A Prayer for the Coming Year

From the late Thomas Merton:

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."

Fr. Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. - 1915 - 1968

If you wish, you may listen to this prayer

read by Fr. James Martin, SJ
HERE.

Online Bible Meditation

Jesus' Presentation at the Temple
Ambrosio Lorenzetti - 1300s

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of December 28, 2014

December 28: Galatians 4: 4-7

December 29: Luke 2: 22-40

December 30: Psalm 96: 1-9

December 31: 1 John 2: 7-11

January 1, 2015: 1 John 2: 12-17

January 2: Colossians 3: 1-4, 12-17

January 3: Psalm 8

Those new to lectio divina can find guidelines for this practice of reflective reading HERE.

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of December 21, 2014

December 21: 1 Timothy 2: 1-8

December 22: Luke 1: 26-38

December 23: Luke 1: 46-55

December 24: Luke 2: 1-7

December 25: Luke 2: 8-20

December 26: Luke 2: 22-38

December 27: Isaiah 43: 1-7

Christmas Eve Family Service

Wednesday, December 24

7:00 p.m.

Candlelight

Carols
Birthday Cake 

Joy to the World!

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of December 14, 2014

December 14: Psalm 119: 41-48

December 15: Isaiah 61: 1-4

December 16: Psalm 126

December 17: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24

December 18: 1 Timothy 1: 12-17

December 19: Psalm 63: 1-8

December 20: Luke 10: 1-11

Lectio and Taize!

There are two ways to worship meditatively and reflectively this week.

First: there is the weekly lectio divina:

Sunday December 7: Isaiah 40: 1-11

Monday December 8: Mark 1: 1-8

Tuesday December 9: Psalm 40: 1-5

Wednesday December 10: 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11

Thursday December 11: Mark 4: 21-25

Friday December 12: Psalm 119: 33-40

Saturday December 13: Mark 4: 26-32

Next, there is the Taize Worship Service!

Friday, December 12, 2014

7:00 p.m. 

An hour of prayer, reflection on scripture

and

worship in song.

Image courtesy Wikipedia

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of November 30, 2014

November 30:Philippians 2: 1-11

December 1: 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9

December 2: Matthew 7: 15 - end

December 3: Psalm 80: 17-19

December 4: 1 Thessalonians 4: 1-12

December 5: Psalm 34: 1-10

December 6: Isaiah 40: 1-11

Help Wanted!

Shepherds and Angels are needed for the Nativity Scene during the reading of the Gospel at the Family Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve...7:00 p.m.  

Birthday cake for Baby Jesus will be served after the service, in the Parish Hall.

Poetry for Ordinary Time

A last bit of poetry for Ordinary Time, 2014.  This time, selections from Rainer Maria Rilke:

Du dunkelnder Grund...Dear darkening ground

Dear darkening ground,
you've endured so patiently the walls we've built,
perhaps you'll give the cities one more hour

and grant the churches and cloisters two.
And those that labour -- maybe you'll let their work
grip them another five hours, or seven,

before you become forest again, and water, and
       widening wilderness
in that hour of inconceivable terror
when you take back your name
from all things.

Just give me a little more time!
I want to love the things
as no one has thought to love them,
until they're real and ripe and worthy of you.

I want only seven days, seven
on which no one has ever written himself --
seven pages of solitude.

There will be a book that includes those pages,
and she who takes it in her hands
will sit staring at it a long time,

until she feels that she is being held
and you are writing.

                                                                              I, 61*

To listen to commentary on this poem by the translator, Joanna Macy: click HERE.

                                            *****************     *****************

Ich lebe mein Leben in wachsenden Ringen...I live my life in widening circles

I live my life in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

I have been circling around God, that primordial tower.
I've been circling for thousands of years
and still I don't know: am I a falcon,
a storm, or a great song?

                                                                            I,2*

Gott spricht zu jedem nur, eh er ihn macht...God speaks to each of us as he makes us

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going.  No feeling is final.
Don't let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

                                                                       I, 59*

Rainer Maria Rilke
1875-1926

*Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God,  "The Book of a Monastic Life" - translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, Riverhead Books, New York, 1996.

