Walking in Love With Creation: Sermon for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (transferred)

A long time ago, almost 800 years, there lived a man named Francis. He left behind family and wealth to become a repairer of churches, a deacon, and a friar who organized a new religious order based on humility and poverty in solidarity with the poor.

One day Francis was walking in the woods, traveling from one city to another as he recruited people to join his order. Above his head he heard hundreds of birds in the trees, singing and cheeping and doing all the bird-like things they could, with gusto. He heard in their joyfully noise a message of praise to God. The story goes that he called to the birds, and they flew down from the trees and gathered about his feet, and he began preaching to them:

“My little sisters, many are the bonds which unite us to God. And your duty is to praise Him everywhere and always, because He has let you free to fly wherever you will, and has given you a double and threefold covering and the beautiful plumage you wear.

“Praise Him likewise for the food He provides for you without your working for it, for the songs He has taught you, for your numbers that His blessing has multiplied, for your species which He preserved in the ark of olden times, and for the realm of the air He has reserved for you.

“God sustains you without your having to reap or sow. He gives you fountains and streams to drink from, mountains and hills in which to take refuge, and tall trees in which to build your nests. Although you do not know how to sew or spin, He gives to you and your little ones the clothing you need.

“How the Creator must love you to grant you such favors! So, my sister birds, do not be ungrateful, but continually praise God, who showers blessings upon you.”

It is said that the birds listened attentively, and that when he dismissed them to fly away they formed the shape of the cross in flight. He later joked that animals were more attentive congregations than many human ones he had encountered.

His love for creation as a testimony to the loving provision of God for all of us is something too many of us still have difficulty embracing. We live in a time when our planet is warning us about our lack of care for creation, whether through benign neglect or through outright exploitation of the Earth and her resources. As we look at the historic flooding caused by Hurricane Helene in places that had thought they were safe from climate change, and as we watch the formation of more, even stronger storms in the Gulf of Mexico and all around the world, some of us still view nature as an adversary to be conquered than a gift and revelation of God’s abiding love for us and for all God’s creatures.

This last week (on October 4, actually), it is our tradition to commemorate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who is remembered as one who extolled the integrity, the oneness of creation, one who saw all of the universe, from the Sun and the Moon to even the tiniest creatures, as giving praise to the God and Creator of All. Our readings today reflect that spirit of the joyful honoring of creation that Francis taught.

Francis believed that creation revealed the glory and wisdom of God. There are stories of Francis moving earthworms aside so that he wouldn’t step on them, or of him saving a town that was being terrorized by a ravenous wolf by calling the wolf brother and treating it with such tenderness that it laid down at his feet and ravaged the town no more. No animals, from crickets and bees to falcons and pheasants, were too insignificant that Francis couldn’t see God’s generous love to us in the example of each creature.

In our gospel today, Jesus reminds us of the tender care he offers us, urging us to lay aside the striving of he world and lean into our trust in Jesus, whose burdens upon us are insignificant to the fears and anxieties of the world. In our passage from Psalm 121, we hear the voice of God reassuring us that God’s care and love for us never pauses, never ceases. And in our reading from Job, God lists wild animals not known in the ancient world for their wisdom and nonetheless asserts God's providential care. That generous, abundant provision is not just for domestic animals, as we humans sometimes emphasize, but on all creatures, especially wild beasts that roam free Jesus tenderly reminds us about the joy and beauty present in the most common things we tend to overlook in our distracted race through each day. In calling us to trust and awareness of all for which we could be grateful, Jesus calls us to live in each moment joyfully, bathed in God’s love.

Because it is so hard to fully live into each moment, we instead too often fall into the trap of feeling isolated from each other. That false sense of isolation leads to anxiety like Jesus was addressing, and that anxiety fools us into believing we are separate from one another. We see the effects of this belief right now in our city and throughout society. Anxiety and fear and isolation make us forget God’s promise of love and care.

Yet God’s promises to us are written into the very bonds of love that bind us to God, to each other, and to every living thing on the earth. That covenant that God established after the Great Flood was not just with Noah, but with both humans and all creation, plants and birds and all that lives, which, some scientists maintain, includes our very planet itself as a living organism, if one takes a broad enough view. The covenant story we heard from Genesis reminds us that creation is a full partner in our relationship with God, and gives God praise and glory.

