Praying at Home Today: Friday 28 August 2020
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A warm welcome to PrayingAtHome.com, where you can find 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.
Everything is optional!
From 29 June to 22 August 2020, we used the Track 1 “semi-continuous” Old Testament readings; from Monday 23 August 2020 we are using the Track 2 “related” 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
You have rejected me, says the Lord,
you are going backwards;
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you —
I am weary of relenting.Tu reliquisti me, dicit Dominus;
retrorsum abiisti:
et extendam manum meam super te, et interficiam te:
laboravi rogans.Tu m’as abandonné, déclare l’Eternel,
tu m’as tourné le dos.
Je déploierai donc ma puissance contre toi et je te détruirai.
Je suis fatigué de faire preuve de compassion.
Jeremiah 15: 6
The Liturgy of the Word *
Here are today’s Bible readings.
You can read just one, or all three if you have time.
One link to all three readings
Separate links to each reading
Short Reflection
The End Times
Paul is writing to the people of Thessalonika at a time when there are all sorts of rumours about the world coming to an end.
Deceivers are many, rumours are rife, and people are worried.
(So perhaps not so different to our own times.)
In the first reading, we read that God is weary of relenting. Time after time, the people of Israel, the people with whom God made a covenant of love, turn away from God, choosing other priorities, other gods, other fashions.
And, naturally, they come unstuck.
So the people suffer.
And yet, it is those who lead the people astray who are most to blame.
God of love = God of anger?
For many of us, the concept of an angry God is something hard to come to terms with. How can a God whom we believe loves us with great tenderness also be a God who is so angry with us?
This is indeed a troublesome question, and there are no easy answers (even if there are facile ones).
Jesus, meek and mild?
Perhaps a clue lies in the incarnate God, God among us in the person of Jesus.
He who said “Blessed are the meek” and “Blessed are those who mourn” was also the one who overturned the moneychangers’ tables in the Temple, because they made it a den of thieves.
He who welcomed children turned his ire at those who would obstruct them.
This is a three-dimensional person, no cardboard cut-out, no matter how we try to conform God into our own image.
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Prayer Suggestions
Again, we turn to God,
asking that we may seek and embrace the truth.
We commend our broken world to God
and pray that believers everywhere will stand firm against those who would deceive them.
We pray for our beautiful yet fragile earth,
for peoples torn apart by strife
and for those who seek to bring reconciliation.
We pray for the communities of Corrymeela, Iona and Taizé,
and all who bring hope to the human family.
a moment of silence
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
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord;
and by thy great mercy defend us
from all perils and dangers (of this night);
for the love of thy only Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ.
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.
In these strange times, we are called to trust
* 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.
You can buy ‘The Complete Chronicles of Narnia’ at Amazon
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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