3/19/24

Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 3/19

March 19 is Saint Joseph Day.  Over 2,000 years ago, when Christ was about to be born, only Mary and Joseph knew the whole story of what was about to happen.... I can easily imagine Mary asking,  “Joseph… are you ready for this?”

 
We know there was at least one moment when Joseph was not ready for this: when he was ready to quietly break off his betrothal to Mary - but then an angel spoke to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, be not afraid…”

Be not afraid – of what?  Be not afraid of taking Mary into his home as his wife? Of caring for a child he knew he had not fathered? 
 
Yes, all of that..  but so much more!  The angel was telling Joseph, "Be not afraid of how the mystery of God is weaving itself into your life, into your relationship with Mary and into your whole future. Be not afraid, Joseph, of how the mystery of God will touch your life, shape your life, turn your life around and stand it on its head!"

Like Joseph, all of us face times when God has allowed things to happen or has allowed things not to happen, that intimately touch, shape and turn our lives around in ways we never dreamed would happen, in ways we wish had never happened, in ways we prayed would never happen...

And in all of this the word to us is precisely the angel’s word to Joseph in his dream:  
    "Be not afraid because in everything, and in all things - God is with you...”

"Joseph, are you ready for this?"
  To be ready is to renew our faith, our trust, in all the ways the mystery of God’s presence is weaving itself into our lives: touching and shaping and turning our lives around in ways we had never have imagined, dreamed or asked for.  And most of all, to be ready is to trust that God is with us in everything and in all things...

Take a moment this morning to imagine Joseph's doubts, his anticipation, his anger… his regrets, his fears, his wonder, his confusion, his awe… 
And, imagine yourself in Joseph's dream...  Imagine Joseph putting his fears aside and handing his troubles over to God...

Pause for Prayer
 
I come to you this morning, Lord,
    with a heart sometimes ready, sometimes not so ready,
        to trust you, follow you, love you...

My problems, my worries, my burdens
    sometimes loom larger than life 
and back me into corners where I feel alone 
    and I wonder where you've brought me,
        where you'll lead me - even if you're still with me...

Lord, my heart needs a dream, an angel, a message
    reminding me not to be afraid... 
 
Remind me as you reminded Joseph
    that with you I can face all things,
        accept all things, do all things,
            endure all things...

Especially when my life and my heart
    are spun around and upside down;
when my sense of direction fails me;
    when I fear the path I'm walking,
remind me then, Lord, not to be afraid,
    to trust you're by my side
and that with you I can be ready 
    for whatever comes my way...

I come this morning, Lord, 
    with a heart sometimes ready 
        and sometimes not so ready,
 but ready or not, Lord 
    - here I come!
And here I am and here I stand
    in need of your love and your strength
        today and every day of my life...
 
Saint Joseph, pray for me and watch over me 
    as you cared for Jesus in your arms and in your home...

Amen.

This song is about Joseph and his circumstances
but all of us might relate to this line in the refrain:
    "Father tell me where I fit into this plan of yours..."
 
Jsoeph's Song by Michael Card
 

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How could it be, this baby in my arms 
Sleeping now, so peacefully 
The Son of God, the angel said 
How could it be?
 
Lord I know He's not my own 
Not of my flesh, not of my bone 
Still Father let this baby be 
Son of my love
 
Father tell me where I fit into this plan of yours 
How can a man be father to the Son of God 
Lord for all my life I've been a simple carpenter 
How can I raise a king, How can I raise a king ?
 
He looks so small, His face and hands so fair 
And when He cries the sun just seems to disappear 
But when He laughs it shines again 
How could it be? 
 
Father tell me where I fit into this plan of yours 
How can a man be father to the Son of God 
Lord for all my life I've been a simple carpenter 
How can I raise a king, How can I raise a king?

How could it be, this baby in my arms 
Sleeping now, so peacefully 
The Son of God, the angel said 
How could it be?

  

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3/18/24

NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 3/18



Lord...

Would that I'd long to hear your word,
    with the hope for which I wait for spring...

Would that I'd serve my neighbors' needs
    near as well as I tend my own...

Would that I'd think as well of all
    as I do of my closest friends...

Would that I'd do what you ask of me
    as sure as I follow my own desires...

Would that I'd be as fair and just
    as I'd have others be with me...

Would that I'd speak when others won't
    and tell what I know to be the truth...

Would that I'd help the weak and frail
    as your strong arms reach out to me...