Jesus reminds us that God’s love restores and renews us, so long as we center ourselves within each moment enough to feel that shared love. It is there in the joyful songs of birds whose welcome sings the morning into being. It is there in the lowliest, tiniest wildflower growing in a roadside ditch, turning its hopeful face toward the sun.

Instead of worry, Jesus calls us back to mindfulness, an important spiritual practice in many world religions. And not just any mindfulness, but the mindfulness of remembering how fully and thoroughly God loves us and through that love binds us together. Coming back to awareness of our unity with all living things is a wonderful place to start.

We see here in this anecdote that Jesus was a keen observer of the beauty of creation, and that he had spent time savoring the awareness of the birds singing and building their nests, and the sight of wildflowers—what some might call weeds—cloaking the fields and hills in beauty in a myriad of colors, all the hues of the rainbow mentioned in our first reading. Both the rainbow and the raiment of the most humble flower are signs to us of the promise God maintains with us and with all creation to love us and care for us always—not just in the distant past but right now and forever. Every living thing reminds us that God’s wondrous love bears the world into being and sustains it in every moment.

Luckily, we are also reminded of God’s love especially in the love and faithfulness of our companion animals, whose steadfast joy in us models to us the love and devotion we ourselves are made to exhibit toward our God.

At our pet blessing yesterday, those who gathered spoke of beloved canines and cats, fishes and rats—these creatures who show their devotion to us unswervingly. The very presence of all these living creatures in our lives remind us of God’s love. They remind us, also, that we are charged from the very first story in scripture with service to the earth and all the living things upon it and within it. Even the smallest creature has been placed on Earth to support the web of life on this planet, from humans to honeybees, and none is dispensable—not even wasps or mosquitos, who, I have to admit, are not my favorites. But we spoke of the ways that our pets’ devotion reminds us of the unswerving devotion and trust God’s abundant love elicits from us when we contemplate all the things for which we can be grateful in each day we live.

As we begin our stewardship campaign this year, I ask that you consider the way in which God has knit us into this huge community of creation, and consider the generous blessings of the natural world that make our lives possible. But I also ask that you remember how much the amazing community we have formed right here at St. Martin’s also finds ways to testify to God’s abundant love and grace each and every day, and ask each of you to recommit to supporting it

Our companion animals’ devotion exemplifies the devotion we owe God. Their love exemplifies the love we are called to bear for each other, no matter our differences.

St. Francis reminded us that all of creation participates in demonstrating God’s love—the same lesson Jesus taught us today in this gospel passage from Matthew. Each creature is a reminder of God’s blessing to and love for us. It is that holy and limitless love that binds all things together, just as mutual forces of gravity and attraction hold galaxies and stars in their courses as they dance through space. They walk alongside us as we seek to walk in love as Christ loved us, and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.


Amen.

Preached at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Ellisville, MO on October 5-6, 2024.

 Readings:

Job 39:1-18

Psalm 121

Matthew 11:25-30

Image: "God's Fool," statue of St. Francis in Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery, from Naperville, IL

Prayer 4026: Inspired by the Life of Florence Li Tim-Oi

Almighty God,
we worship and praise you this day,
and seek your will in our lives.
Inspire us by the example of your servant Florence,
who humbly accepted your call to minister
even in the midst of war and oppression,
bringing your sacraments to her people
that their faith and hope be nourished.
Give us the courage to feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
shelter the unhoused, landcare for the ill
as bravely and as selflessly,
even in defiance of tyrants,
and grant the warmth of your comforting embrace
to those for whom we pray.

Amen.

The Inner Life, the Lover's Heart: Speaking to the Soul June 15, 2023

For the Feast Day of Evelyn Underhill, inspired by her book Concerning the Inner Life

Beloved Creator,
envelop us in love and prayer–
love, humble and homely,
prayer, confident, adoring, and enduring–
that belief be made manifest as reality.

May we see the splendors of faith
through the artist’s eye and lover’s heart:
each praise rooted, grounded and nourished
in a hidden world of prayer, reflecting
the natural loveliness you have set us within.

