Praying at Home Today: Wednesday 22 July 2020
A warm 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
He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smouldering flame
until he brings justice to victory.Arundinem quassatam non confringet,
et linum fumigans non extinguet,
donec ejiciat ad victoriam judicium.Il ne cassera pas le roseau abîmé
et n’éteindra pas la mèche qui fume encore,
jusqu’à ce qu’il ait fait triompher la justice.
Matthew 12:20
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
Isaiah’s prophecy
Our Short Reading today (from Isaiah’s prophecy as retold in Matthew’s Gospel) is one of my favourite Biblical verses.
It combines strength (“until be brings true justice”) with the most tender gentleness (“he will not break the crushed reed nor quench the wavering flame”).
So often we come across people who have been damaged by others, by the most bitter experiences in their lives.
That person may even be you or someone very close to you.
This reading assures us that God is there to nourish us and to heal us.
The Prodigal Father
The parable of the Prodigal Son tells of the tenderness of our Father’s love for us, even when we were in the far country.
Karl Barth describes how Jesus enters into the story and brings fallen humanity back to the Father.
Vessels of Clay
There’s a passage in Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Church in Corinth that speaks of us as being earthenware vessels (2 Cor 4:7); this comparison shows that we are indeed fragile, despite perhaps outward shows of strength, yet containing a treasure, our hidden life with God where we are at one with God.
I like to think that perhaps the earthenware vessel has also acquired a few chips along the way.*
This verse also recognises that we need to be most careful when dealing with another’s spiritual journey; none of us knows how another person has travelled in their lives and how they perceive that God may or may not have been with them on that journey.
We must respect that each person’s path is unique.
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* A few years ago, my brother’s rock band, Tsunami Ride, made a single with the memorable lines(?):
Look at the Greeks,
their beauty is glazed;
they put a chip in it
so it wouldn’t be praised.
Too far by far
(Ocean Records, 1986)
(Actually it’s a song about not trying to be perfect, but accepting oneself as a flawed human being, on a journey, making mistakes. Perhaps they weren’t too far off the mark.
Sting’s cover of “Fragile” is worth listening to again, too.)
Prayer Suggestions
In trust we turn to our loving Father
in the sure hope that God is reaching out to us in Jesus.
We pray for those who have been battered on life’s journey,
for those who daily face challenges we can barely imagine.
We pray for carers, bringing tenderness to bruised lives.
For ourselves, that we may allow the God of tender care to touch us with a Father’s love and bring healing in our lives.
We pray for our enemies and those who hate us.
We give thanks for the Spirit of God who brings reconciliation and healing to peoples divided by sin.
Pray for us all.
Music for reflection *
“Where God the Lord stands with us not”, a paraphrase of Psalm 123 (124), the theme of which is the need of help against raging enemies.
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
You call us gently, Father God,
you call us to live in your love;
heal our wounds with your loving-kindness
that we may become more and more
what you want us to be,
one with you in glory.
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
Other worship resources
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.
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