Praying at Home Today: Wednesday 29 September 2021
Praying at home today:
The Season of Creation:
Cultural ecology
For four weeks, following the first Sunday in September until the day before Harvest Sunday, we will be focussing on the season of creation, in preparation for the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow.
Although we will follow our usual form of prayer, our readings and some other material will follow those given in Daily Prayer of the Scottish Episcopal Church for this Season of Creation.
This is a good time to be grateful for our beautiful, yet fragile world, and to dedicate ourselves anew as faithful stewards to its protection.
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.
The tree of life produces fruit each month
And the leaves of the tree are for healing of nations.
Revelation 22:2
To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
God who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
God is great in strength,
mighty in power, and not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God’?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 40:26-28
Short reading
Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.Attollite portas, principes, vestras,
et elevamini, portae aeternales,
et introibit rex gloriae.Portes, élevez vos linteaux!
Elevez-vous, portes éternelles!
Que le roi de gloire fasse son entrée!
Psalm 23(24):7
The Liturgy of the Word
Here is today’s Bible reading.
Short reflection
During these four weeks of the Season of Creation, I’m reading Pope Francis’s encyclical letter Laudato si’, mi’ Signore – Praise to you, my Lord (LS) – and I hope to share with you a few nuggets from the Church’s social teaching on Creation and our stewardship of this planet we call our home.
In this fourth week, he explores the integrity of ecology (LS137).
Cultural ecology
Since everything is closely interrelated, we need to look for solutions that embrace and clearly respect human and social dimensions (LS137).
As well as nature itself, there are many other aspects to our lives that are under threat, including our historic, artistic and cultural heritage (LS143).
This heritage (Francis calls it patrimony) is part of a shared identity for each place and helps us to build a habitable city.
We cannot simply tear down what is from the past; we need to incorporate the history, culture and architecture of each place, expressing its varied riches.
Local cultures particularly are to be valued when considering the environment.
And lest we think that culture is merely about the past, hanging onto it for dear life, we are reminded rather that it is also a “living, dynamic and participatory present reality, which cannot be excluded as we rethink the relationship between human beings and the environment (LS143).
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Responsory
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Prepare the way of the Lord,
Glory to God, Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit.
In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.
Isaiah 40:3
Music for reflection
Prayer Suggestions
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
God will dwell with them, they will be God’s peoples,
And God will be with them, and will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’
And the one who was seated on the throne said,
‘See, I am making all things new.’
Revelation 21:3-5
As the Church celebrates Michael & All Angels,
we continue our journey in faith today:
- for all preparing for the COP26 Climate Conference
- for the small steps we take to combat climate change
- for those experiencing change that scares them
- for all who inspire us.
(In Holy Trinity, Stirling, we invite you to pray today
that we recognise angels amongst us
for ‘Start up Stirling’
and for Helen Kemp our PVG Co-ordinator.)
For all who have asked for our prayers.
a moment of silence
Pray for us all
Amen.
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
God Most High,
maker of heaven and earth,
you created humankind in your own image
and entrusted the whole world to human care:
give us grace to serve you faithfully,
that we might be trustworthy stewards of your creation,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Creation
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
- Worship resources from Holy Trinity Church, Stirling, Scotland
- Music for reflection
- RSCM: Hymn for the Day and Sunday Self-Service
- Liturgy resources from New Zealand – Aotearoa
- Prayer live from Taizé
- CCC – Christ, Covid, Community (Facebook Group)
- Live-streamed liturgy from Pluscarden Abbey, Scotland
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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