May the whole of our lives be
a dance of adoration; our restless hearts
centered in You, O Christ, our model and guide,
in awe and wonder at your work within each soul:
love, joy, and peace,
flashing bright blue like a bluebird’s flight
catches the eyes of those around us,
fanning the flame within and upon his breast.
“Prayer is only the body of the bird–
desires are its wings,” so
may we long for you, Lord Christ,
and embrace the mystery of your grace,
that we may serve You and each other
as agents of the Spirit in the world,
clasped tenderly within the love of God.

Amen.

This was first published at Episcopal Journal and Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on June 15, 2023.

Image: bench at Green's View, Sewanee.

Yearning for Peace-- Speaking to the Soul, June 9, 2022

Today, June 9, is the feast day of the sixth century St. Columba of Iona, also known as Colmcille in Ireland, the land of his birth. Born into the clan Neill, some claim that his name originally was “Crimthann,” meaning “fox,” but he comes down to us as “Columba,” which means “dove.” Perhaps this story is told because his life was held in tension as a negotiation between strife and peace, between the necessity for diplomacy as a result of his lineage and station, and his yen for a quiet, monastic life as a contemplative and poet.

In the middle of his life, it is said that Columba became embroiled in violent disputes between his kinsmen and King Diarmait, the high king, concluding with a relative of his accused of murder being dragged from his protection and slain by the High King’s men. The responsibility for both deaths weighed heavily upon Columba, it is said, and so he and twelve followers left Ireland in a reed boat covered with leather, and set out to Scotland, eventually making landfall on the tiny island of Iona, off the coast of southwestern Scotland in the Inner Hebrides. There he lived the rest of his days, founding a monastery that was his home base as an apostle to the Scottish Picts as well as a center of learning. He was said to be happiest in his simple cell there, near a cross dedicated to St. Martin, himself a soldier who turned to peace. Although Columba made his home on a remote island, he nonetheless remained engaged with the world around him.

Many poems and prayers are attributed to St. Columba, including this one:

Let me bless almighty God,
Whose power extends over sea and land,
Whose angels watch over all.

Let me study sacred books to calm my soul:

I pray for peace,
Kneeling at heaven’s gates.

Let me do my daily work,
Gathering seaweed, catching fish,
Giving food to the poor.

Let me say my daily prayers,
Sometimes chanting, sometimes quiet,
Always thanking God.

Delightful it is to live
On a peaceful isle, in a quiet cell,
Serving the King of kings.

This beautiful prayer lays out in its five stanzas five actions of the life of a disciple: blessing, study, work, prayer, and service, all dedicated to God, but in service to the world. In all we do, we start by blessing God, by opening our hearts to holy learning, by laboring for the least and most vulnerable among us, by seeking God’s presence and guidance daily in our prayer lives, dedicating all our effort, even our resting, to the inbreaking of God’s reign within us and over us.

The prop upholding all is a longing for peace, and this is where perhaps we can hear Columba’s prayer resounding in our own hearts today, as we ourselves have been awash in repeated news of violence, war, and division all about us in the last few weeks.

In thanksgiving for the life of St. Columba, may we all make our prayer a prayer for peace—peace we are willing to back up by action to protect each other from the scourge of violence. May we remember that silence in the face of evil is not, and never can be, considered peace.

Beloved Savior, settle your peace upon us,
peace beyond our ken,
peace that drops soft and slow
like the rays from the sun at the clouds’ parting.

Light us from within, Lord Jesus,
with the beauty of your gospel of grace and mercy,
that we may radiate your love
as a beacon to the world.

Help us be truly present
in each moment with You, O God,
that we may be filled with the wisdom
of compassion and charity,
walking in truth and integrity with each other.

Breathe upon us your Spirit, O God,
that we may be utterly at peace
and grounded within your love.
Trusting in your unfailing goodness,
we commend to your care those we lift before You.

Amen.

This was first published at Episcopal Journal and Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on June 9, 2022.

