A Poem for the Autumn Tridduum

(Given that both these seasons (Halloween & Christmas) of hospitality and exchange have been so wrenched from their first purpose in order to sell tinsel and sweeties, I thought I might redress the balance a little and reclaim this season with a sonnet for All Souls/All Saints/All Hallows that remembers the light that shines in darkness, who first kindled it, and how we can all reflect it. - MG)

All Saints by Malcolm Guite

Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards
Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light,
It glances from the eyes, kindles the words
Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright
With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,
The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.
Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing
He weaves them with us in the web of being
They stand beside us even as we grieve,
The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,
Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above
The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,
To triumph where all saints are known and named;
The gathered glories of His wounded love.

All Hallows Eve (Day I)

Halloween is All Hallows Eve, or the Eve of All Saints' Day:

“All Saints' Day is the centerpiece of an autumn triduum. In the carnival celebrations of All Hallows' Eve our ancestors used the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule, to confront the power of death.” – Rev. Sam Portaro from “Brightest and Best”

"Halloween is the time of year when we see that Christ has so triumphed over Evil, that even little children can mock the Devil with impunity." – Fr. Victor

You, O Lord, have made us from the dust of the earth and to dust our bodies shall return; yet you have also breathed your Spirit upon us and called us to new life in you: Have mercy upon us, now and at the hour of our death; through Jesus Christ, our mediator and advocate. Amen.

An interesting article to read:

Don’t Worry, There Are More Demons Than You Think

Tree of Life Massacre - Response from our Presiding Bishop & Diocese

From our Presiding Bishop:

Our Jewish neighbors, our brothers and sisters, are fearful and we must stand with them and provide comfort and support for them and for all. It is reported that the gunman not only ranted anti-Semitic sayings, he has also ranted and spoken against immigrants and refugees and other peoples.

We must pray, we must pray for him, we must pray for the spirit of our nation, that a spirit of love and compassion and goodness and decency would pervade, and that spirits of hatred and bigotry would be cast away. But, above all, at this time, pray for those who have died and for their families and their loved ones. Pray for those who are wounded. Pray for the first responders, pray for our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community. Pray for the Tree of Life synagogue. Pray for the City of Pittsburgh. Pray for America. Pray for us all.

And then, go out and do something. Do something that helps to end the long night and helps to bring in the daylight. Visit a neighbor. Remind our Jewish brothers and sisters that they do not stand alone. Care for someone. Love. Stand for what is right and good. Then pray. And then act.

Read the whole thing here.

From our Diocesan Bishops:

Once again, sadly, during our 2018 Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, we were called to pause and pray for victims of violence whose lives were in the process of being senselessly taken by individuals intent on spreading terror and hatred. The first time we stopped to pray for such was November 13, 2015 during the Paris terrorist attacks. And then last Saturday, as we met in Convention in Mystic, we paused yet again to pray for the victims of the horrific shooting in the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. Such madness has got to stop.

Read the whole letter here (including Bishops United Against Gun Violence letter).

And from the Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh:

This terror is added to the great heap of such crimes we have witnessed in the past. Yet our hope is not dimmed, and our obligation is clear: “Behold, I set before you this day, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19) May we especially who bear the name of Christ be fierce in our love and unwavering in our courage, as we mourn with those who mourn, and work with others to lay the foundations for blessing, life and peace for all people. 

and

Today will be a difficult day for Pittsburgh. The President will be visiting. He says his purpose is to express his condolences and support for the families of those who died in the massacre at Tree of Life Synagogue. I believe there is also a rally scheduled for later this afternoon to protest the President’s visit. There will be many voices lifted up both for and against these events.

In the middle of it all, the Jewish rituals of mourning will continue: washing eleven bodies, burying the dead, sitting shiva.

The Mayor has said he will focus on the care of those who lost loved ones in the assault. I ask us all to follow the Mayor’s lead. Do not be caught up in the maelstrom of this day, or in bitter exchanges on social media. Let us be quiet. Wherever we are, let us mourn with the living and bless the dead. Let the only words be words of comfort, words of prayer. There will be time for other words. This is not the time.

 You can find his responses here and here.

Sermon: October 28

Sermon given at the 8 AM service:

Gracious God open our eyes to see your hand at work in the world about us. Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal. Let the grace of this Holy Communion make us one body, one spirit in Christ, that we may worthily serve the world in Jesus name. Amen.

Have mercy on me.

On the side of the road outside of Jericho is Bartimaeus, son of Timeaus. He is a blind beggar. He has heard of Jesus, the miracles he has done. And now as this crowd goes in front of him, he hears that Jesus is among them. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."

Although blind, Bartimaeus understands who it is that is before him.

Many ordered him to be quiet, to shut up, to stop bothering Jesus. But he would not give up, he had hope... "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many didn’t want to have such a commotion. They couldn’t look beyond the privilege they had walking with Jesus. The forgotten Bartimaeus on the side of the road.

I wonder who we forget about on the side of our roads?

“A nobody in the world’s eyes, a sidelined person, a blind beggar, becomes the hero of faith. Jesus did not sideline people. Jesus responded to what were seen as the ‘hopeless cases’ of his day.” (William Loader)

Call him here says Jesus. When Bartimeaus hears that Jesus is calling to him, he springs up, throws off his cloak, and comes to Jesus. Just think of someone sitting near the entrance to Jericho, giving up what he had, his few meager possessions, but he leaves those behind to see Jesus. What do you want me to do for you? asks Jesus. Rabbouni (my teacher) let me see again. He asks.

Go your faith has made you well. Immediately his sight is regained, and he follows Jesus to Jerusalem. (I wonder if that is why we remember his name.)

Bartimaeus gets what the rich man was looking for a few weeks back, he gets peace in his heart, for Bartimaeus was willing to give up everything, and he follows Jesus after his healing, it his faith that sets him free, a willingness to ask and to follow where it leads.

“The rich man is rich precisely because he does not know how to give, because he does not know how to share. If he had known how to share he wouldn’t be rich any longer. He who has shut himself into a world of defensiveness and pride cannot enter into the kingdom of sharing. The key to the kingdom, the only is key, is openness.” (Jean Vanier)

The crowd that shouts him down, fails to see the faith in another person, wanting their own time with Jesus not to be bothered by the blind beggar. Sometimes we are blind to our own needs, and sometimes we are the crowd failing to see the needs around us. Yet we must always ask God to help "open our eyes to see your hand at work in the world about us."

A professor of ministry and spirituality asks her students to take part in a little experiment:

She directs them to look around the classroom and focus on one particular color: for example, take note of everything that is red, she says. After a few moments, she asks them to close their eyes and quietly recall all the red items they saw. Then comes the unexpected: With their eyes still closed, the professor asks them to name all the blue things they had seen. Most often, because they were so focused on the color red, they missed all the blue and any other color.

The professor explains that this is similar to what we focus on in everyday life:

"We focus on the negative and tend to notice all that is going wrong in our world, and we miss God's grace and presence before us. What we focus on is what we give power to! In focusing on the negative we miss God's grace."

[C. Vanessa White, Assistant Professor of Spirituality and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, writing in the August 2018 issue Give Us This Day www.giveusthisday.org (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2018). Used with permission.]

In today's Gospel, Jesus restores the sight of the blind Bartimaeus - but not just the vision of his eyes, but the vision of his soul. Jesus redirects his sight to perceive the presence of God in his life, to see and embrace the many signs of God's grace in the world around him. Our own vision can use a similar re-focus: we can be so attuned to one "color" - the color of disappointment, the color of self-centeredness, the color of cynicism - that we are blind to the colors of God: compassion, mercy, forgiveness, peace that are already there.

Bartimaeus receives his sight - but Jesus also affirms the vision that he already possesses: the ability to "see" God's love in his midst, to "see" the possibilities for God's transforming hope and re-creating love to heal the brokenness in his life, to "see" his own ability to be the means for God's justice and reconciliation. To see our lives and our world with the eyes of faith is to recognize the many colors of God's grace radiant in every human being, in every place, in every moment before us.

May our eyes be opened to God's work and may we follow in faith where Jesus is leading us. Let us remember Bartimaeus and remember his faith and his hope in Jesus and in turn remember the faith that is inside us, for with a little help from Jesus, our eyes will be opened to the works of our God in the world today.

O Lord have mercy on me.

Amen.

Prayers & Words - Remembering #TreeofLife #squirrelhillshooting

People across the world stand united in grief as details emerge of the horrific murders at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill).

The Synagogue was named after the famous verse: “It is a tree of life for those who grasp it ... and all of its paths are peace.” (Proverbs 3)

No amount of murderous hatred can weaken our grasp of that tree of life. The more hatred we face, the more relentless our pursuit of the paths of peace will be.

To the families so devastated by this unspeakable evil, may the Almighty comfort you among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.  ~ Chief Rabbi Mirvis of London

A Prayer for Victims of Terrorism
Loving God, welcome into your arms the victims of violence and terrorism. Comfort their families and all who grieve for them. Help us in our fear and uncertainty and bless us with the knowledge that we are secure in your love. Strengthen all those who work for peace and may the peace the world cannot give reign in our hearts. Amen.

A Prayer for Social Justice
Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

…This terror is added to the great heap of such crimes we have witnessed in the past. Yet our hope is not dimmed, and our obligation is clear: “Behold, I set before you this day, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19) May we especially who bear the name of Christ be fierce in our love and unwavering in our courage, as we mourn with those who mourn, and work with others to lay the foundations for blessing, life and peace for all people.  ~ Bishop Dorsey W.M. McConnell, Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh

Prayers in a time of fear (after Terror)

A Prayer for Victims of Terrorism

Loving God, Welcome into your arms the victims of violence and terrorism. Comfort their families and all who grieve for them. Help us in our fear and uncertainty, And bless us with the knowledge that we are secure in your love. Strengthen all those who work for peace, And may the peace the world cannot give reign in our hearts. Amen.

