Praying at Home Today: Saturday 3 July 2021
Praying at home today:
The urgent call to discipleship
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’s optional!
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.
Short reading
A scribe then approached and said,
‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’
And Jesus said to him,
‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests;
but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’Et accedens unus scriba, ait illi:
Magister, sequar te, quocumque ieris.
Et dicit ei Jesus:
Vulpes foveas habent, et volucres caeli nidos;
Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet.Un spécialiste de la loi s’approcha et lui dit:
«Maître, je te suivrai partout où tu iras.»
Jésus lui répondit:
«Les renards ont des tanières et les oiseaux du ciel ont des nids,
mais le Fils de l’homme n’a pas un endroit où il puisse reposer sa tête.»
Matthew 8:19f
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
Life is full of uncertainties. If it wasn’t, then I guess it could get quite boring.
Perhaps the scribe, the teacher of the law, was looking for certainty when he recognised in Jesus one whom he could follow.
Unlike the rich young man, who went away disappointed by Jesus’ response to his question about what he needed to do to gain eternal life (not less than everything), we don’t know the scribe’s reaction; perhaps it was one of bewilderment.
The call to discipleship is not easy. Jesus tells us of the small gate and narrow road and, for his first disciples commissioned to spread the Good News throughout the known world, there is warning of hardship and persecution.
Yet this call is urgent. We can’t put it aside to deal with other matters:
Leave the dead to bury their dead.
This reminds me of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s concept of “cheap grace” versus “costly grace”.
Cheap grace is the wide road, where we delude ourselves that we’re following Jesus Christ; costly grace is entering into his sacrifice, sharing in his suffering for others and for the life of the world.
Life is full of uncertainties. It is also fragile. We can score points off others in showing how good we are or we can help others by building them up.
That choice for us to make is presented at every moment, and when we fail we can turn again to the God who loves us so that, renewed in God’s love, we can continue sharing in Jesus’ mission of redemption.
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Music for reflection
Prayer Suggestions
On this feast of Thomas (Apostle),
we pray at home today for the needs of our world.
- For the homeless and the dispossessed
and for those who dedicate their lives working among them - for the work of the UN Refugee Agency
- for all affected by the recent heatwaves and droughts
- for the Church in India
and for all people of faith throughout the world.
(In Holy Trinity, Stirling, we invite you to pray today
for those in India recovering from Covid
and for everyone re-building their lives and livelihoods.)
For all who have asked for our prayers.
a moment of silence
Pray for us all
Amen.
Prayer for Palestine and Israel
O God the creator of all life,
we bring before you all the people who call Israel and Palestine home.
We particularly remember those living in Jerusalem and Gaza
whose lives are marred by restrictions to their freedom,
the threat of eviction from their homes
and the constant fear of armed conflict.
We ask your forgiveness for the anger, hatred and violence
that all of us have the potential to carry within us.
We beseech you to soften hearts and open minds
so that the sanctity of life is always protected,
the right to freedom of worship upheld
and the security of a safe home defended.
We pray that justice will flow like rivers,
that human dignity will be respected
and that each of us may strive
to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with you our God.
Amen.
Embrace the Middle East
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;
sanctificetur 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 offenses,
comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés.
Et ne nous laisse pas entrer en 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
O Lord,
let the world be ordered in peace, according to your will:
that your people may be free to worship you with joy;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Amen.
Pentecost 6
Returning to the world
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 Bookshop.org
Other worship resources
Praying at Home Today: Acknowledgements
The lectionary for weekdays is taken from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
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 usually 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 usually 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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