The Spirit of Service: Speaking to the Soul, November 11, 2021

Isaiah 58:6-12, Matthew 25:31-40

One hundred and three years ago on this day, a terrible war was at last grinding to a halt across much of the world. Those in charge of the perpetrating that war decided to declare an armistice on the feast day of the patron saint of soldiers (as well as conscientious objectors). So, on the Feast of St. Martin the Merciful of Tours, the trenches across Europe and Asia at long last grew silent, and the so-called “Great War” shuddered to a bloody halt. Today, here in America, we call today Veteran’s Day. We must never forget this as a day of peace honoring first that one who had the strength to lay down his weapons and take up the shield of faith, clothing himself in a spirit of service to others.

The assigned readings in today’s lectionary valorize not war, but peace. The reading from Isaiah is a bold proclamation of abundance that leads to the celebration of the dream of God for our lives. The prophetic words insist not that might makes right, but that the greatest strength is demonstrated by standing in solidarity with the vulnerable and the oppressed. The gospel reading insists that the face of Christ is found in every person in need whom we encounter, just as Martin showed mercy on a beggar in Amiens and gave him half his cloak, the first step in his journey from soldier to servant of Christ. And so, may we take a moment to center our hearts in gratitude for those who have laid aside their own desires to embrace a life of service, humility, and compassion, and to seek to follow in that same path.

We praise You,
O Compassionate One,
and lift our hearts
to be filled by your light.

May we embrace your call to sacrifice
that we may seek to serve others
as Blessed Martin did,
seeking not our own will but yours.
May we devote our lives and resources to peace

and the good of others:
setting the oppressed free,
feeding the hungry,
clothing those who are naked,
housing the homeless and the refugee.

Clothe us, O Lord,
in a spirit of compassion and generosity,
draped in a mantle of honor and integrity:
give us the imagination
to see ourselves
in the place of our suffering kindred.

May we see the face of our Savior,
in the one shivering in the cold,
and in the refugee fleeing the ravages of war.

May we put down our swords
in the name of your love, Blessed Jesus,
and work for true peace in the world.

Grant your peace and healing, O Great Physician,
to all in recovery from the shock and horror of war,
that they may lay down their arms in safety and gratitude.

Pour out your spirit upon us,
O God of Grace,
and grant your blessing to all who seek You.

Amen.

This was first published at Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on November 11, 2021.

Image: 12th century drawing of St. Martin with the beggar (who was Christ).

Bonhoeffer and the Heart of Christian Living: Speaking to the Soul, February 4, 2021

One of the greatest challenges facing our nation, and facing American Christianity right now, is the struggle over how to deal with the anger, hatred, and violence claimed as a birthright by a substantial portion of the population. We witnessed this anger forcefully on January 6. Within Christianity, there is a perceived strengthening of Christian nationalism that makes a mockery of the word “Christian.” Yet, for too many people, this is the face of Christianity that is shown to the world, not the face of a Savior, healer, teacher, and redeemer.

As I wept watching the ceremony honoring Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick in the Capitol Rotunda yesterday morning, I felt a wave of grief sweep over me, and I know I was not alone. Even as he was being laid to rest, the initial shock of that January 6 has seemingly begun to wear off, with even some Congresspersons claiming that the assault really wasn’t as bad as all that, and some people who claim to be Christians espousing the right to spill innocent blood in the name of a country that they claim to have been founded on their version of “Christian principles.” Some of these same people claim to be “pro-life.”

It is at this time that we are called to remember the life and witness of the great German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose birth we celebrate on February 4 in the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints. His willingness to live alongside the oppressed and to give up his life rather than turn a blind eye to fascist ideology that threatened to engulf the German Church mark him as a modern martyr.

Bonhoeffer wrote one of his greatest works on Matthew’s sermon on the Mount. In Chapters 9-11 of The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer addresses Jesus’s statement in the Sermon on the Mount that hatred for another person is the equivalent of murder. Bonhoeffer says this:

When we come before God with hearts full of contempt and unreconciled with our neighbors, we are, both individually and as a congregation, worshiping an idol. So long as we refused to love and serve our brothers and sisters and make them an object of contempt and let them harbor a grudge against me or the congregation, our worship and sacrifice will be acceptable to God. Not just the fact that I am angry, but the fact that there is somebody who is been hurt, damaged and disgraced by me, who ‘has a cause against me’, erects a barrier between me and God. Let us therefore as a Church examine ourselves, and see whether we have not often enough wronged our neighbors. Let us see whether we have tried to win popularity by falling in with the world’s hatred, its contempt and its [insulting treatment]. For if we do that we are murderers. (Bonhoeffer, Cost of Discipleship, 144).

