Welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find some worship resources for praying at home today or wherever you are.

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 29 June 2020, we have reverted to the Track 1 “semi-continuous” Old Testament readings (this also affects the psalm or equivalent response); 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

Save me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
Bring me out of prison,
so that I may give thanks to your name.

Libera me a persequentibus me,
quia confortati sunt super me.
Educ de custodia animam meam
ad confitendum nomini tuo.

Délivre-moi de ceux qui me poursuivent,
car ils sont plus forts que moi!
Fais-moi sortir de ma prison
afin que je célèbre ton nom!

Psalm 141 (142):6b-7a

The Liturgy of the Word *

Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all of them if you have time.

• Micah 1:1-5
• Psalm 141 (142)
• 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Short Reflection

Sex and the Church

There’s an joke about aliens visiting earth in the year 5000AD, finding a library and reading in an encyclopaedia about the Christian Church.

They are quite bemused to read the article, which begins,
“The Church was a male-dominated, worldwide cult obsessed by sex; other beliefs included eternal life and justice and peace.”

Unfortunately, this view of the Church’s attitude to sex may also be the perception of many people today.

Perhaps today’s New Testament reading (Paul writing to the Christians in Thessalonika) reinforces that perception.

However, there is a line in this reading that is significant, even in a philosophy that has a broader view of human sexuality than what many hold the Church to proclaim.

And that line is this: “that no one wrongs or exploits a brother or sister in this matter”
(“or sister” is a modern addition in this inclusive language version of the Bible).

Love thy neighbour

This verse “that no one wrongs a brother or sister in this matter” is in accordance with the Golden Principle “Do as you would be done by”, or in its Gospel version, “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

Tenderness

At least in theory (in its theology), the Church’s problem with sex is that it can be exploitative, it can be abusive, it can be about dominance rather than tenderness.

Certainly the love poetry in the Old Testament’s Song of Songs is about desire and fulfilment, of tenderness and delight.

Traditionally, this is seen as the relationship between Christ and his bride, the Church; however, its immediate meaning is equally valid: human love between two people and their tender, self-giving relationship, that pours out into love for others.

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Prayer Suggestions

We pray for those in prison:
those physically constrained;
the people whose mental health is limited so that they feel imprisoned;
we pray for prison staff.

We remember the unjustly imprisoned.

We pray for organisations such as Amnesty International and Reprieve,
working for the release of political prisoners.

We pray especially for those who have been wronged:
those people who have been abused or who are constantly exploited.

For people working in the sex industry, whether by choice or by constraint.

We pray for those who benefit from exploiting others, that their hearts may be turned.

Pray 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

God of tender loving care,
we your people turn to you
in trust and in faith;
release us from anything that imprisons us
that we may rejoice in your presence
and show your love to the world.
Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Benedicamus Domino.
Deo gratias.

Thank you for joining us in praying at home.
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

In these strange times, we are called to trust

Praying at Home Today: 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.

English Bible texts 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.

Latin Bible texts are from Biblia Sacra Vulgata, and are in the Public Domain.

French Bible texts are from Version Segond 21, copyright © 2007 Société Biblique de Genève by Société Biblique de Genève.

Images, unless otherwise stated, are from lockdown in Scotland, by Alistair Warwick.

Music engraved by The Art of Music.

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)