by Rodney Marsh
“Jesus was completely changed” Mk 9:2
It seems it was Jesus’ habit to go, by himself, to pray daily in a ‘lonely place’. This day was different. Peter had, six days earlier, told Jesus that his disciples believed Jesus was the promised ‘coming King’. In response, Jesus’ words became dark and he predicted his death. Would his followers continue to follow him? After all he also spoke about a ‘resurrection’. Peter’s interpreter (Mark) tells us what happened on the seventh day after Peter’s confession (sundown day 6), Jesus led Peter, James and John up a mountain. There Jesus’ friends experienced a blazing vision of Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah, complete with an enveloping cloud and the voice of God saying, “This is my son, and I love him. Listen to what he says!”(v7). For Jesus and his disciples this was a reaffirmation of Jesus’ baptismal status as “my son” and a promise of God’s support (“I love him”). Moses and Elijah had both received mountain top commissions to rescue God’s people, so God’s words also included an affirmation that Jesus and his friends were on the right track and Peter et al (including you and me) should do (thats was to ‘listen’ means) what Jesus’ says. The lessons of Big Change Sunday: Like Jesus, we too daily need, and will daily receive, affirmation from God that we are a much loved child of God – if we are willing to go to pray with Jesus in a lonely place. Like Jesus, every day we will receive affirmation that we are on the right track and will receive strength for the journey – if we are willing to go to pray with Jesus in a lonely place. Like Peter, James & John these gifts will come after we name Jesus’ as our Lord and are willing to continue to follow where he leads.
Climbing Mountains with Jesus
Mountains – I’ve seen a few, climbed some (little ones),
Mountain top experiences – I’ve had a few, but they never lasted,
When I met Jesus I discovered there were lots more mountains to climb – big ones, and every day too,
I am still climbing. Every day,
Every day the track gets steeper and narrower but so much easier because, though,
I still cannot see the path ahead, my shepherd always gently guides me in the right direction,
And on the Jesus’ trail, I have never been afraid or alone.
Resources to enrich your lenten celebration. Includes downloads of: A Journey Into Wholeness, Lent/Easter Prayer Cards, and 40 Daily Ideas Guide for Lent.
by Jenny Gehman
“Please place your seat backs and tray tables in their full upright position.”
My husband and I recently flew to Colorado to celebrate the completion of my training in spiritual direction. Our round-trip flight meant we experienced two departures and two arrivals. Two ascents and two descents for a total of four times hearing the flight attendant’s voice over the loudspeaker instructing us to assume our upright positions. All in preparation to depart or arrive.
This got me thinking about postures that prepare us for what is to come. I began wondering if the airline instructions stood in sharp contrast to those Jesus might have received for his round-trip journey to Earth. Had he come in his full upright position as King of kings and Lord of lords, he never would have fit. Earth cannot hold him.
To prepare for his arrival, he had to assume not an upright position but a bent one. And bend he did, into the tiniest of seeds in a woman’s dark womb.
When the time came for his departure, Jesus bent yet again. “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father” (John 13:1). So what did he do? He bent low to the ground — into the shape not of seed but slave — and washed his disciples’ feet in an act of love.
In a devotional I read, the author said God is bent on loving us. She meant that God is determined to love God’s people.
But the word rang in my ears differently. I heard it in reference to the ways God loves us: by bending and descending, by lowering and leaning in.
We serve an upright God who is bent on bending. Bent on loving us. And who has a bent for the bent ones. A bent for the burdened ones. A bent for the ones brought low.
In the gospels, we encounter Jesus physically bending to the ground to protect a woman caught in adultery from the upright ones about to cast stones (John 8).
We hear him defend a prostitute, bent on washing his feet with her tears (Luke 7).
We watch in wonder as he bends rigid rules and on the sabbath heals a woman who had been physically bent for 18 long years (Luke 13).
We marvel with the multitudes on that momentous day when Jesus blessed the bent — the meek and the mourning, the merciful ones, the -persecuted, pure and poor (Matthew- 5).
God is bent on bending and lifting up the low. To enter the doorway of the suffering, the sinners, the sidelined and the sick, our Savior stooped.
I find this to be very good news for me — for us — when we find ourselves, as Edmund Sears penned in “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” bent beneath life’s pressing load.
Like the woman in Luke 13, my body was bent for 18 long years. I was brought to my knees by feet that could no longer support me and grief that kept grounding me. I don’t know what has bent you, friend — poverty, pressure or pain. I don’t know your journey, past or present, that has laid you low. But what I do know, and what I have experienced, is that our precarious bent position is the very posture that prepares us both for the arrival of God to us and our departure back to God.