Bearing contempt for others cannot be made right just by offering a gift at the altar. No, that’s too easy, and avoids the very real work of reconciliation. The entire point of covenants and commandments is that we live in RELATIONSHIP with God and with each other. Relationships are holy things but also sacramental—for they help us evaluate how strong our commitment to living as God’s children really is. We show our commitment to God by how we treat others—even those to whom we are strangers, or those who are difficult to love. God knows sometimes WE can be difficult to love—but God loves us anyway. That’s called “grace,” and like the song says, it’s amazing.

Now at the same time, loving our neighbor can and must also include holding them accountable. Indeed, people who ask forgiveness and yet refuse to own up to and name the harm they have done are not penitent. They are, instead, self-serving. This calls to “unity” are hollow unless they are accompanied by honesty, humility, and repentance.

We must stop leaving unchallenged speech which denigrates others and seeks to divide. Yet it can never be repeated enough: one of the greatest blessings of Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox Christian theology is our repeated emphasis on the importance of the concept of the incarnation—of how, in Jesus, God comes to take on our human nature and live as one of us, thereby hallowing our frail flesh and giving us the example of a truly enlightened, joy-filled, purposeful life. The emphasis on breaking bread together here on earth, humbly in awe at the spark of divine light that shines for the face of each and every one of us, of offering, blessing, and giving, is the heart of Christian life.

Our incarnational theology, proclaimed, embraced, and celebrated in our weekly observance of the Eucharist, reinforces the sacredness of the image of God that resides within all humanity, and indeed is shot throughout all of creation. That’s why anger, fear, jealousy, or prejudice that leads us to discount anyone’s life—no matter how much we may disagree with them or their actions—as less sacred and worthy of protection than our own lives or the lives of our family and friends is equivalent to the breaking of our covenant with God.

When we choose contempt rather than seeing the holiness and sacredness of any of our kindred people, we are choosing to let death and destruction reign in our hearts, rather than choosing life and love. God calls us step back from hurting other people through our own anger—even those who have hurt us. Whether they are worthy or not is not our concern. God also calls us to worship God alone, not some idol of individualism and base prejudices.

And that’s hard. But all real transformation—the choice of life over death—is of course not going to be easy. It WILL be worthwhile, and will bless us ourselves as much as it blesses those around us.

This was first published at Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on February 4, 2021.

Prayer, day 2819: On the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila

Almighty One,
You are our Rock and our Hope,
Our Ever-present help in times such as these:
receive our prayers and praises,
as we proclaim your steadfast lovingkindness in our lives.

When our words fail us,
let our love be a prayer to You,
O Precious Savior,
and a witness to your grace.
As we meditate on your many blessings to us,
may we ever employ our reason and obedience
in the service of your reign over us–
a reign marked by tenderness
and a call for us to grow in faith.
Strengthen us in joy and gratitude
for carrying your light within us
for the sake of your Beloved Community.

Spirit of Devotion,
kindle within us a thirst for wisdom
that we may drink deep of love’s commandment,
and be a blessing to each other in God’s Holy Name.
Envelop all who seek you, O God,
in mercy and resilience,
and grant your peace to these beloveds.

Amen.

Praying as Loving: Speaking to the Soul, October 15, 2020

Today the Church remembers St. Teresa of Avila, 16th century Spanish monastic, prioress, and mystic, who exercised amazing influence during her life in Spain—a surprising level of influence given her background and her being a woman. Along with her contemporary and friend, St. John of the Cross, she was of converso lineage: her grandfather had converted from Judaism to Catholicism when Spain offered its resident Jews the “choice” of conversion or expulsion.

