Praying at Home: Monday 29 June 2020
Pray at home today.
Welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find some worship resources.
We hope these readings, prayers, music and the short reflection 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.
Please note that with effect from Monday 29 June 2020, we have reverted to the Track 1 “semi-continuous” Old Testament readings (this also affects the psalm); the New Testament and Gospel readings remain unchanged.
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 reading
Because you have done this,
and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will indeed bless you.Quia fecisti hanc rem,
et non pepercisti filio tuo unigenito propter me:
benedicam tibi.Parce que tu as fait cela
et que tu n’as pas refusé ton fils unique,
je te bénirai.
Genesis 22:16b-17a
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
Yesterday (following the semi-continuous readings) we heard the story of how God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.
This sounds extraordinary.
God has made a covenant with Abraham, promising him (even at his great age) that he will be the father of a great people.
And yet, he is asking Abraham to sacrifice his only son.
There’s so much that we can contemplate, including parallels with the sacrifice of God’s only Son and
the poor ram caught in the bush, which Abraham sacrifices instead of Isaac.
There’s a line in yesterday’s reading that struck me. Abraham and Isaac have been accompanied by two young men and at a certain point in the journey, Abraham tells them:
Stay here with the donkey;
the boy and I will go over there;
we will worship,
and then we will come back to you.
Abraham clearly says to the men that he and Isaac will both go to the place of worship and return from it.
His faith is being tested to the limit: either God’s promise is a sham (perhaps Abraham is deluded!) or it is true.
But if it’s true, God is truly testing him, leaving it to the last possible moment to reprieve Isaac: Abraham has the knife in his hand and is about to kill his son when the angel (αγγελος, messenger) calls out to him and stays the hand of execution.
What was going through Abraham’s mind as he left home early that morning, on the journey to sacrifice his son to the God who had promised that he would be the father of a great people?
What was he thinking as he said to the men that he and Isaac would return to them after the sacrifice?
And what was he thinking in those vital seconds as he held the knife ready to strike?
(What if, as Wilfred Owen, the war poet, wrote,
he had ignored the angel and killed his son?
A ram, caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
and half the seed of Europe, one by one.)
So how did Abraham feel,
returning home with Isaac,
having listened to the angel
and having done God’s will?
Abraham called that place
‘The Lord will provide’;
as it is said to this day,
‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’
God kept God’s promise, rewarding Abraham for his trust:
I will indeed bless you,
and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven
and as the sand that is on the seashore.
Truly, and in faith, we can say:
The Lord will provide.
Dominus providebit.
L’Éternel pourvoit.
Genesis 22:14
Prayer Suggestions
We live in challenging times.
We pray for those whose faith is wavering
and those who have lost their faith.
We pray for those who serve in the armed forces of their country,
and for wisdom for those who lead them.
We pray for those who are seriously ill,
those who worry about them
and those who care for them.
We pray that we may do our part to keep others safe from the virus.
We pray for those who work in care homes,
looking after those who are unable to care sufficiently for themselves
We pray for our politicians seeking to guide a path of safety for us,
for scientists who try to advise them;
we pray for those who work in our countries’ National Health Services,
for essential workers,
for those in care homes,
for all of us.
Music for reflection *
The head that once was crowned with thorns
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
Eternal God,
you are beyond the confines of our world’s time,
and see all things in one eternal present;
give us, we pray,
the gift to see beyond our immediate concerns
in the light of your Kingdom
that we may care for all your creation.
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. Currently, we’re following the semi-continuous readings (Track 1).
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.
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