Morning Prayer: 19 Feb – Dt 30:15-20; Lk 9:22-25 ~ choose life / follow me

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

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

Opening sentence and prayer:

If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must deny himself; he must take up his cross and come with me, says the Lord.
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Lord, be the beginning and end of everything I do and say today. Prompt my actions with Your grace, and complete them with Your all-powerful help. Through my Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
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A Reading from the Old Testamet: Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NLT)

The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise Vincent van Gogh, May 31, 1890 Musée d'Orsay, Paris — The Church in Auvers-sur-Oise
Vincent van Gogh, May 31, 1890
Musée d’Orsay, Paris

“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

“But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
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Repent, says the Lord; the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)
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A Reading from the Gospels: Luke 9:22-25 (NLT)

“The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
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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 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

Ash Wednesday: 18 Feb – Jl 2:12-18 ; 2 Cor 5:20—6:2; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 ~ Come back to God!

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity. It occurs 40 days, excluding Sundays, before Easter. The Gospels tell us that Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert where he endured temptation by Satan. Lent originated as a mirroring of this – fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year’s Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”.

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

Opening sentence and prayer:

My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.
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Merciful and compassionate God: cleanse my heart and strengthen me in love through the Holy Spirit. Lord, Your word is life; may my life be nourished and sustained by every word You speak. In the life of Jesus You have shown me the way of love; teach me to follow this way in the great and small events of life. Grant me a spirit of self-denial, and move me to help my brothers and sisters in their need. Let me bear witness to the death of Your Son, for in His death You have brought me to life. Give me, Lord, your Holy Spirit.
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A Reading from the Old Testament: Joel 2:12-18 (NLT)

That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don’t tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.”

Return to the Lord your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this curse. Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before.

Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem! Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Gather all the people — the elders, the children, and even the babies. Call the bridegroom from his quarters and the bride from her private room. Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence, stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.

Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord! Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery. Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say, ‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

Then the Lord will pity his people and jealously guard the honor of his land.
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A Reading from the Letters: 2 Corinthians 5:20—6:2 (NLT)

So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
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If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Psalm 95:8)
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A Reading from the Gospels: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 (NLT)

Kori Dirks, Kolton Dirks

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do — blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
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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 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 17 Feb – Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 ; Mk 8:14-21 ~ but Noah found favor with God

Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening sentence and prayer:

O God, come to our aid. O Lord, make haste to help us.
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Lord Jesus, as this day begins we remember that You are risen, and therefore we look to the future with confidence. This morning, take to yourself our cares, our hopes, and our needs – and lead us to the truth. Deepen in us our love for You today, so that in all things we may find our good, and the good of others. Lord Jesus, we pray that through our own troubles, we may learn to feel the sufferings of others; help us to show them Your compassion – and lead us to the truth.
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A Reading from the Old Testamet: Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10 (NLT)

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing — all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” But Noah found favor with the Lord.

eye of God weeping
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When everything was ready, the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the boat with all your family, for among all the people of the earth, I can see that you alone are righteous. Take with you seven pairs — male and female — of each animal I have approved for eating and for sacrifice, and take one pair of each of the others. Also take seven pairs of every kind of bird. There must be a male and a female in each pair to ensure that all life will survive on the earth after the flood. Seven days from now I will make the rains pour down on the earth. And it will rain for forty days and forty nights, until I have wiped from the earth all the living things I have created.”

So Noah did everything as the Lord commanded him.
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After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.
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Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord; and my Father will love him and we will come to him. (John 14:23)
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 8:14-21 (NLT)

But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

brdoflifegraphic

At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes — can’t you see? You have ears — can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”

“Twelve,” they said.

“And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they said.

“Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
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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 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 16 Feb – Gn 4:1-15, 25; Mk 8:11-13 ~ the curse of Cain

Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening sentence and prayer:

Jesus Christ, You are the eternal priest: make this morning’s offering acceptable to the Father.
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Almighty Lord and God, protect us by Your power through the course of this day. even as You have enabled us to begin it. Do not let us turn aside to any sin, but let our every thought, word and deed aim at doing what is pleasing in Your sight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
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A Reading from the Old Testamet: Genesis 4:1-15, 25 (NLT)

Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel.

Cain and Abel, Ivory Panel from the Cathedral of Salerno, ca. 1084; Louvre Museum (French: Musée du Louver), Paris France

When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift — the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”

“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!”

The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him.
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Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
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I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 8:11-13 (NLT)

Head of Christ by Rembrandt Philadelphia Museum of Art, ca. 1648-1656 — Head of Christ
by Rembrandt
Philadelphia Museum of Art, ca. 1648-1656

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.

When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.
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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 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Morning Prayer: 14 Feb – Gn 3:9-24; Mk 8:1-10 ~ paradise lost

Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening sentences:

At first light I cry to You, I put all my hope in Your word.
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It were my soul’s desire to see the face of God; It were my soul’s desire to rest in His abode. This still my soul’s desire, whatever life afford, to gain my soul’s desire and see Thy face, O Lord.
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A Reading from the Old Testamet: Genesis 3:9-24 (NLT)

Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Expulsion from the Garden of Eden fresco by Masaccio, 1425 La Cappella Brancacci , chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine di Firenze — Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
fresco by Masaccio, 1425
La Cappella Brancacci , chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine di Firenze

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”

And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

Then the man — Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
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One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4b)
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 8:1-10 (NLT)

About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”

His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”

Christ feeding multitudes Eric Feather, 2003 — Christ feeding the multitudes
Eric Feather, 2003

Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

“Seven loaves,” they replied.

So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
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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 the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

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