Wisdom from Ronnie!
A woman in a coma feels her spirit gently slipping away from her body. She rises to what she knows is heaven and the presence of God. As she arrives a Voice asks her a single question: “Who are you?” She answers, “I am the wife of the mayor.” The Voice answers: “I did not ask your marital status. Who are you?”
Verse of the day
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:2 (NIV)
Voice of the day
Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other’s welfare, social justice can never be attained. – Helen Keller
Prayer of the day
Lord, empower us to have great care for one another, in the same way that you care for us.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
A full and busy Lord’s Day
Worship and supporting Mission Co-Workers
A time of Fellowship and relaxation
Lifting in prayer a very dear friend
Blessings, Peace, and Rest for him I pray
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
A very powerful reflection from Jake Owensby!
The doctors had diagnosed my friend Earl with pancreatic cancer. They gave him just a few months, maybe just a few weeks, to live. So I drove from St. Louis to Alabama to spend some time with him and to say a final goodbye. We sat around talking for most of a day. Finally, it was time for me to begin the trek back home...
Read more on jakeowensby.com/2019/08/24/claiming-your-freedom/
Original Painting “Mom” by Jordan Casteel from her show at the Denver Art Museum.
First Reading – Exodus 17:1-7
Second Reading – John 4:5-42
Sermon – Living Water for All: The Samaritan Woman at the Well’s Story
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
An incredibly long day of driving
A difficult meeting
Yet also an opportunity to share love
To be a support and encouragement
No matter the darkness
No matter the difficulty
Your light shines through, Lord
Even as we walk through the Valley of the Shadows
Your presence is with us
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a day of preparation and reflection
It has been a time to remember
To remember some dark days in this nation
To remember the outcast, the prisoners, the oppressed
To remember and seek forgiveness
Forgiveness for my part in the injustice
To seek God’s strength and be a voice for the voiceless
In the midst of the darkness
Lord, let your light shine forth
Lord, make us instruments of your peace
Now, as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem et in Terra
Grant Us Peace on Earth
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
I have been thinking a lot about Jesus as I walk with the women in his Genealogy. Far from perfect, but all redeemed and made whole by the love of God. Todd Agnew’s song hits hard… and true… who do I, as a Christ-follower want to be like? The Empire? NO! Like the humble and suffering Servant Jesus? YES! Oh God, give me the strength to be… like Jesus…
My Jesus — Music and Lyrics by Todd Agnew
Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Then why do you look so much like the world
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?
Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand
Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?
Who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus were here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet
Holy
Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him
Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?
Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on his feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale ST. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear if I cry out loud
I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!
Ooooohhhhh
Not a poster child for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I’m not sure what that means to be like
You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like You Jesus.
I want to be like my Jesus.
To see a video — My Jesus – Todd Agnew
Mt 22: 34-40
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
What does it mean to love?
If you had to pick out a single, easy-to-memorize mission statement for Christians, drawing from today’s Gospel would be a good bet: Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself. The only problem is that the word “love” is used so much and in so many different contexts it has lost almost all of its meaning. (For instance, I love God, I love my family, I love the New York Yankees, I love pizza…)
What might Jesus mean when he says love? He doesn’t spell it out explicitly in this passage from Matthew, but when “the Great Commandment” appears in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus follows it up with the Parable of the Good Samaritan. From that famous story, we can reverse-engineer a definition of what love means to Jesus: concrete actions of compassion, reaching out to those who are suffering.
—Mike Jordan Laskey is the Senior Communications Director of the Jesuit Conference in Washington DC and an alum of Contemplative Leaders in Action in Philadelphia.
Prayer
Loving God, help us to remember what we are called to do, in the words of Thomas Merton: “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can.”
—Mike Jordan Laskey, Thomas Merton quote
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
A wonderful morning of fellowship and sharing
A common bond established
Thank you Lord, for bringing us together
An afternoon and early evening of driving
Another time of fellowship
Thank you Lord, for this new beginning at Presbytery
An evening to relax and simply Be Still with my sweetheart
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
