Tag: Pharisees

Morning Prayer, 07 Mar – John 12:12-19 ~ Save us!

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 reject me or forsake me, O God my Saviour.

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path. Amen.

Morning readings

John 12:12-19 ESV:

Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) - 20th c.
Entry into Jerusalem
(Palm Sunday) – 20th c.

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Reflections:

King of Israel

The crowd welcomes Jesus as the answer to their nationalistic, messianic hopes. Earlier a crowd had wanted to make Jesus king, and now this crowd is recognizing him as king in the city of the great King. Here is the great dream of a Davidic ruler who would come and liberate Israel, establishing peace and subduing the Gentiles.

Jesus responds by finding a young donkey to sit on – undercuting their nationalism and pointing in a different direction. He is indeed king, but not the sort of king they have in mind.

on reflection

The meaning of what takes place is conveyed through both the Scripture shouted by the crowd at the time and the Scripture that occurred to the disciples later. The crowd shouted, “Help!” and “Save!” and Jesus has come precisely to help and save them, though it will not be through the political liberation the crowd expects. It is, however, uniquely true that Jesus comes in the name of the Lord. This expression is one way of summarizing his whole mission.

Jesus is indeed King of Israel. His kingdom, however, far transcends Israel’s boundaries. “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm” (Zeph 3:15). The context in Zephaniah is of the future time of peace when Jerusalem is no longer at war — the lame and the scattered have been brought home, and even the Gentiles have been purified so that they might call on the name of the Lord. The hallmark of this time is the Lord’s own presence.

If they had eyes to see what Jesus was doing and ears to hear what he was saying they would find in him the fulfillment of their desires, though without the nationalistic element. The fulfillment of Zephaniah’s prophecy of peace without fear is taking place right before the eyes of this crowd, though they do not know it.

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, 06 Mar – John 12:1-11 ~ extravagant worship

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)

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of You, “Seek His face!”

Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my helper.

Morning readings

John 12:1-11 ESV:

mary-anoints-the-feet-of-jesus

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Reflections:

extravagant gratitude

The pure nard Mary uses was worth a year’s wages – a rough equivalent would be around $15,000, the gross pay for someone working at minimum wage for a year. There is no indication of why Mary expressed her devotion this way. The most obvious possibility was her sheer gratitude for what Jesus had done for her brother and the revelation it brought to her of Jesus’ identity, power, authority and grace.

John’s focus on her anointing Jesus’ feet points to Mary’s great humility. As she has come to realize a bit more of the one who has been a friend to her and her brother and sister, her faith deepens and she recognizes her unworthiness.

treacherous unbelief

At one level, Judas is simply expressing what others were also thinking. But with hindsight John knows there was more motivating him – embezzlement. Such embezzlement reveals a heart in love with self and in love with money, neither of which have a place in the life of a disciple. But beyond even this, the deepest sin was Judas’ betrayal of the Lord.

Judas’ heart is fundamentally different from the heart of Mary – the contrast between a true disciple, Mary, and one of the Twelve, shows that privilege of position is no substitute for faith and obedience.

charitable works

Care for the poor is a sacred duty because it is the concern of God’s own heart. Those who share in his life will share in his concern for the poor and will act appropriately as he guides. This diversion of funds from the poor for the sake of Jesus’ burial implies that there are times for such exceptional use of funds. But it also implies that the funds would usually go to the poor and that this is the proper thing to do. John’s “suggestion that Judas did not care about the poor has implied in passing that Christians should care” (Michaels).

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

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Doesn’t matter what people say / I forget their watching eyes / I just want to bring to You / My most costly, my most priceless, my most precious Sacrifice

Extravagant worship / Total surrender / Reckless abandon / I pour out my love, pour out myself / Saviour

Breaking open my thankful heart / I release its praise perfume / Here I’ll linger lifting to You / Songs of wonder, songs of worship / songs of deepest gratitude
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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, 04 Mar – John 11:45-57 ~ one for all

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Brigid of Kildare (c. 450-523)

Christ in our coming and in our leaving, the Door and the Keeper; for us and our dear ones, this day and every day, blessing for always. Amen.

