chosen people – Page 2 – The Peanut Gallery

Morning Prayer

In the 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 search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 98:6-7 NLT:

With trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn. Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!

Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the earth and all living things join in.

Micah 7:19 NLT:

Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!

A Jewish man at the Western Wall sounds the shofar to mark the beginning of Rosh Hashanah

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 NLT:

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory….”

Reflection/Prayer:

Rosh Hashanah is the name of the Jewish new year festival, and on the first day of the new year a ceremony called ‘Tashlich’ takes near a source of water. The ceremony originated in Germany in the fourteenth century in a non-Jewish custom – fish were fed with bread crumbs as a sign of cleansing from sins. Now the prayer used is one which is based on the prophet Micah’s words: ‘and cast all thy sins into the depths of the sea.’

Corrie ten Boom, whose family loved and protected the Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland, has said:

When God forgives our sins, He separates them as far from us as the east is from the west, buries them in the bottom of the deepest sea, and puts up a sign for the Devil, saying, NO FISHING!

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: The Morning Prayer readings are 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. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

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 search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 39:13 NLT:

Leave me alone so I can smile again before I am gone and exist no more.

Deuteronomy 7:6 NLT:

For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.

Acts 22:11-16 NLT:

“I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. He came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ And that very moment I could see him!

“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’”

Reflection/Prayer:

An unknown poet once wrote:

How odd
of God
to choose
the Jews!

This month we will be looking at the life and calling, tradition and history of God’s very own chosen people, and seeing what we can learn.

When Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof is warned by the constable of the coming pogrom that will be a new wave of trouble for the Jewish community he turns to heaven, and says: ‘Dear God, did You have to send me news like that? It’s true we are the Chosen People. But once in a while can’t You choose someone else?’

Dave Berg (of Mad magazine) asks: