Tag: Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Morning Prayer: 15 January – Ephesians 4:29-32 ~ be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening Sentence

May the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of my mind, so that I can see what hope his call holds for me.

Morning Reading: Ephesians 4:29-32 (NLT)

be-kind

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Morning Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you. Through your cross and resurrection you offer freedom and hope to those ready to receive them. Lord, show me your loving-kindness.

+ I am a child of the day: help me to live in the light of your presence.
+ Guide my thoughts, my words, my actions: so that what I do today may be pleasing to you.
+ Help me to avoid wrongdoing: show me your mercy and love.
+ Through your passion and death you have won life for me: give me the strength of your Holy Spirit.

Lord God, you hold out the light of your Word to those who do not know you. Strengthen in my heart the faith you have given me, so that no trials may quench the fire your Spirit has kindled within me. Through my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

“First Loved Me” – Covenant Worship

I can’t forget | I still remember | The place You found me | And I surrendered | When Your grace covered my shame and saw my need | You gave me hope | Hope and a future | My heart is Yours | Now and forever | I am loved only because You first loved me

And I love You | Jesus I love | Yes I love You | Because You first loved me

Your sacrifice | Is overwhelming | Suffered and died | Because You loved me | I’m alive | Only through Christ who first loved me

Nothing can tear me away from Your love Lord | Nothing can separate your heart from mine | Nothing can tear me away from Your love Lord | I am Yours, I am Yours

Blessing

(May) Christ dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

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

Morning Prayer: 16 Jan – Heb 4:1-5, 11; Mk 2:1-12 ~ the promise of rest

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening sentences:

I am the Lord, there is no other. I have not spoken secretly, in some dark corner of the earth…. Turn to me and you will be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, there is no other. (Isaiah 45)

A Reading from Letters: Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 (NLT)

busy-mom

God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news — that God has prepared this rest — has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said,

“In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world. We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” But in the other passage God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”
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So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 2:1-12 (NLT)

The Palsied Man Let Down through the Roof James Tissot, ca. 1886-94 The Brooklyn Museum
The Palsied Man Let Down through the Roof
James Tissot, ca. 1886-94
The Brooklyn Museum

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”

But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”

Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”

And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”
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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