Like many female medieval and Enlightenment-era saints, she struggled with ill health throughout her life, and yet a remarkable life she lived nonetheless, traveling widely and being sought out for advice. Before entering the convent, she had been a noblewoman and attracted to comforts and worldly pleasures by her own admission; she pivoted in her religious life toward asceticism but led her sisters with moderation in many things and a wisdom regarding human foibles. Teresa was blessed with both a sharp wit and trenchant gift for observation—one of her remarks that I can most relate to is this: “May God protect me from gloomy saints.” Anyone who has grown up in the Bible Belt can relate to that one.

But the quote of hers that speaks to me most today, as anxiety ovef so many preal and perceived threats loom large in our hearts, is this one: “Prayer is an act of love; words are not needed.”

I know that it is common to not know what or how to pray. That’s why the gospels record Jesus’s disciples specifically asking Jesus how to pray (see, for instance, Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4).

Teresa’s observation may be seen as describing the third level of prayer. The first level of prayer is words from us to God, a one-way listing of wants, needs, and intercessions. The second level of prayer includes silence as well as words, listening as well as speaking: as you can imagine this one is much more difficult to many people than the first, since it so hard for us to still ourselves and adopt an attitude of reception and conversation with God. Yet that is exactly what Teresa herself aimed for, as she lived through so many of the spiritual struggles so many of us face..

The third level of prayer, suggested by Teresa, involves prayer as action, and a specific action, at that: love. Teresa reminds us in this that love is NOT an emotion—it is an action and an attitude of grace. Teresa speaks of love-- love that seeks the flourishing of the neighbor as if they were dearer to us than our own skin. Love that realizes its power—a power for good and beauty that should be obvious to everyone. After all, why else would despots throughout time have been so threatened by Jesus’s insistence on love as the key to his Way, and sought instead to use division and hatred as a way to seize power?

How can we pray as an act of love?
By standing with those who are oppressed.
By rejecting the mockery of the weak or the elderly, or the differently abled.
By listening with open hearts to those who share their pain or fear.
By practicing empathy and compassion in even small opportunities throughout each day.
By remaining present in each moment, mindful of the gift of breath and hope.
By looking for God’s never-failing sustenance of our spirits in the beauty of community.
By reminding ourselves that we are never alone.

St. Teresa also said, “The feeling also remains that God is on the journey, too.” We can pray as an act of love by accompanying each other in our joys and sorrows, by turning aside from the contempt the world around us may revel in.

Almighty One,
You are our Rock and our Hope,
Our Ever-present help in times such as these:
receive our prayers and praises,
as we proclaim your steadfast lovingkindness in our lives.

When our words fail us,
let our love be a prayer to You,
O Precious Savior,
and a witness to your grace.
As we meditate on your many blessings to us,
may we ever employ our reason and obedience
in the service of your reign over us--
a reign marked by tenderness
and a call for us to grow in faith.
Strengthen us in joy and gratitude
for carrying your light within us
for the sake of your Beloved Community.

Spirit of Devotion,
kindle within us a thirst for wisdom
that we may drink deep of love's commandment,
and be a blessing to each other in God's Holy Name.
Envelop all who seek you, O God,
in mercy and resilience,
and grant your peace to these beloveds.

Amen.

This was first published at Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on October 15, 2020.

Prayer, day 2791: On the Feast Day of Hildegard von Bingen

O God,

you are the foundation of everything,
giving us abundantly all that we need:
earth, sky, and water,
beauty, science, and music--
all signs of your tender love for us.

Lead us into wisdom,
O Spirited Light,
that we may lift our song with angels
praising and reverencing all creation,
even the dust from which we are formed.

Breathe your spirit upon us, O Christ,
that our spirits may be borne aloft
like a feather on the breath of God,
that we may devote ourselves to your path with joy.

With all our will,
may we assist you, O God,
in renewing and protecting the Earth,
in casting joy around us like a heavenly light
for the glory of your Name
as your beloved children.

Bless and preserve us in hope,
O Beloved Savior,
and shine the light of your countenance
upon those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer, day 2741: the Feast Day of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus of Bethany

Almighty God,
we ask that you bless our endeavors today.