Would that my words and deeds were as pure
    as the love and the peace you offer me...

Would that I'd pardon others' faults
    with the mercy I ask for myself of you...

Would that I'd make the time for prayer
    that you have for me when I call your name...

Would that I'd open my heart to grace
    as wide I welcome in foolishness...

Would that I'd think of my time as gold
    to be spent with wisdom, prudence and care...

Would that I'd put all my trust in you
    and not in my worries, doubts and fears...

Would that I'd love you, my Lord, my God,
    as you love me both night and day...
 
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.
 
Would that...  if only...

If We Only Knew  by Christpher Stevens

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Monday Morning Offering: 3/18

Morning Coffee by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

I'm praying on your word, Lord:
    I will place my law within them, 
       and write it upon their hearts; 
    I will be their God,
       and they shall be my people...

        - Jeremiah 31  

I know it's there, Lord:
   I know your law's within me,  
      you've autographed my heart;
   you've engraved your law, your word of love,
      inside my soul and on my mind... 

With your name inscribed you claim me as your own:
   your child, your image, your work of art divine...

I'm branded with your word, your love 
   and so your word of love becomes:
      the law by which I'm called to live;
      the decree by which I make decisions;
      the statute guiding all my choices;
      the rule by which I measure what is good 
         and what is not...

And yet...  
   and yet, Lord, I often fail to live by just that word,
      that love, that law so intimately written by your hand,
  so personally inscribed for me to read and learn, 
     to know and follow...

I will place my law within them, 
   and write it upon their hearts; 
I will be their God,
   and they shall be my people...

It takes centuries for tides to wear down boulders
   but only months, or weeks or only days
        before my pride begins 
   to wear against the letter, then the spirit of your law
       so beautifully, carefully scriven 
           in the marrow of my being...

My pride, fears and sins,
   my self-pity and my selfishness 
began to smooth away the words, the law I once knew well
   and recognized as guidance from your hand,
      written close to home where I might always find it... 

My own desires draw my eyes from reading carefully
   what you'd written to instruct me,
      to teach me where your way leads,
         to show me how to walk in faith with you
             and walk in peace with those whose paths I share...

And so come times when I forget
   what you've so plainly written on my heart,
when my conscience calls but I ignore its voice
   and close my mind and heart
     to what I know is true, is just, is fair
        and is what you desire of me...
 
So today I offer you my heart, Lord:
   refresh your word, your love, your law 
      inscribed upon my heart;
   renew your signature, your name, your claim 
      upon my soul;
   inscribe again your wisdom, 
      etched in my mind's thoughts
   to guide how I decide and choose, measure and discern
         what’s good and true and holy, 
            and all that comes from you…

I will place my law within them, 
   and write it upon their hearts; 
I will be their God,
   and they shall be my people...

Amen.

  

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3/17/24

NIGHT PRAYER: Sunday 3/17

How could I ever countenance, Lord,
    the death of someone I love
        - apart from my faith in you?

How might I bear such aching loss
    apart from my lasting hope
       in the peace of life yet to come?
 
And apart from your arms' embrace, O Lord,
    how could I ever let go
        my cherished, my own, my beloved?

But in my faith and hope and love
    I trust that those I've lost, Lord,
        are safe now, home with you...
 
And I wait for that day of joy, Lord,
    when we're all one in you
        and I see their faces again...
 
Protect me, Lord while I'm awake
    and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
    and asleep, rest in your peace...

Amen.
 
On this Saint Patrick's Day evening,
I pray this traditional Irish blessing
will bring peace to us all..

Irish Blessing by Michael John Trotta
 
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Until we meet again . . .
May the roads rise up to meet you,
May the winds be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.

Until we meet again . . .
And until we meet again,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
 

  

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Homily for March 17

Today, for the second time in 51 years, I overslept on a Sunday morning and missed the mass I was scheduled for!  The first time, the folks in church were there waiting for me to show up (which, eventually, I did).  This morning, however, a brother priest was in the church and subbed in for me at the last minute.  Thus, I have neither a video nor an audio of my homily - just the text which follows below.

 

 

Such beautiful words in Jeremiah this morning:

“I will place my law within them,
I will write it upon their hearts, says the Lord.”

 

That’s definitely one of my

Top 10 Favorite Verses from scripture

And there’s no doubting

it prompts some personal questions

For each of us to ask ourselves.

 

Questions like:

Who gets to write on my heart?