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of November 23, 2014

November 23: Ecclesiastes 3: 16-22

November 24: Ezekiel 34: 11-16

November 25: Psalm 100

November 26: Luke 21: 1-4

November 27: Psalm 101

November 28: Galatians 6: 1-10

November 29:  Ephesians 1: 3-14

Poetry for Ordinary Time

This week, two selections from contemporary American poet, farmer and environmental activist, Wendell Berry:

To the Holy Spirit*

O Thou, far off and here, whole and broken,

Who in necessity and in bounty wait,

Whose truth is light and dark, mute though spoken,

By Thy wide grace show me Thy narrow gate.   

Thirty More Years**

When I was a young man,

grown up at last, how large

I seemed to myself!  I was a tree,

tall already, and what I had not

yet reached, I would yet grow

to reach.  Now, thirty more years

added on, I have reached much

I did not expect, in a direction

unexpected.  I am growing downward,

smaller, one among the grasses. 

*From "A Part (1980)" included in the anthology New Collected Poems,  Wendell Berry, Counterpoint Press, Berkeley, 2012.

**From "Entries (1994)", ibid.

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of November 16, 2014

November 16: Psalm 90: 1-8

November 17: Matthew 25: 14-30

November 18: Luke 18: 35-43

November 19: Psalm 148

November 20: Ephesians 4: 1-7

November 21: James 2: 14-26

November 22:  1 Peter 5

Poetry for Ordinary Time

This week, offering you a Remembrance Day meditation -- Prayer Before Sleep by Canadian composer, Sid Robinovitch, sung by the Elmer Eisler Singers,

At the going down of the sun

And in the morning,

We shall remember them.

Prayer Before Sleep

Exalted art Thou, my Lord

Who art God and King of the World,

Who weighs down my eyes

With gentle bonds of sleep,

And refreshes my tired spirit with slumber.

May it ever be Thy will,

Lord, my God, and God of all my fathers,

To lay me down in untroubled peace

And raise me up in peace once more.

Do not let dark imaginings disturb me

With thoughts of sin and despair.

O heal my fear and my suffering – 

May my bed be enclosed in Thy care.

Give light unto my eyes

Lest the sleep of death o’ertake me.

For ‘tis Thou who breathes life

Into man’s slumb’ring soul.

Exalted art Thou, O Lord,

Who illuminates all the world

With His glory.

- The Talmud

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of November 9, 2014

November 9: Philippians 2: 12-18

November 10: Matthew 5: 13-16

November 11: Psalm 16: 5-11

November 12: Isaiah 58: 6-9

November 13: Matthew 25: 34-40

November 14: Psalm 119: 1-8

November 15:  Luke 18: 1-8

For detailed instructions on the practice of lectio divina, please refer to the introductory post HERE.

Poetry for Ordinary Time

A sonnet from Malcolm Guite for All Saints Day:

All Saints

Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards

Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light

It glances from the eyes, kindles the words

Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright

With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,

The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.

Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing

He weaves them with us in the web of being

They stand beside us even as we grieve,

The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,

Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above

The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,

To triumph where all saints are known and named;

The gathered glories of His wounded love.

Click HERE to listen to the poet reading this poem.

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of November 2, 2014

November 2: Matthew 5: 1-12

November 3: Psalm 107: 1-9

November 4: Psalm 34: 1-10

November 5: John 6: 37-40

November 6: 1 Peter 1: 3-9

November 7: Philippians 2: 1-4

November 8:  Hebrews 11: 1-3

Why We Shouldn't Worry About Not Having a Consistent Children's Church/Sunday School...

Feeling nostalgic for the days when there were dozens of kids in an active Sunday School at St. Cyprian's?

Feeling frustrated because younger parents don't seem to want to take up the Sunday School teaching torch?

Check out THIS commentary*...and be comforted.

*Why We Don't Have Children's Church Anymore

from Breaking New Bread

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of October 26, 2014

October 26: Matthew 22: 34-40

October 27: Ephesians 5: 1-8

October 28: Psalm 1

October 29: Ephesians 2: 13-22

October 30: Luke 13: 10-17

October 31: Ephesians 6: 10-20

November 1 (All Saints Day):  Revelation 7: 9-17

Bakers Wanted!

