Praying at Home: Monday 22 June 2020
Welcome to PrayingAtHome.com
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.
If this is your first visit to this website, then you might like to read about the common elements and the suggested structure for each day’s prayer.
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
But as for me, I will look to the Lord,
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.Ego autem ad Dominum aspiciam;
exspectabo Deum, salvatorem meum:
audiet me Deus meus.
Micah 7:7
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
Today’s New Testament reading acts as a carrot and a stick.
The Christians in Ephesus are getting it right and, at the same time, very very wrong.
Whilst being faithful (in word) they have lapsed by failing to love (in deed).
They’ve got the theology right, but the praxis wrong.
There’s a warning to all of us here, not just to act the part but to live it.
It’s easy to talk the talk but not so easy to live it out.
So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God,
and God abides in them.
1 John 4:16
Jesus is asked by a lawyer what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. So Jesus asks him what is written in the Law.
The lawyer answered,
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and,
‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Jesus replied
You have answered correctly.
Do this and you will live.
But the lawyer wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,
And who is my neighbour?
Jesus surprises him with the story of the Good Samaritan.
It wasn’t the priest or the Levite who acted as a neighbour to the injured man but a despised foreigner.
We can too glibly “know” this story without accepting the radical nature of Jesus’ response and the telling afterword.
Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied,
The one who had mercy on him.
Jesus told him,
Go and do likewise.
Prayer Suggestions
Let us pray that we may not only receive God’s word
but do it.
We pray for those for whom life is a constant struggle.
We pray that our eyes may be opened to those around us.
And as we seek to grow through pain,
we remember only too well that the pandemic continues,
and so we pray for our politicians seeking to guide a path of safety for us,
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 *
Lord Jesus Christ! Turn towards us,
send your Holy Spirit to us:
with her help and grace may God rule us
and lead us on the way to truth.
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
Loving God,
you call us to your service.
Help us to love you by serving our sisters and brothers.
Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Benedicamus Domino.
Deo gratias.
Thank you for joining us today.
Oremus pro invicem.
* You can find more organ music from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling
on Alistair Warwick‘s website and on SoundCloud
There are several books by Brother Roger of the Taizé Community from many booksellers (Amazon link)
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.
Purchases made by clicking links on this website will cost you no more than buying directly from the supplier; we may receive a small commission, which helps with the costs of maintaining and running this website.
Praying at Home (part of The Art of Music) is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.
