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God of the present moment,
God Who in Jesus stills the storm
and soothes the frantic heart;
bring peace and courage to all those facing the unknown.
Give them the knowledge that You will make them equal
to whatever lies ahead.
Bring them courage to endure what cannot be avoided,
and wisdom and stamina to complete the challenges before them
for it is in Your grace that they face these challenges.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen
My Dad went into the hospital on Saturday due to heart valve problems. He has been degenerating 
for a while, now things have gotten critical. The doctors finished the angiogram finished this morning, and Dad will be needing his aortic valve replaced. The surgeons have warned us, this will be a very critical surgery, due to his extreme need and general weakness. The surgery is at 7:30 am, Feb 19 in Springfield, MO. I would appreciate prayers for him.
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who during Your brief life on earth went about doing good to all men and women, be merciful to my father in this his hour of special need.
O Divine Healer, Your tender heart was ever moved at the sight of pain and affliction. I beg of you, if it be your holy will, to help him regain his strength. Send forth healing to all who suffer, as well, whether in mind or body. Grant to each of us that peace of mind which You alone can give.
Sanctify, O Lord, those whom You have called to the study and practice of the arts of healing, and to the prevention of disease and pain. Strengthen them by Your life-giving Spirit, that by their ministries they may sustain my Dad.
O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to Your servant the help of Your power, that this illness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lent is a good time to remember, and to confess our sins. Consider what you want to confess to God, and open your heart to Him.
Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.
Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to You and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved You with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.
We have been deaf to Your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved Your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.
We confess to You, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to You, Lord.
Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to You, Lord.
Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
For our waste and pollution of Your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.
Restore us, good Lord, and let Your anger depart from us; Favorably hear us, for Your mercy is great. Accomplish in us the work of Your salvation, That we may show forth Your glory in the world. By the cross and passion of Your Son our Lord,Bring us with all Your saints to the joy of His resurrection.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
Long ago, there was a man called Valentine, who through his devotion to the idea of love and the Sacrament of Marriage, taught us a great deal about the relationship between Christ and His Church.
St. Valentine appears to have been a martyr from before 312, and his death is commemorated
on the 14th of February. While it is believed he was martyred on that
date, little is officially recorded about him. (A Valentine, priest of
Rome, and a Valentine, bishop of Ternia, are both commemorated on 14
February, and now generally assumed to be the same person.)
He seems to have been buried on the Flaminian Way; and about 350 a church was built over this tomb, and later a catacomb was constructed underneath, containing the remains of many Martyrs. This church, with its cemetery, was the first to greet the eyes of pilgrims coming to Rome to visit the tombs of the ancient heroes of the Faith, and therefore St. Valentine's fame grew, and spread through the world.
The Emperor of the time, named Claudius was having problems recruiting men to serve in his armies, because the men selfishly wanted to stay home with their wives and children. Angry that his men were more loyal to their wives than to himself, Claudius decided to greatly restrict marriage!
Couples who were in love searched for someone who would help them get married, even in secret. Valentine was a priest who would perform wedding ceremonies for these desperate young lovers. When a young couple came to him, he secretly united them in marriage in front of God's sacred altar. Father Valentine quickly became the friend of lovers in every district of Rome.
When Claudius heard what Valentine was doing he ordered him thrown into jail. It appears that Valentine was dragged from the altar where a young couple stood, ready to be married, and taken off to jail.
One of the main traditions that surround Valentine is the one concerning his jailer's daughter, Augustine. She was so kind to Valentine during his brutal imprisonment, that Valentine sent a ‘Valentine’s Card’ (a short note) with a grateful "thank you” message for all that she had done.
Many asked the Emperor Claudius to release Valentine but Claudius refused to do so. As a punishment for supporting marriage, Valentine was beaten to death with clubs and then beheaded. Valentine laid down his life for others because he passionately believed in the sanctity of love and marriage. His devoted friends buried him on the Flaminian Way. The date of his tragic murder was February 14th AD 270.
For this reason the day has been looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as the occasion for writing love letters and sending cards.
*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.
Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of Your Love in the heart of Your holy martyr Valentine: Grant to us, Your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Ever notice that the Tempter only tempts us with things that appear on the surface to be good, even highly desirable? Think of how much Jesus could have done for people wearing an earthly crown. Then think of how much would have been lost....
Almighty God, Whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as You know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find You mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
From the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, which I have been doing since last October.
Humility lies in the acceptance of Jesus Christ as the fullness of what it means to be human. To be humble is to live as close to the truth as possible: that I am created in the likeness of Jesus, that I am meant to live according to the pattern of His paschal mystery, and that my whole fulfillment is found in being near to Jesus as He draws me to Himself.