It’s not the rigid or right but the bent and bowed who are blessed.
As the Holy Spirit kindly reminded me, this posture prepares us not only for God but for one another.
As I prayed for shalom in several relationships that have rubbed me wrong, I was moved to confess the areas where, in my own sense of rightness, I have become stiff-necked and straight. As I asked for the grace to bend, I realized anew that sometimes we need to stoop in order to see when we can’t see straight.
An upright position may be the preferred one for a plane, train or automobile. But in our walkabout daily lives, a bent frame may serve us best.
God is bent on loving us. It’s how -Jesus came and how he left and how he serves us still.
It just may be that when we are bent, broken or brought low, we are in a prepared place to enter a portal of grace, precisely postured for who and what awaits.
*Reprinted with permission from Anabaptist World magazine, AnabaptistWorld.org.*
Join Christine Sine on March 2nd 10a-12p PST (check my timezone) or watch the recording later.
What do you long for as you look towards Easter?
How can we create Beauty from the ashes of the past?
The Lenten season is meant to be a time for reflection, retreat and refocusing in preparation for our celebration of Easter. Yet most of us find it hard to take time out of our busy schedules for this much needed reorientation time.
Join Christine Sine for a morning of scripture reading and quiet reflection that will be for many of us a much needed oasis of quiet in the midst of our chaotic lives.
It’s time to get ready for Lent and as I said in my Meditation Monday: Ready for Lent? yesterday. “I almost missed it. Getting ready that is. Ash Wednesday is Wednesday February 14th. Yep! Valentine’s Day. An unfortunate juxtaposition some may think, but for others like me it is perfect.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life” (John 3:16)
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22:37, 38 CEB)
These two verses hold the essence of God’s love and of the purpose of Lent from my perspective. Lent is meant to be about learning to love God more fully and expressing that love out into the world that God loves.
As I say in my Meditation Monday Lent is a season we should take very seriously, so it needs some serious planning and creative thought. Now that my eyes are centered on it I am having lots of fun, and serious thought planning. I have pulled out my rock collection and paint pens and am painting a focus rock for the season using my theme “For Love of the World God Did Foolish Things”. Why foolish you may ask. Well April 1st, April Fools Day, is the day after Easter Sunday. I have also pulled out my finger labyrinth making materials and am looking forward to making finger labyrinths first with our small community next Monday and then with our church a couple of weeks later.
I am also starting to prepare for the upcoming Lenten Quiet Day retreat Beauty from Ashes. As many of you know burning the palms I collected on Palm Sunday last year is part of my Ash Wednesday tradition, and I like to use these ashes to paint a picture during Lent. This year the ashes will become part of my finger labyrinth and will provide a great focus for my reflections as I choose scriptures, images and reflections for the retreat day. This is a great opportunity to pause during Lent and refocus yourself for the remainder of the season. If you would like, there is still time to sign up for the entire series of Winter/Spring retreats which will conclude with Spirituality of Gardening on May 11th. Even though the first of these retreat is over, we can still send you the recording if you sign up.
On Saturday we posted this compelling prayer by Diettrich Bonhoeffer, a good prayer to read and reread as we focus our attention on the upcoming season. For more Lenten prayers by people like Mother Theresa, Henri Nouwen and Desmond Tutu, check out this post from a few years ago.
In her Freerange Friday: Welcome to a New Month, Lilly Lewin talks about Candlemas and the presentation of Jesus at the temple. For those of us who did not grow up in liturgical churches, this is a much needed education. Posts like this help us stay rooted in the gospel story while exploring new and creative ways to express our faith.
On Thursday, for St Brigid’s I posted my favourite hospitality liturgy as Brigid was well known for her hospitality and generosity to everyone who came to the monastery at Kildare. In Discernment: Feeling the Tug Elaine Breckenridge comments “I can feel the tug when God is inviting me to make beauty, joy, love and peace the rule of my life. Surrendering to being ruled by those four virtues means that am finished with writing intentions, mission statements, setting goals, practicing the skills of highly
effective people. Tuning into the feeling of God gently tugging on my hearts strings is
how I will practice discernment this year. “ It is so liberating not to work to mission statements and goals but to listen sensitively for the spirit’s guidance each day.
Liturgical Rebels header
I also hope that next week will see the launch of my podcast The Liturgical Rebels which I know that many of you are awaiting with great anticipation. Prayers appreciated as we work on the final details.
For love of the world,
This beautiful yet pain filled earth
On which we live,
God does foolish things.
How strange and unwise,
To send a much beloved son
To dwell amongst us,
Knowing he would die
A tragic and painful death.
Only love would be so reckless,
And so vulnerable.
Only God would care so much
For those who
despised and rejected Holy love.
For love of the world,
God does foolish things,
That turn the world upside down.
And bring life where we expected death.
Many blessings
Christine Sine
Photo by Lisa Fotios on pixels
Celtic Prayer Cards
These cards can be used by individuals for daily meditation or by groups. They can also be used for spiritual direction, counseling and grief therapy. Celtic Prayer Cards with prayers by Christine Sine and crafted by Hilary Horn with Celtic design and contemplative Celtic imagery.
by Christine Sine
Lent begins next week with Ash Wednesday on February 14th, and I almost missed it. Preparing properly for it at least.
Last week I was interviewed for a podcast about Lent. I was asked why I practice it, how I plan to practice it and what I hope to learn from it. As I gave my answers I felt like a bit of a hypocrite because I realized how little I had thought about this important season of reflection, introspection and realignment. Launching my podcast The Liturgical Rebels has distracted me so much that everything else is on the back burner.
This needs to change I thought, and my spirit responded with a resounding Amen and an admonition: “Get ready. Find your way.”
I call myself a contemplative activist and a liturgical rebel descriptors that really seem to come into focus as I start to think about Lent. Most people think of Lent as a time to give up something like chocolate or TV but for me it is about letting go of distractions that keep me from the path God intends me to tread, a path that is meant to draw me closer to God, to neighbours and to God’s good creation. It is also a time to grab hold of new commitments to actions that will transform my life and the lives of others, as they bring glimpses of God’s eternal world into being.. In other words this is a time to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds and love our neighbours as ourselves.
Getting ready for the season doesn’t come easy. It doesn’t mean picking up the first devotional that catches my attention and going about the rest of life as usual. Lent requires lots of intentional preparation and commitment.
So how do I set about preparing? Here are the steps I plan to follow.
Find a Focus
A focus that pulls together your spiritual practice, reading and even the arrangement of your sacred space during Lent is something I find extremely helpful. This year, because Lent starts on Valentines Day, and ends just before April Fools Day, I have chosen the theme “For love of the world God did foolish things”. I used this several years ago and found it to be a very helpful way to look at the purpose of Lent and my involvement in it.
Rearrange My Sacred Space.
The graphic above is my emblem for Lent this year. I found a lovely big rock that I will sketch it on to form the centerpiece for my Lenten contemplative garden which I hope to complete this week. Then I will forage through my plants and memorabilia to decide what else to add. The creation of such a garden is a contemplative exercise in itself and always helps prepare me for the season which lies ahead. I explain the process of creating a garden like this in my book Digging Deeper: The Art of Contemplative Gardening . I will also replace some of my candles that represent my circle of light, with crosses which seem like a more appropriate symbol for Lent. Objects that meaningfully draw us into the season ahead are powerful reminders of what we sense God wants to accomplish in our lives. Setting up my sacred space like this takes a lot of time and a lot of discernment, but it is well worth it in the end.
Choose Contemplative Practices.
At our Mustard Seed House community meeting next week we will make finger labyrinths. I love finger labyrinths as a contemplative tool. each time we use them is like taking a mini pilgrimage. They help us focus as we “walk the path” and keep us centered in what matters. If you choose a theme for Lent, repeating it as you begin your circuit of the labyrinth is a great way to improve your focus. The practice often brings clarity for issues I am struggling with. Evidently it is particularly powerful if one walks the labyrinth with one’s non dominant hand. I will use it at the beginning of Lent to help me plan in more detail for the season. I also plan to pull out my Lenten prayer cards and choose one each week as a specific focus.
One of my favourite things to do at the beginning of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, is not only to attend an Ash Wednesday service, but to also to burn the crosses and palms from last year’s Palm Sunday procession. In the last few years, as Lilly Lewin and I describe in our virtual retreat Finding Beauty in the Ashes of Lent, I use these ashes to create something beautiful, a word, a painting or even incorporating the ashes in my sand to make the labyrinth with.
