Morning Prayer: Mon, 30 Jan – Psalm 34:2, 22; Joel 3:10; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ~ weak, but not afraid

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

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

Ope6ning Sentence

Teach me again, Lord, to number my days.

Call out in me again a willingness to love and serve.
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Reading: Psalm 34:2, 22 (NLT)

I will boast only in the Lord; let all who are helpless take heart.
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The Lord will redeem those who serve him. No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.
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Reading: Joel 3:10 (NLT)

Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
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strength-in-weakness

Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT)

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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Prayer for Strength in Weakness:St. Ephrem of Syria (306-373 AD)

Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings, You have power over life and death. You know what is secret and hidden, and neither our thoughts nor our feelings are concealed from You. Cure me of duplicity; I have done evil before You. Now my life declines from day to day and my sins increase.

O Lord, God of souls and bodies, You know the extreme frailty of my soul and my flesh. Grant me strength in my weakness, O Lord, and sustain me in my misery. Give me a grateful soul that I may never cease to recall Your benefits, O Lord most bountiful. Be not mindful of my many sins, but forgive me all my misdeeds.

O Lord, disdain not my prayer – the prayer of a wretched sinner; sustain me with Your grace until the end, that it may protect me as in the past. It is Your grace which has taught me wisdom; blessed are they who follow her ways, for they shall receive the crown of glory.

In spite of my unworthiness, I praise You and I glorify You, O Lord, for Your mercy to me is without limit. You have been my help and my protection. May the name of Your majesty be praised forever. To you, our God, be glory.

Amen.

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“Don’t Be Afraid” – The Acappella Company


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Blessing

May I embody Your ready kindness in these days, for things will not be as they were before.

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

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 29 Jan: Zep 2:3; 3:12-13; Ps 146:6-10; 1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12 ~ the blessed life

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the Beatitudes, Jesus describes the kind of people who are blessed in God’s eyes. May we be counted among them.

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

Opening Prayer:

O God, write on our hearts the wisdom of the gospel, so that we may hunger and thirst for holiness, work tirelessly for peace, and be counted among those who seek first your kingdom. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Continue reading “Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 29 Jan: Zep 2:3; 3:12-13; Ps 146:6-10; 1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12 ~ the blessed life”

Morning Prayer: Sat, 28 Jan – Psalm 27:4, 7-8; Hosea 10:12; Philippians 4:9 ~ held by the arms of love

Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening Sentence

Create a clean heart within me, O God,
so that it may become Your chosen shelter
and the resting place of the Holy Spirit.
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Reading: Psalm 27:4, 7-8 (NLT)

baby-held-in-hands

The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.
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Hear me as I pray, O Lord. Be merciful and answer me!

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.
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Reading: Hosea 10:12 (NLT)

I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’
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Reading: Philippians 4:9 (NLT)

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
__________ Continue reading “Morning Prayer: Sat, 28 Jan – Psalm 27:4, 7-8; Hosea 10:12; Philippians 4:9 ~ held by the arms of love”

Morning Prayer: Fri, 27 Jan – Psalm 42:1-2; Isaiah 26:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 ~ godly sorrow has its reward

Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening Sentence

Create a clean heart within me, O God,
so that it may become Your chosen shelter
and the resting place of the Holy Spirit.
__________

Reading: 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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Reading: Isaiah 26:9 (NLT)

In the night I search for you; in the morning I earnestly seek you. For only when you come to judge the earth will people learn what is right.
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i-regret-my-abortion

Reading: 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NLT)

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.
__________ Continue reading “Morning Prayer: Fri, 27 Jan – Psalm 42:1-2; Isaiah 26:9; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 ~ godly sorrow has its reward”

Morning Prayer: Thu, 26 Jan – Psalm 22:1-2, 7-11; Deuteronomy 31:8; Mark 15:33-39 ~ feeling God-forsaken?

Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

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

Opening Sentence

Create a clean heart within me, O God,
so that it may become Your chosen shelter
and the resting place of the Holy Spirit.
__________

Reading: Psalm 22:1-2, 7-11 (NLT)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.
_____ Continue reading “Morning Prayer: Thu, 26 Jan – Psalm 22:1-2, 7-11; Deuteronomy 31:8; Mark 15:33-39 ~ feeling God-forsaken?”