Praying at Home: Saturday after Trinity
Welcome to PrayingAtHome.com
Here you can find some resources for each day to help you stay in touch with the Church and to sustain you on your journey through life.
Opening to the Word
You can spend a few moments in silence,
focussing on your breathing
to become more mindful of the present moment
and to open yourself more fully
to God’s presence within you.
In the name of the living God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Short scripture passage
They do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands.
Nisi crebro laverint manus, non manducant.
Mark 7:3
The Liturgy of the Word *
These are the Scripture readings for today.
If you have time, you can read just one or all of them.
Short Reflection
They do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands.
What started out as a cleansing, hygienic act became ritual.
And it was an apparent failure of Jesus’ disciples to wash thoroughly that drew the ire of the Pharisees.
This, in turn, led Jesus to draw attention to the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, putting more emphasis on outward gestures than on the inner meaning.
Indeed, the Pharisees get more than their fair share of derision from Jesus:
you whited sepulchres!
Matthew 23:27
(It’s possible, of course, that a lot of this was typical debating among biblical scholars at the time – not much has changed since then!)
There is a crucial point, however:
Jesus is challenging them for their lack of integrity.
And he does the same to us.
So, in these strange days,
when hand-washing has become both a ritual
and a cleaning, hygienic action,
we are called to be people of integrity.
Beati quorum via inegra est,
qui ambulant in lege Domini.Happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord.
Psalm 118 (119):1
Prayer Suggestions
Pray for those who are strangers to the truth and justice.
Pray for ourselves,
that we may embrace the truth,
even when it’s inconvenient.
Pray
for politicians and leaders,
that they may learn humility, wisdom and integrity.
Pray
for justice and respect for all people;
for repentance for our own prejudices.
Pray:
for those in intensive care, unable to breathe on their own;
for those who nurse and care for patients with COVID-19;
for everyone working to protect the most vulnerable in society from this disease;
for those who are most at risk from the pandemic, especially those in enclosed environments.
Pray
for essential workers,
for us all.
Music for reflection *
Hymn: Eternal Trinity of love
1 Eternal Trinity of love,
In peace and majesty you reign:
All things come forth from you alone;
To you they must return again.
2 Creation lives and breathes in you,
Sustained by your almighty will;
Grant us to know you, God of truth,
In whom the questing mind is still.
3 Our Father, in the name of Christ,
Unceasingly your Spirit send;
Be with us, everlasting God:
Fulfil your purpose to the end.
4 We praise you, Godhead, One in Three,
Immortal Trinity of light,
Unchanging through eternal days
You live unmoved, serene in might.
Words: © 1974 Stanbrook Abbey, Wass, York, YO61 4AY, England
from Hymns for Prayer & Praise
(Canterbury Press, 2011)
The Lord’s Prayer
We can say the Lord’s Prayer in any language or version we choose.
Here it is, in English, Latin and French.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen.
Pater noster, qui es in cælis;
sanctificatur nomen tuum:
adveniat regnum tuum;
fiat voluntas tua,
sicut in cælo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie:
et dimitte nobis debita nostra,
sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris:
et ne nos inducas in tentationem:
sed libera nos a malo.
Quia tuum est regnum,
et potestas, et gloria, in saecula.
Amen.
Notre Père qui es aux cieux,
que ton nom soit sanctifié.
Que ton règne vienne.
Que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offences
comme nous pardonnons aussi
à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,
mais délivre-nous du mal.
Car c’est à toi qu’appartiennent le règne,
la puissance et la gloire
pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.
Concluding prayer
Lord,
we pray that we may welcome you in the poor and the unloved.
Help us to see your image and likeness in others, especially those we find hard to love.
Be with us this day (night)
and keep watch over those who are sorrowful.
Bless us with your mercy and peace.
Amen.
* You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud
In these strange times, we are called to trust
Other resources
Acknowledgements
* Beginning with the week after Pentecost, the lectionary for weekdays is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library (complementary readings).
In that lectionary, the readings are in the following order: Old Testament reading, Psalm, New Testament reading; we have changed the order to the more usual OT, Psalm and NT.
The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Collects are from the Scottish Episcopal Church, 1982.
Images, unless otherwise stated, are from lockdown, by Alistair Warwick.
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
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