Second Sunday of Ordinary Time: 1 Sm 3:3-10, 19; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-10; 1 Cor 6:13-15, 17-20; Jn 1:35-42 ~ Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

We are the people of the Lord, the flock that is led by His hand: come, let us adore Him, alleluia.

+ In the name the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening prayer:

From our earliest days, O God, You call us by name. Make our ears attentive to Your voice, our spirits eager to respond, that, having heard You in Jesus Your anointed one, we may draw others to be His disciples. 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.
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A Reading from the Old testament: 1 Samuel 3:3-10 (NLT)

The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle near the Ark of God. Suddenly the Lord called out, “Samuel!”

“Yes?” Samuel replied. “What is it?” He got up and ran to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So he did.

Then the Lord called out again, “Samuel!”

Again Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

“I didn’t call you, my son,” Eli said. “Go back to bed.”

Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before. So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?”

Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”
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As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said proved to be reliable.
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A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10 (NLT)

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
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Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud or in those who worship idols.
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Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” I have told all your people about your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as you, O Lord, well know. I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness.
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A Reading from the Letters: 1 Cor 6:13-15, 17-20 (NLT)

You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!

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But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
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A Reading from the Gospels: Jn 1:35-42 (NLT)

The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.

Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.

They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”.

Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John — but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).
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Intercessions:

Gracious and merciful God, who calls to us in the night: hear the cries of our hearts –

+ For all baptised believers — that we may answer the call to follow Jesus daily….
Lord, hear us.
+ For unity among believers — that our closeness to Jesus may draw us closer to each other….
Lord, hear us.
+ For migrants and refugees — that in our hospitality, they may experience God’s compassion….
Lord, hear us.
+ For believers suffering persecution — that people of good will around the world may stand up for them and protect their rights….
Lord, hear us.
+ For parents and teachers — that by our words and actions, we may point out the Lamb of God….
Lord, hear us.
+ For the elderly and all who are lonely — that they may have our support in these days of winter….
Lord, hear us.
+ For those who have died in Christ – that God who delivered Jesus from death may raise them to eternal life….
Lord, hear us.
+ For those who we love who weigh heavily on our hearts – that they may listen to Your call to them, turn, and follow You….
Lord, hear us.

+ God our creator, You stoop down to hear our cry: grant our petitions, we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Benediction:

Remember it is God himself who assures us all, and you, of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

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

Morning Prayer, 08 Mar – John 12:20-36 ~ the hour has come

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Cuthbert of Northumbria (635-87)

Lord, I have heard Your voice calling at a distance. Guide my steps to You, Lord, guide my steps to You.

Lord, I have heard Your voice calling at a distance. Guard my way to You, Lord, guard my way to You.

Morning readings

John 12:20-36 ESV:

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.”

When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Reflections:

glorification

It may seem strange to refer to Jesus’ death as a glorification. But death is at the heart of the Son’s revelation of the Father, for God is love and love is the laying down of one’s life. So in the cross the heart of God is revealed most clearly. Selflessness and humble self-sacrifice are seen to be divine attributes.

life

Jesus proceeds to speak of the mystery of life coming through death. He uses the image of a seed that must fall into the ground and die in order to produce “much fruit”.

Jesus begins speaking in general terms: The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Here is the call to radical discipleship – the self was not created to be an autonomous center of being, but rather to be in union with God and receive life from him. The love of this self as such is at the heart of all sin, beginning with the rebellion in the Garden of Eden. That rebellion brought death and continues to bring death. When Jesus says the one who loves this self will lose it he does not mean “misplace” it but rather “destroy” it.

detachment

Jesus is speaking about choices and attachments. He means the devotion and obedience to himself must be so thorough that nothing else is distracting. Jesus calls us to reject the way of rebellion and live in the light of eternity. At the heart of discipleship is love, and at the heart of love is sacrifice. Such denial of self opens one to receive the divine life that never dies, which comes through union with Christ by the Spirit.

The reward of such obedience, even through death, is twofold: to be with Jesus and to be honored by the Father. Jesus has been living in the presence of God and is returning to the presence of God, so this is a promise of being with Christ in the presence of God. The honor we receive from the Father comes from our union with Christ, the one whom the Father honors throughout. Such union with God in Christ and such honor from the Father are what we were created for and what we rejected in the rebellion in the Garden of Eden. It is only through a death to the false, rebellious self that we can receive such life and return to our true humanity in union with God.

difficulty

Jesus is under no delusion that hating yourself is easy. After saying what is necessary for his servants to follow him, he reveals the agony he himself is experiencing: Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

In Jesus’ struggle we see that temptation itself is not a sin. We also see the real agony involved in dying to self. But there is a great difference between what we face and what Jesus faced. The actual form this death to self takes for us is the exact opposite from what Jesus faced here.

In our case, we must die to our false self, which is in rebellion against God. We must detach from “all the vain things that charm me most.” Many of these may even be good in themselves, but they are idols we worship. They are attachments and addictions that give us pleasure; they are centered in self and disruptive of relationship with God and our fellow human beings.

In Jesus’ case, this dying to self is the reverse: he is living in union with God and must give that up to fulfill the role of Lamb of God, “who takes away the sin of the world”. He must die by taking upon himself our alienation and the effects of our rebellion. His agony is the agony of a death to self, and so it is like ours, but it is far more profound and painful. Yet it is precisely his union with God as the Son that enables him to go through with it, for in that union he shares in the divine love that leads inexorably to such a sacrifice.

