+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening sentences:
Come, O Creator Spirit, come, and make within our hearts Your home; to us Thy grace eternal give, who of Your breathing move and live.
A Reading from Letters: Hebrews 5:1-10 (NLT)
Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.
Christ the High Priest, Bodruzal, district Svidnik, Slovakia, from the wooden Church of St. Nicholas, 1650-60
And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
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The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
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A Reading from the Gospels: Mark 2:18-22 (NLT)
Once when John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why don’t your disciples fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees do?”
Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. They can’t fast while the groom is with them. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
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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
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.
Lord, let my memory provide no shelter for grievance against another.
Lord, let my heart provide no harbor for hatred against another.
Lord, let my tongue be no accomplice in the judgement of a brother.
Morning reading
John 17:20-24 ESV:
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world….”
Reflections:
unity of believers
Jesus speaks of the oneness of all believers and then links this with the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son. The NIV has this indwelling as the model for the relationship among believers: just as you are in me and I am in you. The word translated just as can signal not only comparison but cause. Both of these two meanings are appropriate here, for the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son is both the reason that all may be one and the pattern for such oneness. This becomes clearer when Jesus adds “that they themselves also may be in us”. The oneness of believers is to be found in us, in their relation to the Father and the Son. The same twofold thought occurs when Jesus repeats that they may be one as we are one. The oneness of the Father and the Son is both the cause of and the model for the believers’ unity.
community of believers
The Father and the Son’s oneness includes both a unity of being and a distinctness of person, and it has been seen especially as a oneness of will and love. These are also the characteristics of the oneness that Jesus desires for his disciples to have in their relationship with one another in God. The believers have a mutual indwelling with the Father, but only by the Son, for no one comes to the Father except through the Son. So the oneness of the Son with the Father is unique, for Jesus shares in the deity of the Father. But in the Son believers have access to the Father and share in his very life, the eternal life.
Jesus seems to suggest that the actual outworking of the believers’ oneness with one another in the Father through the Son is a process that will take some time, for he adds, may they be brought to complete unity – more literally, “may they have been perfected into one.” He is speaking, in part, about the oneness that is further perfected as the “other sheep” and the “scattered children of God” are gathered in. But this oneness must also refer to the oneness that is present throughout the life of the community as the community makes “every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3), for it is something that the world can notice. So this is a spiritual oneness that comes from God, but it has to do with how the community of believers lives in the world.
living proof
Jesus says the purpose of this oneness is that the world may believe that you have sent me. Such belief is the key response Jesus has received from his disciples, so this is a reference to those who are still in the world yet are becoming believers. The disciples are sent on mission just as Jesus was sent, and the very purpose of their life together is to bear witness to the Father and the Son. This oneness flows from a common life that is characterized chiefly by love, and thus the world will see that the Father has loved the disciples as he has loved the Son.
The amazing transcendent love evident between the Father and the Son is not an exclusive glory that humans must be content only to admire from afar. The love the Father has for Jesus is the same love he has for believers, indeed for the whole world. The believers are to embody this love and thereby provide living proof of God’s gracious character, which is his mercy, love and truth. They will be an advertisement, inviting people to join in this union with God.
The love of God evident in the church is a revelation that there is a welcome awaiting those who will quit the rebellion and return home. Here is the missionary strategy of this Gospel — the community of disciples, indwelt with God’s life and light and love, witnessing to the Father in the Son by the Spirit by word and deed, continuing to bear witness as the Son has done.
shared future
Jesus’ request that they be with him… suggests strongly he is referring to heaven. This being the case, his prayer takes in the whole span of the believers’ life, from then on into eternity. Specifically, he wants them to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. We have already seen his glory, but there is a yet more complete vision of his glory awaiting believers. John later says that at his coming “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 Jn 3:2; cf. Col 3:4).
What begins at his second coming will continue on, for Jesus is talking not about his coming itself but about that which takes place afterwards. He has promised Peter, and, through him, his other disciples that they will follow him later, and here is what they will meet, the glory of the Lord — the glory that comes from the Father, who is the source of all, and that is a gift of love. That which Jesus has revealed in his earthly ministry is a mere glimpse of an eternal reality that existed before creation.
In his prayer, Jesus has been speaking of the future from an eternal perspective. Here in his final petition he looks on ahead to the ultimate future.
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.
Lord, I have heard Your voice calling at a distance.
Guide my steps to You, Lord, guide my steps to You.
Lord, I have heard Your voice calling at a distance.
Guard my way to You, Lord, guard my way.
Lord, I have heard Your voice calling at a distance.
Keep my heart for You, Lord, keep my heart for You.
Morning readings
John 5:25-30 ESV:
“Christ the Judge” Fra Angelico Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto, 1447
“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
“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.”
Reflections / Prayer:
Life-giver and judge
To give life and to judge are interrelated, for to have life is to escape condemnation. The great events of the last day are already taking place. The judge they were expecting has come surprisingly, before the final end of this age; the life of the age to come is already available.
All of this is accomplished, says Jesus, in the one who hears my word and believes him who sent me. Those who recognize Jesus as the unique Son receive his words as having come from God and, accordingly, believe the Father who sent him. To know God is to have eternal life. Until we receive life from the Son we are dead, under God’s wrath.
(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)
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Hear and obey
We are to walk as Jesus walked, obeying his commands. The first step of spiritual life is recognizing our need, which some immoral people may do and some moral people may not. The lifestyle we are called to in the Son is one of moral purity, in constant consciousness of absolute and utter dependence on God. “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
(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.
At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus – Your disciples were amazed at what they saw and heard… what you revealed to them. Renew that same amazement in me… the amazement that I felt when you first revealed yourself to me. Thank you for opening my eyes and ears to the wonders of your Kingdom. May I always approach you with childlike faith. And may I never lose the joy of your salvation. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 