Choose Your Reading Carefully
As most of you know I am an avid reader and already have a pile of books that will provide me with food for thought during Lent. Cole Arthur Riley’s Black Liturgies; Margaret Silf’s Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way and Diana Butler Bass’s Freeing Jesus are currently on the top of the pile, but I know that as I walk through Lent it is possible that other books will rise to the surface. I don’t tend to use a traditional devotional during Lent, partly because I want to remain open to the spirit guiding me into new possibilities. Maintaining this kind of flexibility means that I need to remain alert to what is happening around and inside me, another exercise I find productive during Lent.
If you are looking for something simple to engage in during this season you might like to use our booklet “Hungering for Life” a free Godspacelight resource with creative exercises for each week of Lent. Or even simpler our 40 daily ideas for Lent with a suggestion for each of the 40 days of Lent. Make sure you check out the other resources available for the season too.
What Actions Will You Take?
Lent is about preparing ourselves for the life of God’s eternal world, a world in which there is no more pain or suffering or destruction. It is a time to commit to actions that will bring glimpses of God’s shalom world into being. Is there an organization that works with the poor, the unjustly treated or the disabled you would like to volunteer with during Lent? Could you help clean up the environment in your neighbourhood, maybe commit to at least one day a week car free? Or is this the time to start gardening?
As you can see Lent takes a lot of preparation, and it takes a lot of resolve to continue walking the path for 40 days (45 really as Sundays are not considered part of Lent and so the season actual spans 45 days.
So join the Liturgical Rebels this year. Step outside the box and do something more than giving up chocolate or reading a short devotional each morning.
NOTE: As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links above. Thank you for supporting Godspacelight in this way.
What do you long for as you look towards Easter?
How can we create Beauty from the ashes of the past?
How do we enter into God’s Lenten story that prepares us for the death and resurrection of Easter?
The Lenten season is meant to be a time for reflection, retreat and refocusing in preparation for our celebration of Easter. Yet most of us find it hard to take time out of our busy schedules for this much needed reorientation time.
Join Christine Sine at the Lenten retreat: Beauty from Ashes for a morning of scripture reading and quiet reflection that will be for many of us a much needed oasis of quiet in the midst of our chaotic lives.
I love this beautiful prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which I like to post each year as a Lenten prayer. It challenges me with what it means to follow Jesus as we walk towards the cross. It formed the centre of my meditation this morning – so challenging knowing where his journey led. This prayer was used as one of the Lenten meditations in The Mosaic Bible. This year I have included a short youtube video with an overview of Bonhoeffer’s life. It ends with a challenge for us to engage in the injustices of our world. We may not believe that what Bonhoeffer did was right, but his willingness to confront the issues of his day is something that we all need to take seriously.
I Cannot Do This Alone
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me….
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before men.
Lord whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.
Amen
And hopefully your will have time to watch this compelling documentary about his life too.
Photo above: Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Charles Pate http://cpatejr.blogspot.com/2011/10/prison-project.html
Resources to enrich your lenten celebration. Includes downloads of: A Journey Into Wholeness, Lent/Easter Prayer Cards, and 40 Daily Ideas Guide for Lent.
Grab a cup, a candle to light and a blanket to wrap up in!
Welcome to a new month! Welcome to February!!
A Blank canvas on which to create & celebrate life!
It’s also still winter here in the Northern Hemisphere so not always sunny & hopeful. The dark days of February can be depressing and long.
Be kind to yourself.
Do things that fill your cup & bring you joy!
Pour out the things that deplete you!
I pick a cup each February to remind me to drink in the love of God! And to remind me to pour out that love to other people!
You might want to find a CUP that represents LOVE to you and use it each day this month.
Today, February 2, is known as Candlemas. I didn’t grow up celebrating this festival of the Church Year, but I really believe we all need to reclaim this day! Especially in the dark days of February and in the darkness that seems to weigh heavily on our world.
Candlemas celebrates the cleansing of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. It’s when families brought their candles to the church to be blessed for the year. It’s also the end of Christmastide. It’s an ancient festival that began in the 300s AD.
“The earliest reference to the festival is from Jerusalem, where in the late 4th century the Western pilgrim Etheria attended its celebration on February 14, 40 days after Epiphany (then celebrated as Christ’s birthday), and wrote of it in the Peregrinatio Etheriae. It soon spread to other Eastern cities, and in 542 Justinian I decreed that its date should be moved back to February 2 (40 days after Christmas). By the middle of the 5th century the custom of observing the festival with lighted candles had been introduced, and the name Candlemas developed from this custom. In the Western church, Pope Sergius I (687–701) instituted the festival in Rome. In the East it is primarily a festival of Christ. In the West it was primarily a celebration of the Virgin Mary until the calendar reform of 1969.” Encyclopedia Brittanica
In honor of Candlemas, LIGHT YOUR CANDLE and read Luke 2: 22-40 You might Listen to the Passage in other versions.
