Praying at Home: Thursday 18 June 2020
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Here you can find some resources for each day.
We hope these will 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
My people have forgotten me,
they have stumbled in their ways.
Quia oblitus est mei populus meus,
et impingentes in viis suis.
Jeremiah 18:15
The Liturgy of the Word *
Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all of them if you have time.
Short Reflection
My people have forgotten me,
they have stumbled in their ways.
Again, there is a follow-on from yesterday’s first reading, when we were exhorted
to follow the way of wisdom, neither swerving to right or to left;
to put away crooked speech and devious talk;
to look directly forwards and keep straight the path of our feet.
The prophet Jeremiah often comes across as miserable; he was dealing with a headstrong people, who had forgotten the way of God.
His task, as it was for other prophets, was to speak to the people of things that they would rather not hear,
to remind them of their obligations under the everlasting covenant God had made with them.
It’s good to recall that prophecy is like a warning that “if you persist in doing A, then B will surely happen. It’s not fortune-telling.
The last verse of the first reading,
I will show them my back, not my face,
on the day of their calamity
reminds us of a scene in The Silver Chair, one of CS Lewis’s ‘Narnia’ chronicles:
‘Are you coming with us, Aslan?’ said Jill.
‘They shall see only my back.’
There are many prophets in our world today, including those warning about climate change, and those fighting for the people for whom justice has been denied.
Speaking truth to power (and indeed to complacency) can make us unpopular:
I have become a stranger to my kindred.
The cost of discipleship can indeed be very high.
This cost may remind us of the rich young man who asked Jesus what more he needed to do in addition to keeping the commandments to gain eternal life.
Jesus said to him,
‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions,
and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.’
This is nothing less than finding that the “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:44-46) is within us and that we have to let go of so much in order to find it and embrace it.
And that is a lifelong journey, a journey that needs nourishment.
We need to remember that God guides the humble in the right path and teaches God’s way to the poor (Psalm 15 (16)).
Prayer Suggestions
We pray for all who dare to seek, uncover and speak the truth.
We pray for journalists, tasked with holding politicians and corporations to account.
We pray for modern-day prophets, those who warn us of imminent and longer-term dangers.
And we pray that we may respond willingly to their warnings.
We pray for those who have been misled by stronger powers,
who feel that their way of life is under threat
and who resort to thuggery and violence in their frustration.
We weep for them.
And as the pandemic continues,
we pray for those who work in our countries’ National Health Services,
for essential workers,
for those in care homes,
for us all.
Music for reflection *
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
Living God,
through our baptism
we share in your royal priesthood;
help us, who are called to your service
as priest, prophet and king,
to bear witness to you
in our world today.
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 worship 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.
Images, unless otherwise stated, are from lockdown, by Alistair Warwick.
Music engraved by The Art of Music.
You can buy ‘The Complete Chronicles of Narnia’ at Amazon.
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