Prayers for The Religion Forum (Ecumenical)

Various and self | some time back | various

[Salvation]

On this Labor Day:

 

Prayer of the Christian Farmer and Gardener

For all our work on our lawns, gardens and fields, we need to thank God and ask for his blessings.

O God, Source and Giver of all things, Who does manifest Thy infinite majesty, power and goodness in the earth about us, we give You honor and glory.

For the sun and the rain, for the manifold fruits of our fields, for the increase of our herds and flocks, we thank You. For the enrichment of our souls with divine grace, we are grateful.

Supreme Lord of the harvest, graciously accept us and the fruits of our toil, in union with Christ, Your Son, as atonement for our sins, for the growth of Your Church, for peace and charity in our homes, for salvation to all. Amen.

[xzins]

Amen to the prayer.

I saved the picture to file....excellent.

[Salvation]

I love the picture. Would enjoy having it framed and in my house! *Grew up on a farm in Nebraska: Got that figured out now? LOL!

[Mad Dawg]

A MEN!

[Running On Empty]

I awaken this morning to this religion forum and I believe that many prayers are needed.

To acknowledge how deeply self-love is ingrained in us is a profoundly humbling experience—humbling and healthy. It is hard to oppose ourselves. It shows us how deeply and totally we need God, since every failure of ours is a chance for His success. Only with His help can we strive toward self-detachment, and any degree of it that we notice in ourselves is due to His merciful love.

[xzins]

Breastplate of Saint Patrick

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
By power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan River;
His death on cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the Cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour;
The service of the Seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the Prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
salvation is of Christ the Lord.

[Mad Dawg]

ROE quoth:

To acknowledge how deeply self-love is ingrained in us is a profoundly humbling experience—humbling and healthy. It is hard to oppose ourselves.

I think this is one aspect of the Pauline (and Dominical) talk about dying in Christ to be resurrected in Christ. Dying rarely and birth never are things we choose to do or can control. It is all in God's gift, all in His hands.

Let us praise Him for the generosity of his rebukes!

[Running On Empty]

Thanks so much, xzins for giving the Lorica to us today.

My Celtic ancestors thank you, too. :-)

[Running On Empty]

Like MD, I belong to a community as a lay person; MD is Dominican, and I’m Carmelite.

Over the door to our retreat house are these words:

Life is short
and will soon be past
Only what’s done for Christ
will last.

I only wish that I could keep these words operative more often in my daily life.

I only wish that I was more focused on this reality-—the Sacrament of the Moment.

Here are the words of a Vietnamese bishop who had endured a long and solitary captivity under the Viet Cong before he was released and found refuge in the USA:

“How does one achieve this intensity of love of God in the present moment? I simply think that I must live each moment as if it was the last one of my life. To leave aside everything accidental and to concentrate only on the essential. Each word, each gesture, each decision is the most beautiful of my life; I keep my love, my smile for everyone. I’m afraid of wasting my life by living it without meaning. Every minute I want to tell you: Jesus, I love You; my life is ever a “new and eternal covenant” with you. Every minute I want to sing with your Church: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.”

[Quix]

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

THX THX.

[GOPJ]

Dying rarely and birth never are things we choose to do or can control. It is all in God's gift...

You're right - our only choice is to raise our hands in prayer and cry out 'Halleluhjah'... God's will be done.

[maryz]

Thanks to all of you for a worthy start to the day!

[Tax-chick]

Deep thoughts! (I went kayaking and didn’t think much of anything ;-).

[TASMANIANRED]

Amen.

Intense prayer

[boatbums]

Live each day as if it were your last. One day you will be right!

[Running On Empty]

“If before I felt pleased with myself, things changed. Before, I could see evil and try to change it. Later, I would see other things-—some good, some bad-—and realize it can’t all be changed. So, bit by bit, this helps you to become little and humble, patient and tolerant of the straw in the eyes of others, for the rafter in your own eyes keeps you occupied. In the end you even learn to put up with yourself in the relentless light of the Divine Presence, and you learn to entrust yourself totally to Divine Mercy.”

St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Carmelite nun, martyred in the ovens of Auschwitz

[Mad Dawg]

Sorry, bubbas and sissies.

I’m weary and I hope to have, have to have, some energy soon because we’re starting our almost 9 month long enquirer’s class (Catholics call it RCIA) tonight.

It would be interesting to know the average age of this group and the “outliers.” Our DRE is young and full of bobbaunce and vigor. I like working with him.

But I am patient. Or maybe lazy? But, well, the seed won’t grow any better if I dig up the earth every morning to see how it’s coming.

Maybe some are distressed to think that I am “making Catholics.” Let me beg you to imagine instead that the team and I are really trying to talk about the Love God has shown in Jesus and the astonishing victory of that Love.

It does not lie within my power to open hearts. I can really offer only my own, rather half-hearted, response to it, how it seems to me, what Jesus means to me. But all the heavy lifting is done by the Spirit — in me when I teach and in them as they learn.

So, may I, may we all, have the grace to get out of God’s way and let Him work.

[Quix]

Thanks for your update.

May The Lord love through you more than ever.

[betty boop]

Oh, soooooooooo beautiful, dear brother in Christ!

Seek truth and beauty together; you will never find them apart. — F. M. Cornford

THANK YOU!!!

[Mad Dawg]

Thanks, Bro.

Interesting evening, made a little more so because I saw a couple sitting together and I happen to know he’s saving for a ring!

We give all the enquirers Bibles (in the pretty terrible NAB version) and catechisms. I think not a few were kind of surprised to be given Bibles and told there would be homework of reading in them.

There’s a family, very active in our parish, about 6 boys and one girl. Let’s say their name is Donelly. Two years ago a (lovely and terrifyingly smart) high school senior girl came to the classes and was received at Easter. She also started keeping company with one of the Donelly boys, and a month ago they got engaged.

Last Easter a guy was received and he’d been keeping company with the Donelly girl since about October of the year before. We all think, “any minute now ...”

So we’ve gone to the pastor and told him that the expectation in the community now is that RCIA is based on bribes: Join the Church, you might get a Donelly. And there are no more Donelly girls. We need another devout intelligent family with beautiful daughters or our success rate may plummet!

This whole thing is more complicated than the average person understands ... No wonder we’re against birth control, huh?

You gotta think these things through ...

Anyway, from 18 year olds to 70 year olds. Ph.D’s and laborers, a young woman from Lima, Peru! Several Asians, one Hispanic. No blacks this year, but the year is young.

The beauty, to me, is, again, not ‘making Catholics’ but people who somehow found in themselves a hunger to know more about Jesus. Some went to churches, some ‘tried’ several denominations. Others really have kind of slept through their lives so far. But something stirred them to “go higher up and further in.”

The glorious work of the Holy Spirit, who suddenly turns a song on the radio or an ache in the knee or a bee visiting a flower into a gentle summons which is not resisted!

They come from the east and from the west to worship the King of Kings!