Let us be awakened by your love,
and brought to new life through Christ our Lord.
Beloved Jesus, You call us into new life:
may we hear and respond with wonder and joy.
Give us Martha hands
and Mary hearts,
seeking to serve you
and be guided by your Word and Wisdom.
Unite within us
knowledge and action,
for we know that work without learning
and learning without work
gain nothing.
Let us proclaim your glory
in words and actions this day:
make us your hands in the world.
Untangle us from the bonds
that hold us in pain and despair,
and give us power to walk into the light of Jesus.

Extend your sheltering love
over those for whom we pray this day.

Amen.

Prayer, day 2734: On the Feast of Mary Magdalene

Almighty One,
we center our hearts in prayer
and listen for your guidance as we seek you:
grant us your counsel
and strengthen us in purity and hope.

Roll back the stone of our hearts,
O Resurrected and Living Savior,
and help us to recognize you
in the creating power of the Holy Spirit
moving through our lives,
and in the faces of those we meet,
especially those in need or trouble.

Make us steadfast, brave, and loyal disciples,
and grant us discerning spirits and steadfast devotion
like Mary the Magdalene, Beloved Jesus,
in our faithful witnessing to your spirit and love,
in never abandoning you,
even in times of persecution, mockery, or fear.

Lord Christ, you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us--
you know our pains, our sorrows,
our bereavements and our trials:
scatter the seeds of your peace within our hearts,
and spread the awning of your mercy
over those for whom we pray.

Amen.

Prayer 2706: On the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist

Almighty God,
we boldly proclaim your Holy Name 
nd lift our hearts to You in praise.

Living Savior,
our brother in baptism,
our model for holy living,
we embrace you with all our might:
lead us and guide us as your beloveds.

May we make straight the way of the Lord
by all we can contribute as your witnesses,
and represent the gospel of love and inclusion
in all we say and do today.

Draw us to enter joyfully, O Lord, 
into the discipleship to which you lovingly call us 
through the waters of baptism and beyond.

Purify our wills to reflect your lovingkindness
and help us turn aside from all evil,
embracing instead the pure truth
that calls us to be advocates for others,
walking in integrity and bold ministry in the world.

Spirit of the Living God,
fall afresh on us and bless our labors today, 
and let the peace and comfort of God 
rest like a dove upon all those for whom we pray.

Amen.

Prayer 2691: On St. Columba's Day

Holy Beloved,
who gathers all that is
within the lea of thy mercy,
we offer a praise song to You,
and rest within your abundant grace .
May we go forth bearing your Name
in integrity, compassion, and humility.

You have made all that is, O Generous Spirit,
and sustain it with your breath,
nourish it with your love,
and entice all that is to fullness.

We place our hands upon our hearts,
and feel the drum You shaped, O God,
in each living being,
its cadence a call to resistance to evil,
inviting us into the dance of love
which resonates through all creation.

Burnish us and mold us, O Blessed Jesus,
Companion and Guide:
you have shown us the Way of Life.
May we embody your abundant justice and mercy,
your love for us even as we go astray:
we depend upon your forbearance and forgiveness
as we seek to walk the living road of your gospel.

Set your seal upon us, O Maker of All,
and grant your peace and comfort 
to all whom we lift before You in love as we pray.

Amen.

Prayer 2683: Feast of the Visitation of Mary

Almighty One, 
God of Mary and Elizabeth, 
bend near to us 
and accept our praises and prayers. 

Blessed One, 
 help us center ourselves in your wisdom, 
and work toward justice and freedom for the oppressed. 
May we stand against violence done in our name, 
and see the face of Christ
in the suffering and dehumanized among us.
May we sing a praise song to You, O God, 
extolling your mighty arm and righteous power 
against evil and exploitation. 

Beloved Savior,
grant us a spirit of justice 
and power to stand alongside the downtrodden 
and work to bring your kingdom on Earth. 
Give your angels charge over those who weep, worry, or mourn, 
and grant your blessing upon these for whom we pray.

Amen.

Prayer, day 2613: The Feast of the Annunciation

Almighty God, we sing your glory,
joining the joyful song of creation
as our souls sing out your greatness!
How beautiful upon the treetops
is the rising light of morning:
O God, you bless us beyond measure with beauty
and our hearts kneel before you in praise!