Morning readings

John 11:45-57 ESV:

chief-priest

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Reflections:

faith and fear

There are a variety of responses to Jesus’ raising of Lazarus – many put faith in him, but others inform the authorities. The report alarms the Pharisees, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

Like many religious leaders since, Jesus is accused of being a threat to national security. Jesus’ popularity could look like a popular uprising that would require calling in the Roman legions destroying both their religious positions and the entire nation. The irony is that they do destroy the temple of Jesus’ body, but this does not prevent the Romans from destroying their temple and their nation, nor does it prevent increasing numbers of people from believing in Jesus.

Their plot prevented neither of the things they feared, even though they succeeded in getting Jesus killed.

atonement and oneness

Caiaphas unwittingly prophesies that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, but John sees the divine intent that Jesus die in place of the nation for their sin… and for the sin of all humanity. Jesus’ death is also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. Jesus’ work as the Good Shepherd is accomplished through his death.

The oneness with God that the atonement accomplishes is complemented by the oneness of the people of God drawn from the whole of the human race. They are already referred to as children of God since each one who enters Christ’s community has been given to him by the Father and has responded in faith and has been born again. It is Christ, especially Christ crucified, that unites the people of God.

seclusion and speculation

Jesus goes back into seclusion because of the increased danger. His movement in and out of seclusion shows him working around the intentions of his enemies as he works out the intentions of his Father. There is a similar pattern in his work in the lives of his followers today. He moves in and out of seclusion in our lives, not because his life is threatened but as part of his love for us, to wean us from false attachments, even false views we may have of God himself.

Meanwhile, as Passover approaches, friends and foes speculate whether or not Jesus will come to the feast, aware that the chief priests and Pharisees are seeking his arrest. But Jesus has already departed from the temple and will not be standing where they are standing as they ask such questions. He will come up to this feast, but he will not be coming to the temple. Rather, the one true sacrifice is about to take place in the temple of his body.

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, 22 Feb – John 9:13-41 ~ now I see

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Brendan the Navigator (c. 486-575)

Teach me to live with eternity in mind. Tune my spirit to the music of heaven.

Feed me, and, somehow, make my obedience count for You.

Morning readings

John 9:13-41 ESV:

eyes

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Reflections:

division

The Pharisees face a dilemma for Jesus’ sabbath breaking suggests he is not of God whereas his extraordinary power to heal suggests he is of God. Jesus’ disregard for their sabbath regulations is so blatant the opponents cannot accept the idea that God would honor such lawlessness. So to reconcile what has happened to their presuppositions, they assume that the man must not have been blind.

Not only do they reject the man’s evaluation of Jesus as a prophet, they don’t even accept his testimony about his own former condition!

intimidation

The man’s parents are not allowed to give thanks to God for the great thing he has done for their son. They must have agonized over his blindness and the begging he was forced into. Now he has been miraculously healed, and they must put aside the overwhelming parental joy and knuckle under to the goons from the committee for the investigation of un-Jewish activity, as it were. Their fear stems from the threat that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

Jesus’ healing would have far-reaching implications concerning God’s gracious acceptance of sinful humanity. Not only was their son released from the bondage of his blindness and its related life of begging, but they and their son would see themselves in a new relation to God. Yet they had to stifle all of these feelings of joy and gratitude when they were called in by the authorities for questioning.

witness

The man has told them the truth, but they don’t really want the truth, they want their own answer. They are demanding that he give glory to God by confessing his sin, but the man has given glory to God by bearing witness to Jesus. He points to the one certain fact of the case — he was blind and now he sees.