In the cross the heart of God is revealed more clearly than anywhere else, and those who grasp what the cross reveals about God cannot help but be awestruck.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

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Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

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 of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

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Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 30 Jan – John 6:1-15 ~ identity check

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Chad of Lichfield (?-672)

You pour life into me, giving me speech, sense, desire, giving me thought and action. My fame or repute will be just as You allow: You mark the way before me.

On Your path, O my God, and not my own, be all my journeying. Rule this heart of mine that it be only Yours.

Morning readings

John 6:1-15 ESV:

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Five Loaves and Two Fish by John Larsen — Five Loaves and Two Fish
by John Larsen

Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Reflections / Prayer:

The test

The testing of Philip is ultimately concerned with the recognition of Jesus’ identity and the graciousness of God. What God is looking for is faith – trust that God will be loyal to his covenant obligations to care for his people. The question is meant to reveal Jesus as the presence of that gracious God who is providing the ultimate blessing — eternal life.

God’s children continue to be tested in this same way today. We who have the benefit of the revelation of the New Testament and the witness of the Spirit still find ourselves in situations that challenge us to think and act in keeping with our recognition of God as the ultimate reality in every situation, even situations of great fear or grief, when God seems absent or cruel.

Such testing is not comfortable, but it is part of God’s graciousness, for it achieves a deepening of our faith by revealing our own weakness and God’s all-sufficiency.

(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

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The sign

It is a sign that reveals Jesus’ identity and the Father’s gracious gifts. All food and drink come from God, so Jesus here continues to do what he sees his Father doing.

Jesus takes a child’s lunch and from it provides for all. Andrew does not see how the child’s lunch can be of help, but just such weakness is characteristic of the way God provides. He produces sons from barren women and even from a virgin; he chooses what is foolish, weak, lowly, despised and even nonexistent.

He is the God of the impossible, as the salvation of each of us testifies.
(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

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The response

The people in the crowd want to make Jesus king in earthly, political terms – but Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. Further, they desire to make him king by force – totally contrary to the humility and docility that is characteristic of true disciples. They are working on their own agenda, not God’s, and thus ironically they share a chief characteristic of Jesus’ opponents.

Only great humility and docility before the Lord and his revelation can protect us from coming up with our own ideas and confusing them with the Lord’s will. Part of God’s grace is seen in his continual correction of our false views.
(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

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Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

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

_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, 11 Jan – John 1:40-42 ~ life changing

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentence

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, through the strength of His descent for the day of judgment.

(St Patrick’s Breastplate)

Morning readings

The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew Caravaggio (1603-1606) Royal Collection, London — The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew
Caravaggio (1603-1606)
Royal Collection, London

John 1:40-42 ESV:

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Reflections / Prayer:

The two disciples, Andrew and the unnamed disciple, stay with Jesus. We are not told how Jesus began teaching such open-hearted people. The implication is that something impressive occurred, for we find Andrew going to his brother Simon Peter and telling him, We have found the Messiah. If Peter had been expecting something impressive, he was not disappointed. Jesus immediately claims sovereign authority over him by renaming him.
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For most ancient peoples, “the name is inextricably bound up with the person” (Bietenhard 1976:648). The name is a point of contact between the person and those around, as when we refer to one’s name, colloquially, as a “handle.” For the ancients this contact goes below the surface, for the name reveals something of who the person actually is. Therefore changing a name means changing one’s identity (cf. Jn 1:42).
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For Peter, meeting Jesus was a life-changing event.

(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

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Lord Jesus – I am not the person I was before I met You, but neither am I the person I want to be (or better, You want me to be.) You have already changed my life, but don’t stop now… stay with me through to the end. Continue the process of change until I finally see You – Face to face… in glory. Amen.

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

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

_____________________________________

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer, Saturday, 11th Day of Christmas: 1 John 3:7-10; Psalm 98:1, 7-9; John 1:35-42 ~ who’s your daddy

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentence

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

You will find the Lord Your God if you seek Him with all your heart… all your soul… all your mind… and all your strength.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Morning readings

1 John 3:7-10 NLT:

Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.

Psalm 98:1, 7-9 NLT:

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power!
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Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord. For the Lord is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.

John 1:35-42 NLT:

Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.

They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.

Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John — but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”).

Reflection/Prayer:

So, what does it mean to be a “child of God in Christ”?

None of us were born a child of Israel under Abraham’s covenant with God. But we are all nonetheless children of God in Christ. We do not follow the Law to show our participation in the covenant; rather, we live in faith, trusting in God’s promises, thus making us His children in Christ. All the work necessary for us to become children of God under the Law was accomplished for us by Christ. He fulfilled all of our obligations: he took on all of our sin debts; made all of our sacrifices; washed us clean and keeps us pure. Faith in him is the New Covenant and by faith we are participants in all he has done. All that is left for us to do is believe, trust, and never forget God’s mercy. When being a child of God through Christ becomes difficult, remember: the Lord will remember His covenant forever. You need only remember it until you see Him face-to-face.

You have heard the Word of God, observe it and live as a child of God, the One Who died so that you might live. (Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP, Domine, da mihi hanc aquam)

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

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

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Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the USCCB Daily Readings and the format from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com. The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you.

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