Morning Prayer, 5 Feb – John 6:41-51 ~ the living bread

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Hild of Whitby (614-80)

I trust in Thee, O Lord. I say, “Thou art my God. My times are in Thy hand, my times are in Thy hand.”

Morning readings

John 6:41-51 ESV:

communion-wafer

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me — not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Reflections:

grumbling

The crowd’s problem is with Jesus’ origins. They know Joseph and Jesus’ mother and they judge Jesus’ claims on the basis of what they think they already know. All this highlights the incarnation – Jesus’ divine origin, and the fact that the divine has come amongst us within humanity.

Jesus calls upon them to stop grumbling but instead to respond in faith. It is, in effect, a call to repent and to become receptive of Jesus’ teaching about himself.

teaching

The one who listens to God and learns will be taught by God and be drawn to Jesus, for Jesus is the one who speaks God’s word and manifests his presence. To listen and to learn require humility – a receptive openness to God.

living

What sort of bread could give eternal life? The bread of sacrifice – Christ’s death is indeed a sacrifice on behalf of his flock, the Jewish people, the nations and his disciples. The divine gift of eternal life will be given through the Messiah’s death.

(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, 4 Feb – John 6:30-40 ~ the source of life

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Chad of Lichfield (?-672)

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 6:30-40 ESV:

communion-wafer

So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Reflections:

“I am…”

Jesus claims, I am the bread of life. Seven times in John the phrase I am is used with a predicate, including the passages on bread of life (6:35, 51); the light of the world (8:12; 9:5); the gate (10:7, 9); the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14); the resurrection and the life (11:25); the way, the truth and the life (14:6); and the true vine (15:1, 5). In these sayings Jesus’ own identity and the salvation he offers are brought together.

“… the bread of life”

It is in union with Jesus that believers receive that which is needed in order to have life… to continue to live. What is required of us is that we come to him and believe. But behind the human side is the divine will. It is God’s gracious action in our lives that saves us from beginning to end… and it is God’s desire that all be saved.

It is a mystery how salvation can be open to all yet dependent on the will of God. Salvation is a matter of sharing in God’s life through an intimate relationship with him. Our assurance is not in our decision to follow Jesus, but in the graciousness and faithfulness of the Father and the Son who hold fast to those who are of God. Our job is to receive, trusting him for both the ability to receive and the obedience that is part of the life of faith.

“I will raise him up…”

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. In this one statement the major themes of this section are brought together — the Father’s will, human seeing and believing and the gift of eternal life.

(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

__________

Romans 8:35, 37-39 (ESV)

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
__________

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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, 29 Jan – John 5:30-47 ~ the Father’s witness

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)

Softly as the dew-fall of heaven, may the Holy Spirit come upon me to aid and raise me, to bind my prayer firmly at the throne of the King of life.

God’s will would I do, my own will bridle; God’s due would I give, my own due yield; God’s path would I travel my own path refuse.

All whom I love, into Your safe-keeping; all that I am, into Your tender care; all that I will be, into Your perfect will.

Morning readings

John 5:30-47 ESV:

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

“But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

“I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Reflections / Prayer:

The Father’s witness

Only God, and those whom he uses, can testify to God. There are four expressions of the Father’s witness: the Baptist, Jesus’ works, Jesus’ words and the Scriptures.

+ John the Baptist, like Jesus, spoke what he heard from the Father… and bore witness to the truth – who is Christ.
+ Jesus’ does the works the Father has given him… divine activity in itself – consistent with God’s own character.
+ Jesus’ speaks only what he hears from the God; to see and hear Jesus is to see and hear God.
+ Jesus is the Word, the point of reference for all the words of Scripture; Scripture is a means to an end – a witness to Jesus the Christ.(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

__________

The problem of unbelief

Unbelievers lack the love for God in their hearts. Jesus, on the other hand, is completely centered in God, caring only for God’s glory.

+ Unbelievers care more about human praise, instead of seeking praise from God alone.
+ Unbelievers lack the ability to discern the things of God, because of their pride.
+ Unbelievers embrace the false – accepting folk with no authority outside of themselves.

Jesus accuses them of lacking the love of God and of failing to accept the agent who has come in his name, yet Jesus does so to give them a chance to come to their senses. The judgment he passes is itself an aspect of the grace of God intended for their salvation.
(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

__________

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, 17 Jan – John 3:1-8; 1 Peter 1:3-5 ~ born again

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentence – Aidan of Lindisfarne (?-651)

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day.

In Your mercy, Lord, keep us free from sin, and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Let Your Kingdom come, Lord, in me.

Morning readings

Nicodemus Crijn Hendricksz. Volmarijn (circa 1601–1645) — Nicodemus
Crijn Hendricksz. Volmarijn (circa 1601–1645)

John 3:1-8 ESV:

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
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1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Reflections / Prayer:

Born Again

Jesus explains being born from above in terms of being born of water and the Spirit.

What is needed is a new heart and a new life; that is, the Spirit must give birth to spirit. Only those alive in the realm of the spirit by the Spirit will be able to recognize and enter that realm.

This begetting is an act of sovereign gracious love initiated by God.

(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

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Living Hope

The main object of [1 Peter] is to raise us above the world, in order that we may be prepared and encouraged to sustain the spiritual contests of our warfare.

Supernatural life is a gift, because we are born the children of wrath; for had we been born to the hope of life according to the flesh, there would have been no necessity of being begotten again by God. Therefore Peter teaches us, that we who are by nature destined to eternal death, are restored to life by God’s mercy. And this is, as it were, our second creation.

Calvin’s Commentaries

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St Anthony of Egypt (251-356) – the founder of monasticism (read more)

“Let it be your supreme and common purpose not to grow weary in the work you have begun, and in time of trial and affliction not to lose courage…. Rather, we should daily begin anew…. For man’s whole life is short when measured against the time to come, so short, in fact, that it is as nothing in comparison with eternity…. Therefore, my children, let us persevere….”

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 Readings: Psalm 116:15; 2 Kings 13:14, 20-21; Acts 6:15 ESV ~ facing death

Morning Prayer ~ Celtic Daily Prayer

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

Opening sentences

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.

Declaration of faith

To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.

Morning readings

Psalm 116:15 ESV Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

2 Kings 13:14, 20-21 ESV Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!”

So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

Acts 6:15 ESV And gazing at [Stephen], all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Prayer ~ Lord, so strange to us this doorway labelled death! – a door of darkness still closed to protect us from the brilliance of eternal life; a final obstacle to the fullness of Your presence. Give courage, Lord, for this uncharted journey, peacefulness at parting from all that must be left behind, and an inner vision of invitation for all that is better that awaits. Soon enough, we must place our footsteps in those of Christ Himself. Amen.

Hymn: “Now the Day Is Over” – Sabine Baring-Gould (1865)

Now the day is over, Night is drawing nigh, Shadows of the evening / Steal across the sky.

Jesus, give the weary / Calm and sweet repose; With Thy tenderest blessing / May our eyelids close.

Comfort every sufferer / Watching late in pain; Those who plan some evil / From their sins restrain.

Through the long night-watches, May Thine angels spread / Their white wings above me, Watching round my bed.

When the morning wakens, Then may I arise / Pure, and fresh, and sinless / In Thy holy eyes.

Glory to the Father, Glory to the Son, And to Thee, blest Spirit, Whilst all ages run.

Blessing

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

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Peanut Gallery: Selected readings 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 am limiting my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

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