Presentation at the Temple (Georgia, 12th c.)
READ THE SCRIPTURE
LUKE 2: 22-40 NIV
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”[a]), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”[b]
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss[c] your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty- four.[d] She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
What do you notice? What does the Holy Spirit highlight for you from this passage? Who do you relate to and why?
The People of Israel had been waiting for the Messiah, and now he is here! I’m not sure Simeon and Anna thought they would see their Messiah in the form of a baby, but they didn’t let his size change or belittle their response. They didn’t miss Jesus even though he didn’t appear as they thought he might.
How do you miss Jesus? What are you waiting for in 2024? Talk to God about these things.
Luke gives us the accounts of two people in this story. A man AND a woman are in the temple EXPECTING the Messiah. Mary and Joseph get more information about their new son! What do you learn about Jesus in these prophecies?
Simeon listened to the Holy Spirit and went to the temple that day, he didn’t skip it, ignore it and go pick up his dry cleaning, or first go to the market. Do you have times when you’ve listened to the Holy Spirit or times you know you haven’t listened and missed something ?
Simeon says that Mary will experience pain because of Jesus. What is piercing your heart these days? What things are breaking your heart? Talk to Jesus about these things and let Jesus hold them for you.
Simeon & Anna were both watching, waiting and looking for Jesus. They were paying attention, watching for the signs. What things help you see Jesus? How can you make time to wait and watch for Jesus this month and throughout 2024?
WRAP UP in your BLANKET!
Jesus is presented in the temple by two parents who love and cherish him. We too are loved and cherished by Jesus. He longs to WRAP US in his great love! Imagine your blanket at the love of Jesus.
PRAY THIS PRAYER OF Dedication over yourself.
We gather to bless this child of God (SAY YOUR NAME OUT LOUD)
Father God wrap ME in your arms of love.
Lord help ME know that you bless me.
Holy Spirit guard me (SAY YOUR NAME) with your protection.
Jesus surround ME with your grace and mercy.
And from the threads of life we share, weave a covering of compassion, love and prayer that grow as we grow in the months and years ahead. AMEN
(A prayer of Dedication and Christening based on a prayer by Andy Raine in the Celtic Daily Prayer Book 2)
LEARN MORE ABOUT CANDLEMAS HERE
CHECK OUT the Presentation of Jesus in ART
LISTEN: to Michael Card
The painting above is one I did in response to all the sorrow & loss during covid & after george floyd’s murder ! There is still so much loss and suffering in our world. In Gaza, in Ukraine, on the border, in the USA due to politics and prejudice. We need to be and bring LOVE to our world… one cup at a time, one friend, one neighbor at a time! Much love to you all ! Lilly
February 1st we celebrate the life and death of Brigid of Kildare, one of my favourite Celtic saints. One of the things I love about Brigid is her strong emphasis on hospitality. Some of the beautiful Celtic hospitality blessings and runes are attributed to her.
Hospitality was one of the most demanding and often costly tasks undertaken by the Celtic monasteries . Celtic Christians believed hospitality was not only meant to be a custom in their homes, they believed it was also a key into the kingdom of God. The guest house or hospitium, often occupied the best site within the monastic community and, though the monks might live on bread and water, visitors would often receive the best of food and drink. The monastery at Derry is said to have fed a thousand hungry people each day. Brigid, who presided over the monastery at Kildare, often made butter for visitors. Tradition has it that when churning the butter, Brigid would make thirteen portions – twelve in honour of the apostles and an extra one in honour of Christ which was reserved for guests and the poor.
According to Christine Pohl in her inspirational book Making Room, the tradition of hospitality was once an important part of all Christian communities and revolved around the welcoming of strangers into one’s home. “For most of the history of the church, hospitality was understood to encompass physical, social, and spiritual dimensions of human existence and relationships. It meant response to the physical needs of strangers for food, shelter and protection, but also a recognition of their worth and common humanity. In almost every case, hospitality involved sharing meals: historically table fellowship was an important way of recognizing the equal value and dignity of persons.” Making Room p4)
The following litany revolves around the practice of hospitality and incorporates a number of Celtic blessings and prayers. You may like to get together with a group of friends over a meal and discuss how you could become God’s hospitality to your community. Use this litany to focus your minds and hearts on the call to be Christ’s hospitality to our world. Brigid’s prayer which is used as part of this litany, also makes a great grace before a meal. You might like to write out copies for each person and recite it together as you begin your meal
Celtic Hospitality Litany
Leader: The Celtic Christians believed that hospitality was not only meant to be a custom in their homes, they believed it was a key into the Kingdom of God. To offer hospitality was seen as receiving Christ into their midst and fulfilling the law of love. Let us sit in silent prayer for a moment to remind ourselves of the incredible hospitality of our Creator who invites us into the divine presence and into the eternal family.