Does anyone consider humility to part of their Christian journey?
Today is Ash Wednesday, and Fr. Jake has inspired me to share a portion of our Presiding Bishop's Lenten Message:
This Lent could be an opportunity to learn new ways of praying, or what the apostles teach, or what Jesus says about money. It could also be a time to take on a new prayer discipline -- maybe practicing seeing the image of God in every person on the street, or being grateful for the hidden blessings of the parts of creation that challenge us (gray days, viruses, mosquitoes -- I'm still working on mosquitoes!). We might practice compassion for the coworker who drives us crazy (and perhaps seek help in learning more effective ways to relate).
The ancient tradition of fasting is about self-discipline in what we eat and drink, and in today's world it is also about judicious consumption of the world's goods -- not just what we buy at the mall, but how we use water, how we leave the air around us, how we deal with "garbage," and the size of our carbon footprint. It is a recognition that how we use the blessings of creation has a vast relationship to how our neighbors can also enjoy those blessings.
Giving alms means caring for those in need. The word comes from the same root as eleison, as in Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy), and it really means compassion. How do we approach and respond to the people around us and far away who are "crying in the wilderness"? The work of Lent is about cultivating a compassionate heart that will shape all our encounters in the coming year and years. Sunday schools often take on a specific alms aim during Lent, like filling a penny jar for Heifer Project, or serving lunch at a homeless feeding center. Almsgiving has traditionally meant acting compassionately with one's treasure, but it is just as appropriate to think about how we use our time and talent mercifully.
So then, there it is, how will I follow Jesus, as He spends forty days in the wilderness? How will you, my readers? What spiritual practices will you pick up this Lent, what distractions will you shed?
May the ashes of this Wednesday will be to all of us a sign of our mortality and penitence, and also a reminder that only by His gracious Gift that everlasting Life is promised anew; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.
Remember, human, that you are dust, and to dust you will return
--Genesis 3:19
A lot of people know today as Mardi Gras, "Pancake Day", or "Fat Tuesday". Who can not love a holiday called "Fat Tuesday"? :)
Today is the day before Ash Wednesday, and I want to point out that it is also called "Shrove Tuesday". This is the final day of Carnival, the Fast of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday.
For many centuries people went to confession and were "shriven" of their sins, and then gathered all the fat (oil) in the house to use before the Fast of Lent descended. Thus began the party atmosphere and the tradition of pancakes, using the oil. They had no oil in their foods for the next 40 days.
I was talking to a friend at my Parish, and she pointed out that Lent was one season that modern commercialism has not totally debased. How would the multi-colored Sunday Advertisements be centered around the theme of penitence and contrition and self-examination in the light of Christ. I don't think that would be very easy, so we, as humans focus only on the wild parties of Mardi Gras, forgetting this is also a day of Confession and preparation.
Our modern life isn't interrupted by the Sacred enough, today enjoy the parties and pancakes but remember the Sacred, remember that under the Mardi Gras mask, we still need an examined life.
On this Transfiguration Sunday, we remember and celebrate the radical change in appearance of Our Lord Jesus Christ, while in the presence of Peter, James, and John, on a high mountain. The Transfiguration revealed Christ's glory to His disciples, in shining splendor of Uncreated Light. For a moment the veil is drawn aside, and men still on earth are permitted a glimpse of the heavenly reality, the glory of the Eternal Triune God.
The
Transfiguration of Christ is recorded in the first three Gospels
(Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9: 2-9; Luke 9: 28-36). The fourth does not
contain an account of the event, but John, being one of the three
witnesses, is probably referring specifically to it in 1:14. The
Apostle Peter also recalls his (as well as James’ and John’s) presence
with the Lord on Mt. Tabor: in 2 Peter 1:16-18.
Often in the Scriptures we see images of the Light of God, the energies emanating from the Triune Being. This Light is not part of our creation. It is Uncreated, just like God is Uncreated. It comes from God and it existed before the Universe was created. Moses saw it on Mt. Sinai, and this is the Light that floods the City of God in Rev. 22.
In the Transfiguration, we along with the disciples present see the glory of the Kingdom of God present in majesty in the Person of Christ. They see that in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. They see this before the crucifixion so that in the resurrection they might know Who it is; Who has suffered for them, and what it is that this One, Who is God, has prepared for those who love Him.
When we pray for those who no longer live in this world, we ask that God's "perpetual Light would shine upon them." May that Light, Uncreated since before the world began, shine on us also.
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