Morning Prayer, 26 Mar – John 15:7-10 ~ praying God’s will

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)

Under protection of the King of life, a protection that will not betray us. May the Holy Spirit come upon us; may Christ deliver us, bless us.

Jesus, only Son of the Father, and Lamb, who shed Your heart’s true blood, dearly to buy us, protect me, accompany me, be near me ever.

Morning reading

John 15:7-10 ESV:

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

Reflections:

answered prayer

Jesus’ dwelling in the believer is referred to as his words remaining in them. If they remain in him and his words in them, Jesus promises their prayers will be answered. To have his words remaining in them means to share his mind and his will. They are to be caught up into his own focus on the doing of God’s will. Accordingly, they will pray for his purposes rather than for their own selfish desires. Jesus’ purposes have been to reveal God and share his life and love so people will be brought into union with him in his new community. Such will be the concerns also of the disciples who have Jesus’ words in them, and God will answer their prayers as they live according to their life in Christ and his life in them.

the Father’s glory

Beleivers bear the fruit of this shared life, which is evidence that they are Jesus’ disciples. Since the fruit refers to the knowledge and love of God, it follows that as the disciples produce fruit the Father is glorified. The glory of the Father is Jesus’ chief delight and has been the focus of all he has said and done. Since the disciples are now going to live in union with Christ, the Father’s glory will be the goal of their lives as well.

the obedience of remaining

The Father is the source and pattern of all love, so, as always, Jesus is doing that which he receives from the Father. Jesus’ disciples must remain in his love, and they do this by obeying his commands. In part this means they are to remain in Jesus’ love for them, but further it means they must remain in his own love for the Father. Jesus’ own love for the Father was seen in his obeying the Father’s commands and remaining in his love. For the disciples to remain in Jesus’ love for the Father, therefore, they must share in Jesus’ obedience. Their obedience is itself the fruit of their remaining in Jesus because it is a characteristic of his love (1 Jn 2:5-6).

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

_____________________________________

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, 25 Mar – John 15:1-6 ~ remain in me

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)

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Resist every kind of evil.

Morning reading

John 15:1-6 ESV:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

Reflections:

The main point of the image of vine and branches is clear enough: the intimate union of believers with Jesus. The disciple’s very life depends on this union. As branches, believers either bear fruit and are pruned to bear more fruit or do not bear fruit and are thrown away and burned – all the details have significance.

new people of God

When Jesus refers to himself as the true vine he is once again taking an image for Israel and applying it to himself. Jesus himself is true Israel. This claim corresponds to his break with the temple at the end of chapter 8 and his forming a renewed people that began in chapter 9 and came clearly to the fore in chapter 10. Israel’s place as the people of God is now taken by Jesus and his disciples, the vine and its branches. This is not a rejection of Judaism as such, but its fulfillment in its Messiah.

The identification of the people of God with a particular nation is now replaced with a particular man who incorporates in himself the new people of God composed of Jews and non-Jews.

bear fruit for God

The new community has been established and now must bear fruit for God. However, among Jesus’ disciples, there are those who bear fruit and those who do not.

What is this fruit? Converts, Christian character – but underlying both is the possession of the divine life itself and especially the chief characteristics of that life, knowledge of God and love. Jesus says when they bear much fruit they demonstrate that they are his disciples. Love is the evidence that one is a disciple and is in union with God and with one another. The image of fruit symbolizes that which is at the heart of both Christian witness and ethics — union with God.

separation from God

Separation from God, the source of all light and life and love, is the essence of all judgment. The ones who are so judged in this passage are those who have refused to remain in Christ. They have rejected Jesus and thereby turned their backs on God and thus life itself. Their former intimacy with Jesus, such as it was, makes their rejection all the more worthy of judgment.

“How a man can be `in Christ,’ and yet afterwards separate himself from Him, is a mystery neither greater nor less than that involved in the fall of a creature created innocent” (Westcott).

The believer’s assurance is not in the decision to follow Jesus, but in the graciousness and faithfulness of the Father and the Son. Though God allows us to reject him, his own disposition toward us is love, a love that continues to pursue even those who reject him. Those who are worried about the assurance of their salvation should find comfort in the character and actions of God. Our fretting over ourselves is itself a preoccupation with self that must be pruned away, for it inhibits our relation with God, our bearing of the fruit of eternal life.

pruned by God

The disciples certainly believe Jesus is come from God. And, even more obvious is their love for Jesus, mostly evidenced in their willingness to lay down their lives for him. That they came to Jerusalem is evidence of this willingness. They are not yet capable of such love when things get bleak, but at least they have the desire to be loyal. Their humility in accepting Jesus, even though this willingness is weaker than they realize, manifests the love that is crucial for remaining in Jesus.