Give us your favor, O Redeemer,
in leading us to consent to your will in our lives,
that we may join our hands in unity
in the pursuit of justice and peace,
pulling down oppression from its throne,
filling the hungry with good things from the bounty we have.

Strengthen us to bear you into the world, Blessed Jesus,
as a mother carries her child
close to her heart.

Holy One, place the protection
of your mighty arm and heart
over us this day,
and guide us in paths of gentleness and compassion.
Stretch out the awning of your mercy, Beloved Savior,
over all who rest in your care.

Amen.

Prayer 2612: On the Feast Day of Oscar Romero, Bishop and Martyr

O Most Generous God,
with one accord, we lift hearts and hands to You,
and offer You our devotion and service this day.

Led by the example of Blessed Oscar Romero,
may we amplify the cry of the poor,
and stand alongside the vulnerable
in solidarity and dignity, O God.
May we be steadfast in faith,
and be witnesses for peace and justice,
for the power of love over weaponized fear.
May we walk ever in the path of Jesus
with courage and steadfastness.

Pour out your abundant Spirit, O God, upon us 
as we walk in your ways this day,
and give your angels charge over those for whom we pray.

Amen.

Image: from the Gallery of 2oth Century Martyrs over the west door of Westminster Abbey

Prayer, day 2605: In Times of Trial

Most Merciful God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter,
may your name be blessed among all peoples,
and your tenderness be praised from the heavens
unto all the reaches of creation.

God of Compassion,
be with all who watch and wait,
and strengthen those who have a race to run,
that they may press on under the wings of your love.

Gather the suffering under the lea of your mercy, Lord Christ,
and let them turn to You in sureness and trust,
knowing that you are their Companion in all things.

Bend near, O Spirit of Hope,
and let the light of God shine upon us,
and warm our hearts with the promise of your peace,
surpassing any that we can grasp.

Bless the hearts of the sorrowing,
that they may raise up thanks
for the love that surrounds them.

Holy One, anoint us with your lovingkindness
and give us hearts to serve and praise You always.
Lord, press the kiss of your benediction and healing
upon those for whom we pray,
precious in your sight,
as they turn to you in faith and trust.

Amen.

Prayer, day 2577: Inspired by the thought of William Temple

The sparrows rejoice in the dawn,
and call us from our slumbers to likewise give praise:
Loving Savior, hear our prayer.

Help us, Blessed Jesus,
to make this day one of peace and healing.
Forgive us our disregard of others' dignity, O God,
our contempt toward those we are called to love.
Forgive us for failing to see the beauty in simple things,
in the voice of a friend
and the touch of a loved one.

Open our eyes to delight as a child does
in the wonders of this Earth,
and in the faces of those we meet.
Let us rejoice in this sacramental universe
made holy by your sustaining love and grace.

Lord, strengthen us to demonstrate our faith
in a time of doubt and faithlessness.
Holy One, let us arise from our prayers before You
determined to persevere in mercy and truth.

Spirit of Compassion,
bend near to those who suffer
in body, mind or spirit.
Guide us, O Shepherd, in the paths of peace,
and rest your blessing upon those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 2572: On the Feast of the Rev. Absalom Jones

O Lord, Our God,
who blesses us with breath and determination,
we lift our prayers to You,
and still ourselves to hear your voice:
Speak, O God, for your servants are listening.

Our hope and our trust is in You,
O Holy One, Creator of All That Is,
who adorns creation with beauty
and blesses the human heart
with the capacity for love and justice.

May we walk in the pathways of equity and right,
casting away prejudice to discern what is holy-- 
for we are called to kinship with all
just as You, O God, created us all in your image.

Let us work for the building of your kingdom,Beloved Savior,
and enshrine your gospel precepts within us
that we may be witnesses and exemplars of your truth.

Spread the tent of your mercy over us,
O Great Redeemer and Spirit of Wisdom, 
and gather us all into one flock,
for though we are prone to wander,
yet You are ever by our sides.

Grant your mercy and grace to all
whose needs we raise before You,
as we humbly pray.

Amen.