to our care...

Help me, Lord, when I'm tempted to withdraw,
to hide in my anxious fears,
when I'm tired and ready to call it quits,
when I'm weary, not sure if I want to go on:
give me your Spirit,
igniting your spark of life within me;
give me others
to draw me out to the fields of your harvest;
give me strength
to keep going when the going gets tough;
give me grace
to trust that in everything I do
your strong, gentle hand guards and guides me...

And when my selfish and careless ways
wound those at my side,
help me see the harm I've done
and heal the hurt I've caused:
make me an instrument of your peace, Lord,
and open me to the healing peace that others offer me...

All this I offer you, Lord, as summer ends
and a "new year" begins in parish life:
accept my morning offering this day
and through the weeks and months ahead...

Amen.