All stand for lighting of the candle
Leader: The King is knocking. If thou would’st have thy share of heaven on earth, lift the latch and let in the king of Kings. (Hebridean welcome)
All: Christ as a light illumine and guide us
Christ as a shield overshadow us
Christ under me, Christ over us,
Christ beside us, On our left and our right
This day be within and without us
Lowly and meek yet all-powerful
Be in the heart of each to whom we speak
In the mouth of each who speaks to us
This day be within and without us
Lowly and meek yet all-powerful
Christ as a light, Christ as a shield
Christ beside us, on our left and our right (Northumbria Morning Prayer)
Leader: Brigid the fifth-century Irish saint, was famed for her hospitality. The following prayer is attributed to her. As we recite it let us consider our own need to be God’s hospitality to others
All: I should like a great lake of finest ale, for the King of Kings
I should like a table of the choicest food, for the family of heaven.
Let the ale be made from the fruits of faith, and the food be forgiving love.
I should welcome the poor to my feast, for they are God’s children.
I should welcome the sick to my feast, for they are God’s joy.
Let the poor sit with Jesus at the highest place, and the sick dance with the angels
God bless the poor, God bless the sick, and bless our human race.
God bless our food, God bless our drink, all homes, O God, embrace.
Leader: I open my heart to Christ in the stranger,
People: To Christ in the face of colleague and friend,
Leader: I open my heart to the one who is wounded
People: To Christ in the hungry, the lonely, the homeless
Leader: I open my heart to the one who has hurt me
People: To Christ in the faces of sinner and foe
Leader: I open my heart to those who are outcast
People: To Christ in the broken, the prisoner, the poor
Leader: I open my heart to all who are searching
People: To Christ in the world God’s generous gift
Scripture Readings –
Psalm 84
Hebrews 12:28 – 13:8
Mark 12: 28-34
After the gospel reading recite the following Declaration of Faith
We believe and trust in God the Father Almighty.
We believe and trust in Jesus Christ the Son
We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit.
We believe and trust in the Three in One
Leader: The Lord be with you
People: And also with you
Leader: Let us pray
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, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen
Leader: Let us pray that we may learn what it means to be God’s hospitality to our world
Kneel or stand for the prayers
Leader: That the barriers that divide us may be broken down,
All: Lord have mercy
Leader: That we may live by the law of love in unity, peace and concord
All: Lord have mercy
Leader: That we may come to mutual understanding and care,
All: Lord have mercy
Leader: Upon all who are torn apart by war and by violence
All: Christ have mercy
Leader: Upon all who suffer from dissensions and quarrels,
All: Christ have mercy
Leader: Upon all who are divided in their loyalty and love,
All: Christ have mercy
Leader: That all who work for unity and in the spirit of hospitality may be blessed
All: Lord have mercy
Leader: That all who seek to heal divisions between peoples may have hope
All: Lord have mercy
Leader: That all who lead nations, may seek peace
All: Lord have mercy (David Adam, The Rhythm of Life: Celtic Daily Prayer, p 82)
Leader: The following blessing is an ancient Celtic rune of hospitality that many think was written by St Brigid
We saw a stranger yesterday, we put food in the eating place,
Drink in the drinking place, music in the listening place,
And with the sacred name of the triune God
He blessed us and our house, our cattle and our dear ones.
As the lark says in her song: Often, often, often goes the Christ in the stranger’s guise
All: I open my heart to be the hospitality of Christ, to all those who come to my door.
I open my heart to embrace the stranger, the friend, the rich, the poor
I open my life to offer a generous heart towards all.
Leader: The blessings of God be upon this house, with plenty of food and plenty of drink,
With plenty of beds and plenty of ale, with much riches and much cheer
With many kin and length of life, ever upon it. Amen
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These cards can be used by individuals for daily meditation or by groups. They can also be used for spiritual direction, counseling and grief therapy. Celtic Prayer Cards with prayers by Christine Sine and crafted by Hilary Horn with Celtic design and contemplative Celtic imagery.
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