The Annual ACW Bazaar and Bake Sale is Coming!

Saturday, November 1 - 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Bakers are needed for our famous box-your-own cookies tables.
Contact Joan G. to volunteer!

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of October 19, 2014

October 19: Psalm 130

October 20: Ephesians 2: 1-10

October 21: Luke 12: 13-22

October 22: Psalm 100

October 23: Ephesians 3: 2-12

October 24: Luke 12: 22-34

October 25: Isaiah 48: 17-19

Poetry for Ordinary Time

This week's selection is from Anglican priest and poet, George Herbert (1593 - 1633)...

 Our Life is Hid with Christ in God*  (Colossians III: 3)                    

My words and thoughts do both expresse this notion,
That Life hath with the sun a double motion,
The first Is straight, and our diurnall friend;
The other Him, and doth obliquely bend.
One life is wrapt In flesh, and tends to earth;
The other winds towards Him, Whose happie birth
Taught me to live here so That still one eye
Should aim and shoot at that which Is on high;
Quitting with daily labour all My pleasure,
To gain at harvest an eternall Treasure.

*From "The Temple" in The Works of George Herbert, The Wordsworth Poetry Library, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., Hertfordshire, England, 1994 

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of October 12, 2014

October 12: Psalm 90:1-4

October 13: Psalm 97

October 14: Micah 6:8

October 15: John 13: 1-20

October 16: Luke 7: 18-23

October 17: Luke 12: 33-34

October 18: Psalm 128

Happy Thanksgiving!

Online Bible Meditation and More

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of October 5, 2014

October 5: Psalm 62

October 6: Galatians 1: 6-12

October 7: Psalm 63

October 8: Luke 10: 25-37

October 9: Hosea 14: 4-7

October 10: Luke 11: 1-4

October 11: Galatians 2: 15-21

If you need guidelines or a refresher in how to practice

 lectio divina, click HERE.  :-)

**********************

Octonrt 3 is observed by many as the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a man born into wealth, who died October 3, 1226, and who threw up his wealthy heritage to become a monk and the founder of the Order of  St. Francis, the women's Order of St. Clare, and the Third Order of St. Francis,  The Little Flowers of St. Francis, compiled anonymously near the end of the 14th century, is a compendium of his sayings and stories of his life and is still in print.

Famous not only for his love of peace and his ascetic life practice, but also for his love of Creation, he is now best known as the Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment.  Many churches around the globe will be holding a "Blessing of the Animals" service this weekend to honour this much-loved saint.

The following is a musical adaptation of the Canticle of the Sun, believed to have been written by Francis of Assisi late in 1224 A.D.

There are two ways to live your life:

one is as though nothing is a miracle;

the other, as if everything is a miracle.

It's Your Funeral!

More and more these days, people seem to find themselves wanting to pay honour and respect to the surviving family and friends of a deceased person, only to discover that "at the request of the deceased, there will be no funeral/memorial/service".

This approach has the unhappy result of leaving those beloved survivors confused and wondering how to both honour and grieve for their friend/family member who has died.  They feel compelled to do something to express their emotions at this tender time, but don't want to disrespect the stated request of their loved one.

What about you?  Are you uncertain about how to guide your family and friends in some form of remembrance in the event of your death?

Join Rev. Lee Sinclair at St. Cyprian's on Saturday, October 4 (1:30 - 3:30 p.m.), for "It's Your Funeral" -- a short workshop on funeral planning.  Learn about your options for spiritual expression, what's permitted re: disbursement or burial of the deceased (or ashes), and how to guide your survivors so they can honour your wishes in a manner designed to comfort them and honour you.

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of September 28, 2014

September 28: Psalm 77: 1-15
September 29: Psalm 103: 19-22
September 30: Luke 24: 44-48

October 1: Luke 5: 27-32

October 2: Philippians 1:3-11

October 3: Philippians 1: 12-30

October 4: Luke 9: 46-48

Poetry for Ordinary Time

In the cycle of the Liturgical calendar, Ordinary Time refers to the days of the year that are not Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter. Ordinary Time is the longest period of the year.

