Ministry

A Morning Meditation

A Morning Meditation: Taken from A Heart Prayer by Joyce Rupp


In these times of uncertainty and stress, I have found great peace in ritual.  As defined by Wikipedia, “a ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community.”  Be it meditation, daily prayer, yoga or even just walking, repetition of any sort can help bring order to the unknown. 

I have long followed the writings of women who dedicate their lives to justice and order and one such woman is Joyce Rupp, (see below).

This week, I would like to share with you a morning ritual, based on Scripture and prayer, which I have found particularly calming.  There is a verse for each day of the week, however, you may choose any or all of the verses as they speak to you.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

1. Jer 29:11-13

For surely I know the plans I have in mind for you, says God, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then, when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says God…

     O God, we seek you with all our heart. The longing for you is planted
     deep within our hearts. Hear our cry for you. Help us to welcome you
     in all of life.  Amen


2. Ps 112:7-8

They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in God.
Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid.

     We place our trust in you, Loving Companion, for you are here
     in the most difficult of times. We praise and thank you for the gift
     of your compassionate love, which encourages and strengthens us. Amen


3. Philomen 1:7

I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you…

     Thank you, Heart of Love, for those people who have come into
     our lives and refreshed us, for all those people who have given us
     new hope on our journey, especially in our weary moments. Amen


4. Ez 11:9

I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh….

     Forgive us, Merciful One, for those times when our hearts were
     hard and unwilling to forgive or to offer understanding. Forgive
     us for our impatience with our own growth or with that of others. Amen


5. Mt 6:21

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

     Come into those corners of our hearts where we still have not
     discovered the treasure of you, God. Purify us of all the stuff
     that distracts us and fools us and gets us off course from our
     inner journey with you. Amen


6. Dt 6:5 (also, Mk 12:30)

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…

     Teach us what it means to love you with all our heart. Guide and
     direct us to make good decisions each day so that we will grow
     ever more fully in love with you, God. Amen


7. Jer24:7

I will give them a heart to know that I am their God…for they shall return to me with
their whole heart.

      How wonderful you are, God of love, to continually draw us into
     your embrace. You yearn for us to know you more fully. You call
     us to return to you with the fullness of our love. Receive our prayer
     this day which we offer to you with trust and with a deep desire to be
     more one with you. Amen


May these words be a source of light to start the day.

In peace

Pastor Beryl, DLM


Taken from: Out of the Ordinary (Ave Maria Press) 

Sister Joyce Rupp, O.S.M., is a Roman Catholic author and speaker. She is the co-director of The Institute of Compassionate Presence, a member of the Servite Order, and a volunteer for Hospice. Joyce has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, a Master of Arts degree in Transpersonal Psychology, and a Master of Religious Education degree. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa

Blog: Easter Three

This Sunday, the third of Easter, we will hear two stories of call.  One in Acts 9:1-6 (7-20) and the second in John 21: 1-19.

Although the main characters are so very different in their living, both have said yes.  Saul, now Paul, believing that in spite of the harm and chaos he has caused in the persecution of Christians, Jesus is calling him to new life. To redemption and resurrection.

Peter, always a little confused, says yes even in the depth of his despair of denying Jesus three times before the cock crowed. Jesus never gave up on him.

Redemption, resurrection – on-going and freely offered to each and every one of us, again and again.

One of my favorite poets, Joyce Rupp, offered beautiful words of hope and gratitude for a life which also knew moments of regret and despair.  I share them hereunder:

This prayer is taken from Little Pieces of Light

O God,
as I look back at my life
I see many little pieces of light.
They have given me hope and comfort
in my bleak and weary times.
I thank you for the radiance
of a dark sky full of stars,
and for the faithful light of dawn
that follows every turn of darkness.
I thank you for loved ones and strangers
whose inner beacons of light
warmed and welcomed my pain.
I thank you for your presence in my depths,
protecting, guiding, reassuring, loving.
I thank you for all those life-surprises
that sparked a bit of hope in my ashes.
And, yes, I thank you for my darkness
(the unwanted companion I shun and avoid)
because this pushy intruder comes with truth
and reveals my hidden treasures.

In spite of ourselves, in spite of our failings and our moments of mis-guidance, God never ceases to offer that promise of Resurrection – new and abundant life. 

All we have to do is say YES!

I pray that you will embrace the grace offered in the on-going invitation to live life as a people of the Resurrection.

Pastor Beryl DLM

  • Sister Joyce Rupp, O.S.M., is a Roman Catholic author and speaker. She is the co-director of The Institute of Compassionate Presence, a member of the Servite Order, and a volunteer for Hospice.

 

Minister's Easter Message, 2022

Luke 24:1-8 - The Message
Looking for the Living One in a Cemetery

24 1-3 At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.

4-8 They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.

As a child, I loved to spend time in a small cemetery in Earl’s Ville, NY, just over the border crossing at Hardman.

Now, some might have thought it was a strange thing for a child to do; loll about among old tomb stones, moss covered and long forgotten.  But, for me, it was a place of great peace and wonder, not a place of death. 

Sitting under the pine trees, the air was filled with the chatter of chipmunks as they argued amongst themselves, scampering up and down the trees.  The constant buzzing of bees, so busy in the overgrown wild flowers filled me with the urge to go and smell what they were smelling.  If there was a breeze that day, I tried hard to decipher the secret, whispered messages the pines shared with one another.  And there was a constant background drone of unseen insects, going about their daily lives in spite of my uninvited presence.

In a place of death and decay, there was life in abundance!  And that is what Easter is all about.

Resurrection – new and abundant life!  Resurrection each and every day in so many ways!  The cycle of life, death and rebirth! That is the Easter Message.

In these still uncertain days, on yet another Easter on the edges of a pandemic, I wish each and every one of you Happy Easter for he is risen, he is truly risen.

In peace

Pastor Beryl, DLM

 

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