In asking if the authorities want to become disciples themselves, the man is doing the work of an evangelist – offering God’s grace to those most deeply opposed to Jesus and alienated from God. It is remarkable that those who know God and his ways so well would not be able to recognize one who is able to do what is unheard of — open the eyes of a man who had been blind from birth. Nevertheless, their response is to throw the man out of the synagogue.

faith

Belief is not merely an intellectual assent to a proposition, but an attachment of trust to an individual as the one who comes from God. Such an expression of a “longing and inquiring soul” does not go unanswered. Jesus has cured him and found him, but he now reveals something of his identity to the man.

The man responds with faith which leads to worship. He has been progressing from knowledge of Jesus’ name, to confession of him as a prophet, to bearing witness that Jesus is one come from God and finally to accepting his claim to be the Son of Man. Even if he does not understand the full significance of his confession and homage to Jesus, he is accepting Jesus on Jesus’ own terms and thus placing himself in the position to receive further revelation and grow in his understanding of Jesus and his relationship with him.

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series

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Prayer

Heavenly Father:
+ Help me to realize my own utter poverty, blindness and need apart from Your Son, Jesus Christ;
+ Give me His eyes to see the desperate condition of all who live in darkness, apart from the Light of the world;
+ Fill me with Your Spirit that I might not reject the evidence of my own experience because of a faulty understanding of You and Your ways.

Holy Spirit:
+ Clarify my thinking against the objective truth of Your Word as manifested in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and revealed in Scripture as guided and understood by the church.

Lord Jesus: Be my center of reference so that I may be stable, secure and bold no matter what hassles come to me due to my relationship with You – for, in You, I have experienced the goodness and mercy of God.
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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, 15 Feb – John 8:12-20 ~ the light of the world

Morning Prayer

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

Opening sentences – Oswald of Northumbria (605-42)

This day is Your gift to me; I take it, Lord, from Your hand and thank You for the wonder of it.

God be with me in this Your day, every day and every way, with me and for me in this Your day; and the love and affection of heaven be toward me.

Morning readings

John 8:12-20 ESV:

Light of the World (1)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.”

Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”

They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflections:

background

A lamp-lighting ceremony took place in the temple every evening of the feast, during which large lamps were set up in the Court of Women. The lamps’ light, it was said, filled every courtyard in the city. In the light of these lamps there was great singing and dancing all evening in celebration of God’s salvation, especially his deliverance at the exodus as he lead his people with his presence in a pillar of fire by night. In the sight of these great lamps in the Court of Women, perhaps even in the evening while they blazed, Jesus proclaims himself to be the light of the world.

In this setting, which celebrates the Israelites’ deliverance, Jesus is claiming to be the divine presence that saves God’s people from their bondage. He is the saving presence for the whole world, not just for the Jews.

light and life

Here is a promise of salvation much greater than the salvation Israel experienced, for it is deliverance not just from a national enemy, but from the forces of rebellion against God that lie behind every form of evil in the world. And this deliverance is not just a rescue from darkness and a glimpse of the light, but an ongoing life apart from darkness through possession of the light of life – “the light which both springs from life and issues in life; of which life is the essential principle and the necessary result.”

The world lies in darkness and death because it has rebelled against God and thus broken contact with the one source of light and life. Jesus is the light that brings light and life back to the world and sets it free from its bondage to sin.

judgement

The Pharisees judge by human standards – by “mere appearances.” By contrast, Jesus passes judgment in keeping with reality, because he does so in oneness with the Father. He judges simply by revealing the truth and pointing out one’s distance from that truth. That is why he says he will not judge but his words will judge.

These distinctions regarding judgment are important within the church. Jesus says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Mt 7:1). Clearly this does not mean we should not distinguish good from evil or truth from error, for Jesus calls us to do just that a few verses later in his teaching on false prophets (Mt 7:15-20). But it is one thing to recognize evil and error and quite another to conclude that an individual is totally lost to God. The final state of a person’s soul is known only to God. Therefore we should write off no one, yet all the while we should discern the teaching and behavior to see whether it is of God. Such discernment can only come from Christ through the Spirit, for our judgments, like Jesus’ (Jn 8:16), can only be right if they are in union with the Father.

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.