Friday Morning Prayer, 03 Jul 2020

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Opening:

All-powerful God, your incarnate Word commands our obedience and offers us true life. Make our ears attentive to the voice of your Son and our hearts generous in answering his call,that we may take up the cross with trust in his promises. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.Amen.

       Follow the example of good men and women of old,
and God will comfort you and help you.
[ St Columba ]

Scripture Reading (CEV)

Psalm 120 5-7

But I must live as a foreigner
among the people of Meshech
and in the tents of Kedar.
I have spent too much time
living among people
who hate peace.
I am in favor of peace,
but when I speak of it,
all they want is war.

Zechariah 8:3-5

I will return to Jerusalem and live there on Mount Zion. Then Jerusalem will be known as my faithful city, and Zion will be known as my holy mountain.
Very old people with walking sticks will once again sit around in Jerusalem, while boys and girls play in the streets.

Luke 15:13-20

Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living. He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.
He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs. He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.
Finally, he came to his senses and said, “My father’s workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death! I will go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers.’”
The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.

Saint’s Day: 03 Jul – St Thomas (first century)

Persistent tradition links Thomas with missionary work in India, and the Syriac Christians of Malabar claim that they were evangelized by Thomas, who was killed by a spear and buried at Mylapore, near Madras.

Reflection:

One sort of pilgrimage is to go back to a place full of memories, of joy, of childhood.
Many things will have changed, not least ourselves, and it is a bitter-sweet experience.

Have you returned to your place of childhood?
What has changed?

T.S. Eliot writes:

You are not here to verify,
instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
or carry report.
You are here to kneel
where prayer has been valid.
And prayer is more than an order of words, the conscious occupation of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.

Roxbury, Massachusetts (circa 1950)

 Father I Have Sinned | The Prodigal Son Song –
Catholic Christian Church Hymn Song | By Fr. O’Reilly

Closing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* Northumbria Community. Celtic Daily Prayer (Kindle Locations 11969-11970). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.