Tag: Universalis

Tuesday of 4th Week of Easter, 09 May – John 10:22-30 ~ Son of God

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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

Opening Prayer

Lord God, our Father, the Spirit of Jesus calls us, as he called your Son, to abandon our old selves and our old world to be free for new life and growth. Forgive us our fear and hesitations, lead us out of our worn-out phrases and habits, and our self-made certainties, steep us in the gospel of your Son, that his good news may become credible in our times and our world. We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
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Reading: John 10:22-30 (NLT)

It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
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Reflection & Prayer:

Lord Jesus: You have revealed the Father as he is, not as I might want him to be.

+ Illumine my understanding of Scripture that I may see you as you truly are.
+ Change how I think and act to conform to your way of thinking and acting,
+ Help me to set aside my own likes and preferences that I may serve others.
+ Create in me an openness to listen to your voice and follow as you lead.

Heavenly Father: Thank you for calling me, claiming me, and holding on to me. Thank you for the Life, abundant and eternal, that you have given me. Send me out, in the power of your Spirit, that I may be a credible witness to your love, mercy, and grace. Through my Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Dawn to Dusk” – All Sons & Daughters


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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 67:2-3 (NLT)

May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you.
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Monday of 4th Week of Easter, 08 May – John 10:11-18 ~ voluntary sacrifice

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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

Opening Prayer

Lord our God, Father of all, you sent your Son Jesus Christ among us to reveal your sacrificial love and care for all, without any distinction for race or culture. Give us the strength and courage to follow his example, even if it means suffering, that Jesus may truly be the Lord and Shepherd of all, now and for ever. Amen.
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Reading: John 10:11-18 (NLT)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
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Reflection & Prayer:

Heavenly Father: you have sent us your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Good Shepherd.

+ Thank you for his sacrificial love for us.
+ Thank you for his sacrificial care for us.

Lord Jesus, you willingly sacrificed your life in our defense.

+ Give us the discernment to follow no other Shepherd.
+ Give us the courage to follow your example, even if it means suffering.

Holy Spirit: make us one with other believers who follow Jesus.

+ Free us from our preconceptions and prejudices.
+ Send us out in unity of purpose and the bond of peace.

Father: send us out into the world to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
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“Lead Me Lord” – The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir


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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 42:1-2 (NLT)

As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

4th Sunday of Easter, 07 May – John 10:1-10 ~ the Good Shepherd

Fourth Sunday of Easter

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

Opening Prayer

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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“King of Love” – I Am They


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Reading: John 10:1-10 (NLT)

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
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Reflection & Prayer:

O God, you never cease to call even those far away, for it is your will that all be drawn into one fold. Attune our ears to the voice of the Good Shepherd, who leads us always to you, that we may find under your tender protection life in all its fullness. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
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“Shepherd” – Amanda Cook


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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 23 (NLT)

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Saturday of 3rd Week of Easter, 06 May – John 6:60-69 ~ In Christ Alone

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

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

Opening Prayer

Faithful God of the covenant, in the daily choices we have to make give us the courage to opt always for your Son and his ways and to remain close to him. Bless the difficult road we have sometimes to take without seeing where it will lead us. Keep us from making half-hearted decisions when our faith is rather weak and make us accept all the consequences of our choice. Keep us always faithful through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Reading: John 6:60-69 (NLT)

Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
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Reflection & Prayer:

+Lord Jesus Christ, Bread of Life: raise up on the last day all those who believe in you.

+ Son of God, Lord of Life; bless your people with your Spirit and make us holy.

+ Lord Jesus Christ, Lamb of God: take away our sins and turn our sorrow into joy.

+ Lord Jesus Christ, Light of the World: help us to live as children of light, rejoicing in your victory.

Gracious God: increase the faith of your pilgrim people; and make us faithful, credible, witnesses to your life-changing power that we may share your peace and joy with others. Through our lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
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“In Christ Alone” – Keith & Kristyn Getty

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song. This Cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace; when fears are stilled, when strivings cease: my Comforter, my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied; For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain; then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me; for I am His and He is mine—bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—this is the pow’r of Christ in me; from life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand; till He returns or calls me home—here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
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Concluding Prayer

Truly I am your servant, Lord; …you have freed me from my chains. I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord. – Psalm 116:16-17 (NLT)
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Friday of 3rd Week of Easter, 05 May – John 6:52-59 ~ true food and drink

Friday of the Third Week of Easter

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

Opening Prayer

Our living and loving God, how could we know the depth of your love if your Son had not become flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood? How could we ever have the courage to live for one another and if necessary to die if he had not given up his body and shed his blood for us?

Thank you for his presence wth us in the eucharist and for making himself our daily bread. Let this bread be the food that empowers us to live and die as he did, for one another and for you, our living God, for ever and ever.
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Reading: John 6:52-59 (NLT)

Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”

He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
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Reflection & Prayer:

O merciful Father; in your great goodness, we ask you to bless and sanctify, with your Word and Holy Spirit, these gifts of bread and wine, that we, receiving them according to your Son our Savior Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood.
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We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your abundant and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table. But you are the same Lord, who always delights in showing mercy.

Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear Son Jesus Christ and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ: and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your Son, and heirs of your eternal Kingdom. And now Father, send us out into the world to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
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“Remembrance” – Matt Redman

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Concluding Prayer

Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth. For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord! – Psalm 117:1-2 (NLT)
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!