They still have much in their lives that is not in keeping with the life of God. Such false growths need to be pruned away so God’s eternal life might grow and increase in their lives. Part of the good news is that the Father undertakes such pruning in the life of each disciple. The discipline may be painful as the life of self and rebellion is cut away, but the result will be untold blessing for the disciple and for others through him or her. The Father’s pruning is for the sake of growth, which suggests the eternal life is a very dynamic reality.

life in God

Jesus stresses the impossibility of producing this fruit apart from him. People are able to produce much without God, including converts, good deeds and even prophesies, exorcisms and miracles (cf. Mt 7:22-23; Ridderbos). But the divine life such as we see in Jesus is dependent on God’s own character, power and guidance at work in the life of the disciple. Jesus did not will nor speak nor act from himself; neither is the branch capable of bearing fruit “from itself”. Hence Jesus’ command to remain in me.

The Father prunes and cleanses, and the Son has cleansed by his word, showing the Son’s oneness with the Father (cf. Chrysostom). But the disciples themselves must make an effort to remain. Remaining is not simply believing in him, though that is crucial, but includes being in union with him, sharing his thoughts, emotions, intentions and power. In a relationship both parties must be engaged. The divine must take the initiative and provide the means and the ability for the union to take place, but it cannot happen without the response of the disciple.

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, 24 Mar – John 14:25-31 ~ the peace of Christ

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)

Under protection of the King of life, a protection that will not betray us: May the Holy Spirit come upon us; may Christ deliver us, bless us.

Morning reading

John 14:25-31 ESV:

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”

Reflections:

Holy Spirit

The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will teach and remind believers – in union with Jesus and in conformity with Jesus’ character and mission. “Jesus bore God’s name because he was the revelation of God to men; the Spirit is sent in Jesus’ name because he unfolds the meaning of Jesus for men” (Brown).

The Spirit understands all about Jesus and will clarify all that he has taught – he will leave out nothing of what Jesus has taught. Jesus is the fullness of the revelation of the Father. No further revelation is needed, nor would it be possible. What is called for is an understanding of the revelation that has come in Jesus, and this is what the Paraclete will provide.

peace of Christ

The peace Jesus is talking about is not the cessation of hostilities from enemies, but rather the gift of calmness and confidence that comes from union with God and faith in him and his purposes. The world’s idea of peace is something that comes through destroying of enemies and consists of physical and emotional comfort.

The peace that Jesus gives is grounded in God and not in circumstances. It is the peace that Jesus himself has exhibited in this Gospel and is exhibiting in this farewell discourse, even while he knows he is about to be killed. Soon he will speak of the continued trouble his disciples will experience in the world, but they will simply be living out what he himself has already been experiencing. They will share his troubles, but they will also have his peace, for they will share in his own relationship with the Father.

no fear

This word family is always used of fear in a negative sense, as the opposite of courage. Those with a settled disposition of such fear evidence a lack of faith in God and a denial of his presence, his goodness and his power.

Those who experience such fear, which includes virtually all of us to some degree, may take comfort that as God’s life grows within us and as our hearts are healed, we enter into the inheritance of Jesus’ peace, which replaces our sinful fear. Jesus here calls us to receive his peace. The grounds of this peace is the “perfect love” that “drives out fear” (1 Jn 4:18). This love is ultimately a sharing of the relationship between the Father and the Son.

love and joy

Jesus’ announcement that he is departing to the Father should fill them with joy instead of disturbance and fear. If you loved me indicates that Jesus’ view is that they have not done so. So their response shows that they have not yet come to love him in the truest sense. They think they love him, but in fact they are more focused on themselves than on him (Westcott).

Fear in itself is focused on self and circumstances rather than on God. Focus on God is central to all Jesus does and says, as it is here: If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father…. Jesus’ great love and focus is the Father; thus the prospect of returning to him fills Jesus with joy. If the disciples shared this focus and really loved Jesus, that is, willed the best for him, they also would share this joy.

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.

3rd Sunday of Lent: Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-15,19-26, 39-42 ~ wellspring of life

3rd Sunday of Lent

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

Opening sentence and prayer:

During Lent, many people all over the world look forward to their baptism, while those already baptised prepare to renew their promises.