A PRAYER AGAINST TERROR ATTACKS

O Almighty God, when people terrorize, you are near as a Comforter and Friend. You have taught us that reckless hatred cannot save us, and your call for healing is greater than the clamor of terror in our world. Let us make no peace with the forces of oppression. Lead our enemies from prejudice into truth. Do not allow any bitterness to harden within us. Give us the courage to resist conforming
to white patterns of social salvation. Provide those who terrorize others a way to make restitution.
Allow us all to be reconciled before you. Amen. (C) Kenji Kuramitsu

A Prayer for Social Justice

Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 260)

A Prayer for the Whole Human Family.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 815)

A Prayer for Social Justice.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the people of this land], that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 823)

A Prayer for First Responders

Blessed are you, Lord, God of mercy, who through your Son gave us a marvelous example of charity and the great commandment of love for one another. Send down your blessings on these your servants, who so generously devote themselves to helping others. Grant them courage when they are afraid, wisdom when they must make quick decisions, strength when they are weary, and compassion in all their work. When the alarm sounds and they are called to aid both friend and stranger, let them faithfully serve you in their neighbor. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.– adapted from the Book of Blessings, #587, by Diana Macalintal

For the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to your merciful care, that, being guided by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of Massachusetts, and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

For Peace

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

A Season of Prayer: For a Mid-term Election

Forward Movement is calling Episcopalians and all others to join with us in A Season of Prayer: For a Mid-term Election. This is a two-week period in which we will pray each day with a particular intention for this time in our national life and a collect from The Book of Common Prayer. 

This time of prayer begins Sunday, October 21, and continues through the day after the election. Join us on Forward Movement's social media channels (Facebook or Twitter) in offering or sharing each day's prayer. These resources are available in English and Spanish and can also be used as a bulletin insert for the Sundays of Oct. 21 and 28 and Nov. 4. Please encourage your congregation and your friends to get involved. 

At a time when nearly everyone agrees that we are being consumed by fear and division, this is a prayerful, intentional opportunity to change the conversation. While we will certainly differ in our politics, we can surely join together in prayer. We hope you will join in this season of prayer. 

 

Prayerfully, 

Your sisters and brothers at Forward Movement 

Bulletin Inserts /

Encartes para boletines

 Week 1 /

Semana 1 

Week 2 /

Semana 2

 Week 3 /

Semana 3 

Way of Love: Daily Prayer I

Opening

Beloved God, we are called to be your children:

May we delight in your love.

Prayer

God, you draw us into your love through baptism: Teach us to abide in the knowledge of your love and to share that love with all your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Praise             A Song of God’s Love (I John 4:7-11)

Beloved, let us love one another, *

for love is of God.

Whoever does not love does not know God, *

for God is love.

In this, the love of God was revealed among us, *

that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Jesus Christ.

In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us *

and sent his Son that sins might be forgiven.

Beloved, since God loved us so much, *

we ought also to love one another.

For if we love one another, God abides in us, *

and God’s love will be perfected in us.

Scripture        John 13:34-35

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Meditation                

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” ― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!

Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?

Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?

Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own,

but what you want to give me.

And what you want to give me is love -- unconditional, everlasting love. Amen.

What am I holding tightly in my clenched fist? (Henri Nouwen)

Intercessions

Beloved, we are called to love those in need:

Let us love in truth and action.

Beloved, we are called to be people of peace:

Let us love one another.

Beloved, we are called to be people of healing:

Let us love not only God, but our brothers and sisters, also.

Here, the people may add particular intercessions or thanksgivings.

May we abide in God’s love.

May God’s love abide in us.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

    hallowed be thy Name,

    thy kingdom come,

    thy will be done,

        on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

    as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

    for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayers

O God most holy, in Jesus Christ you have laid a foundation upon which to build our Lives: Help us to follow your perfect law of love, that we may fulfill it and observe it to the end. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.

Going Out

Beloved God, we are called to be your children:

May we delight in your love.

How to Practice Lectio Divina

Reflective reading of the Bible to lead us into prayer has been a practice in the church from the earliest centuries. It can take many forms, from singing the Psalms as a community, to reciting the Lord’s Prayer, to a systematic reading of each section of a book with pauses for reflection and prayer. This last method is often called lectio divina, from the Latin for “divine (or sacred) reading.” Spiritual writers describe it in a variety of ways, but all agree that it has a definite pattern to it. That pattern is described here briefly as four steps:

1. a slow and thoughtful reading of a passage from the Bible

2. a time of reflection and thinking about the meaning of that text to me as a reader

3. a period of prayer to God to bring its message or wisdom to fruit in myself

4. a decision on what I should do in my own life as a result—that is, an action plan or decision to change or improve

Lectio divina is simple to do. It can be done in any place where there is some quiet or peace. It can be done at any time of day when one can find a few minutes. It can be as long or short as you wish to make it. And it has no difficult demands only for the elite; anyone can find pleasure and spiritual enrichment in it. The only real requirement is to concentrate on what you are doing through each of the four steps so that you are not distracted and forget where you are. You could give three minutes to the process or fifteen, but it is important to hold the four steps together so that the reading actually turns to prayer.

This is an introduction to what should hopefully become a lifelong source of fulfilling prayer. After all, what better way to converse with God than sharing together the very words that our divine Friend inspired?

How to Practice Lectio Divina by Lawrence Boadt, CSP