Who HAS written on my heart

– maybe when I wasn’t looking?

Who has scratched some graffiti on my heart,

Words I find hard to erase or forget?

What’s been written on my heart

That now seems to have faded away?

What’s been indelibly penned on my heart?

What has the LORD written on my heart?

 

At the very moment I was conceived,

My parents began writing on my heart

- in the language of their DNA.
My mother was writing her love for me on my heart
- and I on hers - in the intimacy of her womb,
before I knew a single word.


When I was a child my parents, my family,

my friends, my teachers
all had opportunity to write upon my heart

- sometimes before I had a choice

 to accept or reject what they wrote.

What some folks wrote was loving, helpful and life giving.
What others wrote was wounding, hurtful and damaging.
Some wrote the truth on my heart

- and others wrote LIES.


Some of what was written was fuzzy, illegible – not clear -

And to this day,

I’m still trying to figure out what the message was

And how has it shaped my life…


As we grow up and grow older

We become more protective of our hearts,
we begin to shield them,

Doing our best to allow only a select few

To write on such a tender slate.


Still, there may be times when we’re so desperate
to have someone write something there
that we open our hearts foolishly and indiscriminately.

 

Certainly, there’s nothing sweeter, no message kinder,
no memory more satisfying, no intimacy more lasting.

Than what’s written on our hearts

With tenderness and love

By those we trust and welcome into our souls.


Perhaps just the words i’ve spoken here

Have led you to that place in your heart

Have been found loving and helpful

And others painful and hurtful.

It’s in just that place  - in your heart and in mine -
it’s in just that place

That the Lord writes his word to each of us:
the WORD, the LAW, the PROMISE of his love.
It’s in the depths of our hearts,

In our heart of hearts that the Lord wants to write
the word he has for each one of us.


Perhaps – this morning –

Perhaps what the Lord desires to write

on my heart, on yours,
is a word of healing,            

Or a word of forgiveness,

or a word of challenge.

or a word of comfort.
It might be a word of great tenderness - to console me,
or a word of strength meant - to give me courage

or a word of pardon - to give me peace.


Each of us, without exception, can be sure of this:
The lord waits, pen in hand, to write on our hearts.

And whatever the Lord wants to write 

on my heart or yours
that word, that message is precisely the one

I most need to read there.

 

You know, i’ll bet that we all check our mailbox every day.

And if you have email

you check that at least a couple of times a day.

and if you text,

then you’re checking your phone

and replying to texts all day long.

 

We’re always checking in

To see what word others in our lives are sending us.

 

But I wonder, how often

Do we check to see 

what word the LORD has written to us?

 

How often this LENT, have we checked

To see what word, what text, what message

The Lord has been writing on our hearts in this holy season.

He writes every day:

Have we been looking for,

Have we been trying to read what he’s written?

 

There are two weeks left before Easter.

What if we spent that time asking the lord to help us read

what he’s been writing on our hearts?

 

What words of love and promise and healing,

what words of mercy and comfort and challenge

- has he been writing on our hearts?

 

And remember:

Whatever the Lord wants to write on my heart

And whatever word from him we’re searching for,

Hungering for, hoping to find
that word, that message is precisely the one

I most need and want to read there.

 

Jesus invited his father to write on his heart
and so there were inscribed on the heart of Jesus

all the sins of humankind, including yours and mine.


They were written on his heart

So that he might carry them for us on the cross
and redeem us, save us from the harm they do

-- to others and to ourselves.


In the sacrament of this altar

The Lord gains access to our hearts
when we open our- selves

To receive his Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

 

He enters our hearts to heal what’s wounded

and to write upon them

the law and the promise of his love.


May our hearts be laid bare

That the Lord might write upon them there

The words each of us of most needs to find and read.

 


 

 

 

  

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3/16/24

Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 3/17




Just 2 weeks now 'til Easter, Lord...
 
Just 14 days, 336 hours,
   20,160 minutes: 

    to set aside some time each day
        to sit and talk with you...

    to go without some comfort
        I depend on way too much...

    to dig down deep and generously
        to help and serve the poor...
Lent is not almost over, Lord,
I've got 2 full weeks left 'til Easter: 
    14 days to turn my heart to you;
    336 hours to empty out whatever I don't need;
    20,160 minutes to make some room to fill my soul
        with your grace and healing presence...
 