O God, living and true, look upon your people, whose dry and stony hearts are parched with thirst. Unseal the living water of your Spirit; let it become within us an ever-flowing spring, leaping up to eternal life. Thus may we worship you in spirit and in truth through Christ, our deliverance and hope, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, holy and mighty God for ever and ever.

A Reading from the Old Testament: Exodus 17:3-7 (NLT)

"Moses Striking the Rock and Bringing Forth the Water" Marc Chagall, 1887-1985 Musée du Message Biblique Marc-Chagall Nice, France — “Moses Striking the Rock and Bringing Forth the Water”
Marc Chagall, 1887-1985
Musée du Message Biblique Marc-Chagall
Nice, France

But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”

The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.

Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”

A Reading from the Psalms: Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (NLT)

Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
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Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!
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The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness. For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did.
__________

__________

A Reading from the Letters: Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 (NLT)

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
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And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

A Reading from the Gospels: John 4:5-15,19-26, 39-42 (NLT)

The Samaritan Woman He Qi — The Samaritan Woman
He Qi

Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
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“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming — indeed it’s here now — when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming — the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!”
_____

Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!”

When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Intercessions:

Gracious and merciful God, hear my prayers on behalf of Your people.

+ For baptised believers around the world – that they may appreciate the gifts that are theirs through Your indwelling Spirit….
Lord, hear my prayer.

+ For adults and children preparing for baptism – that the prayer and support of their faith community may encourage them….
Lord, hear my prayer.

+ For all who thirst for meaning and truth – that they may experience Your revealing grace in Jesus Christ….
Lord, hear my prayer.

+ For poor tribes and nations, where water is scarce – that believers may supply the help they need in their fight against thirst….
Lord, hear my prayer.

+ For the people around the world who thirst for justice and essential human rights – that believers may work for the dignity of all….
Lord, hear my prayer.

+ For my own faith community, and particularly for people in any kind of difficulty – that this Lent may teach me to be a true friend of those in need….
Lord, hear my prayer.

+ For those who have died and those who mourn their loss – that their thirst for life without end may be satisfied….
Lord, hear my prayer.

O God, we are Yours, You lead us by the hand: send the help we need, we pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen

Spiritual Song:I’ve got a river of life

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

Morning Prayer, 22 Mar – John 14:18-24 ~ separation anxiety

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)

O King of Kings, O King of the universe, King who will be, who is, may You forgive us each and every one. Accept my prayer, O King of grace.

Anyone who claims to be in the light, but hates his brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother or sister lives in the light; and there is nothing to make that person stumble.

Morning reading

John 14:18-24 ESV:

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

Reflections:

new life

With Jesus’ return after the resurrection they will enter into the new kind of life he has been revealing throughout his ministry. The phrase before long comes from the Old Testament, where it is used “to express optimistically the shortness of time before God’s salvation would come” (Brown). When Jesus uses the expression it is indeed only a little while, a matter of a couple of days, until the salvation that is the beginning of the fulfillment of all the hopes will come. This salvation is a matter of life: Because I live, you also will live. They will live because they will be united to him by the Spirit and thus come to share in the life of him who is resurrection and life. All of this is made possible by Jesus’ own death and resurrection.

new intimacy

The intimacy that exists between the Father and the Son has been the subject of Jesus’ revelation. Jesus has called upon the disciples to accept this truth about him in faith, and now he promises that after the resurrection the disciples will come to realize it, they will know it. Like faith, this knowledge is not just an intellectual grasping of a truth. It comes from a participation in the divine reality itself, for it is said they will share in that relationship because they will be in the Son and he in them. Thus, what was just said of the Paraclete is now said of the Son. The Son and the Paraclete will both indwell the disciples.

shared life

This union is not simply a matter of shared ideas or feelings but of shared life. The love is reciprocal: He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. Believers are those who “have entered into the same reciprocity of love that unites the Father and the Son” (Barrett).

love and obey

To obey Jesus’ teaching is to adopt God’s pattern of life. But the condition for such obedience is love for Jesus. The commands of Jesus are not a set of rules like a traffic code; they are a description of a pattern of life that reflects God’s own life trans-posed into human circumstances. Love for Jesus involves both an attachment to him and a oneness with him and his interests, which naturally leads one to obey him and walk as he walked. One obeys what one loves. Indeed, our patterns of obedience reveal what we really love.

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.

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