The term "ordinary" should not be viewed as the opposite of special or "extraordinary," rather it is that time which is ordained for the everyday living of the Christian life. This becomes clearer in the Latin title, tempus ordinarium, which means "measured time."

For the Church, all of Ordinary Time is "ordained for" the purpose of sanctifying the everyday life of Christians. It helps prepare us for the other liturgical seasons of the Church year.

There are two distinct periods in Ordinary Time. The first is the five to eight weeks between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. The second is the twenty-three to twenty-seven weeks following the feast of Pentecost and concluding with the Solemnity of Christ the King. The liturgical color for days in Ordinary Time is green.*

*From the University of Dayton, "Marian Poetry in Ordinary Time (2003)" 

We are in the last of those 27 weeks between Pentecost and Advent.  Periodically there will appear on this weblog a piece of poetry for your enjoyment and reflection...at least once a month between now and the Reign of Christ (Feast of Christ the King) on Sunday, November 23.

Our first offering is from Mary Oliver:

Look and See*

This morning, at waterside, a sparrow few
to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back
of  an eider duck; lightly it  fluttered off, amused.
The duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was
laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over
our house was casually scratching
its stomach of  white feathers with one
pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive is your gift to us, if we
only look, and see. 

 *From Why I Wake Early: New Poems - Mary Oliver, Beacon Press, Boston, MA, USA, 2004

Alix Lake - Autumn 2010

 

St. Matthew -- Apostle and Evangelist

St. Matthew - Frans Hals (1582/83 - 1666)

Sunday, September 21 is the Holy Day commemorating St. Matthew -- formerly Levi, born in Galilee, son of Alphaeus, and one of Jesus' disciples.  He is also the Apostle for whom the New Testament Book of Matthew is named.  It is reported that at the time of his decision to follow Jesus, he was living in Capernaum and working as a tax collector or a "[receiver] of custom". This job carried no formalized salary; rather, collectors were expected to make their income by cheating those from whom they collected.  As a result, tax collectors were social outcasts to be avoided, but it is written that Jesus "dined with tax collectors and sinners" as a matter of course (Matthew 9: 10).

Matthew is recognized as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican denominations.  In the West his day is September 21 as mentioned, but in the East -- following the Julian calendar -- his day is observed on November 16.  His tomb is found in the crypt of the Cathedral of Salerno in Southern Italy.

You can read more about St. Matthew on Wikipedia and in this biographical sketch provided by the Anglican Society of Archbishop Justus.

You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem

 and in all Judea and Samaria 

and to the end of the earth.

- Acts 1:8

Online Bible Meditation

Suggested daily Lectio divina - Week of September 21, 2014

September 21: Psalm 19
September 22: Psalm 15
September 23: Philippians 1: 27-30

September 24: 1 Timothy 6: 1-10

September 25: 1 Timothy 6: 11-19

September 26: Ephesians 4: 1-16

September 27: Ephesians 4: 17-24

Holy Cross Day

Russian Icon - Feast of the Exaltation of the CrossGury Nikitin, ca. 1680.

As Rev. Lee taught in her sermon this morning, the 14th of September is a Holy Day -- the Feast of the Holy Cross.  According to legend, as Lee said, remnants of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified are said to have been found by St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326 A.D.

The title for this day has several variations.  In the Anglican, Episcopal and Lutheran denominations, it is generally referred to as Holy Cross Day; in the Roman Catholic, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross or the Triumph of the Cross.  It may also be called the Feast of the Glorious Cross.

In the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) church where this Holy Day first arose, the  Universal Exaltation (or Elevation) of the Precious and Life-Creating Cross commemorates not only St. Helena's finding the True Cross, but also its recovery from the Persians in 628.

Monastic Orders of the Holy Cross, such as the Anglican/Episcopal Order of the Holy Cross may mark this Feast Day -- which is their titular day -- as the beginning of "monastic winter", instituted by St. Benedict as the period where there are three nocturns of psalms and readings at Matins, from this date until Easter.

Helena of Constantinople
- Cima da Conegliano - 1495