Verse of the day
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
– Psalm 104:24
Voice of the day
Love all of God’s creation, both the whole of it and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light.
– Fyodor Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov” (1880)
Prayer of the day
Open our hearts to see your wisdom in every creature and every grain of sand, that we may love all of your creation as a reflection of your boundless light and love.
“We must have courage—determination—to go on with the task of becoming free—not only for ourselves, but for the nation and the world.”—Rosa Parks
“Violence brings only temporary victories; violence, by creating many more social problems than it solves, never brings permanent peace.”—Martin Luther King Jr, A Testament of Hope
I closed today’s sermon (based on John 13:31-35) with these two quotes from Thomas Merton.
…love is not just something that happens to you: it is a certain special way of being alive. Love is, in fact, an intensification of life, a completeness, a fullness, a wholeness of life…. We do not become fully human until we give ourselves to each other in love. And this must not be confined only to sexual fulfillment: it embraces everything in the human person—the capacity for self-giving, for sharing, for creativity, for mutual care, for spiritual concern. Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another. — Love and Living, p. 27
I am speaking here about something very, very real. It is about the hidden mystery of the primacy of the heart in our true identity as human beings. Let me say here that by “heart” I do not mean the seat of human emotions in contrast to the mind as the seat of human thought. No, by heart I mean the center of our being where God comes to dwell with us and bring us the divine gifts of trust, hope, and love.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.*—Article 1, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Verse of the day
Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other, but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help.
– Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
Voice of the day
We need to be working together, because equality is not just a state; it’s an active relationship.
– Malcolm Foley, “The Church Doesn’t Talk Much About Greed. Malcolm Foley Says That’s Weird”
Prayer of the day
God, help us live in mutual support and interdependence, reflecting the active, relational equality you call us to embody.
Verse of the day
But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:31
Voice of the day
Tyranny and hate and despair never win, not for long and not forever and certainly not now, so I pray that you would be blessed with a stubborn hope that keeps believing and keeps enduring.
– Sarah Bessey, “12 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2025”
Prayer of the day
In the face of despair and injustice, fill us with a stubborn hope that clings to your promise of renewed strength, so we may rise, endure, and never grow weary in the work of love.
Verse of the day
Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.
– Hebrews 13:3
Voice of the day
Every human being is worth more than the worst thing they’ve ever done. All life has dignity, guilty life too.
– Helen Prejean
Prayer of the day
God of mercy and compassion, we lift up to You all those who are imprisoned — may they be seen not for their past mistakes but as beloved children made in your image, worthy of dignity, redemption, and hope.
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