Send your Holy Spirit, Lord,
to help me make the best of 
    these 2 weeks,
    these 14 days,
    these 336 hours
    and 20,160 minutes:  
to grow in faith, to grow in love,
    to grow in the peace 
        for which I long...

Amen. 
 
Not a perfect fit -  but I couldn't resist posting this!
    Seasons of Love by Jonathan Larson
        performed by Pentatonix  
 
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Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutesFive hundred, twenty five thousand moments so dearFive hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutesHow do you measure, measure a year?
 
In daylights, in sunsetsIn midnights, in cups of coffeeIn inches, in milesIn laughter, in strife
In five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutesHow do you measure a year in a life?
 
How about love?How about love?How about love?Measuring loveSeasons of loveSeasons of love
 
Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutesFive hundred, twenty five thousand journeys to planFive hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutesHow can you measure the life of a woman or a man?
 
In truths that she learnedOr in times that he criedIn bridges he burnedOr the way that she died
It's time now to sing out 
Though the story never ends
 To celebrate, remember a year in the life of a friend
Remember the loveRemember the loveRemember the loveMeasuring the seasons of loveSeasons of love

  

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NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 3/16



The text of this evening's prayer is called "Patrick Compline" and comes to us from the   Nothumbria Community.  Compline (derived from the Old French word complir: to complete or bring to an end) is another word for night prayer.  If you read this morning's Pause for Prayer you'll see in the text below shades of the Lorica of Saint Patrick and of Psalm 16.

In the name of the King of life;
in the name of the Christ of love;
in the name of the Holy Spirit:
    the Triune of my strength.

I love you, O Lord my strength.
The Lord is my rock,
    my fortress and my deliverer.
My God is my rock
    in whom I take refuge.

I will praise the Lord who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.

I have set the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand,
    I shall not be shaken.

I am placing my soul and my body
    under your guarding this night, O Christ.
May your cross this night be shielding me.

Into Your hands I commit my spirit;
    redeem me, O Lord, the God of Truth.

The God of life with guarding hold you;
    the loving Christ with guarding fold you;
        the Holy Spirit, guarding, mold you;
    each night of life to aid, enfold you;
        each day and night of life uphold you.

May God shield me;
may God fill me;
may God keep me;
may God watch me;
may God bring me this night
    to the nearness of His love.
 
The peace of the Father of joy,
the peace of the Christ of hope,
the peace of the Spirit of grace,
the peace of all peace
    be mine this night.

Amen.

Tonight's song is yet another setting of the Lorica
(see this morning 's prayer for three others).  Dwight
Beal has adapted the text beautifully and given us a
very singable tune for this great prayer.

Hymn of Saint Patrick  by Dwight Beal

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Pause for Prayer: Saturday 3/16

 
Saint Patrick's Day isn't until tomorrow - but that's also the fifth Sunday of Lent. So here, this morning, are several offerings for your prayer and reflection for whenever this weekend you might choose to pause and remember Saint Patrick.
 
The text for our prayer is attributed to St. Patrick (387-461 A.D.) and goes by two titles: The Lorica (breastplate or shield) of St. Patrick and The Deer's Cry.  Here are four versions (3 musical settings and the text itself) for our prayer today:

1) The first is Shaun Davey's setting of much of the prayer's text, sung by Rita Connolly, along with graphics.

2) Up second is my personal favorite of the three: Arvo Part's haunting choral setting of the section, "Christ with me..."  The music here is powerful and haunting: this composer knows his way into my soul...

3) Next is John Rutter's choral setting, "A Prayer of St. Patrick."  (As many of you know, I love all of John Rutter's work!)

4) And finally,  the last entry below, a longer selection from the complete text of the Lorica.

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Christ with me, 
    Christ before me, 
        Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise,
Christ when I sit down, 
Christ in the heart of every one who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me. 
Christ with me.



The Lorica of Saint Patrick

Christ be with me
Christ within me
Christ behind me
Christ before me
Christ beside me
Christ to win me
Christ to comfort and restore me
Christ above me
Christ beneath me
Christ in quiet
Christ in danger
Christ in hearts of all that love me
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

The Lorica of St. Patrick
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation,
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion and his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection and his ascension...

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of angels...
In the hope of the resurrection,
In the prayers of ancestors in the faith,
In the preaching of the apostles,
In the faith of martyrs
In the innocence and purity of the deeds of the righteous.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power
that opposes my body and soul,
Against false prophets, false laws and idolatry...

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every one who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me. 

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

 

  

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