rejection

challenging the powers

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Christ Preaching, called La Petite Tombe, Rembrandt, via Wikimedia commons
 
 
Vulnerable God,
    you challenge the powers that rule this world
    through the needy, the compassionate,
    and those who are filled with longing.
 
Make us hunger and thirst to see right prevail,
    and single-minded in seeking peace;
    that we may see your face
    and be satisfied with you,
  through Jesus Christ.
 
Janet Morely British author, poet, and Christian feminist
 
___________________________
 
 
Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

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Help me to live your Gospel

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum
 
 
Lord, it is too late for you to be quiet,
    you have spoken too much;
    you have fought too much;
You were not sensible, you know, 
    you exaggerated, it was bound to happen.
You called the better people a breed of vipers;
You told them that their hearts were black sepulchers
    with fine exteriors;
You kissed the decaying lepers;
You spoke fearlessly with unacceptable strangers;
You ate with notorious sinners,
    and you said that the street-walkers would be the first in Paradise;
You got on well with the poor, the tramps, the crippled;
You belittled the religious regulations;
Your interpretations of the Law reduced it to one little commandment: 
    to love.
Now they are avenging themselves.
They have taken steps against you;
    they have approached the authorities and action wlll follow.
 
Lord, I know that if I try to live a little like you,
     I shall be condemned.
I am afraid.
They are already singling me out.
Some smile at me, others laugh, some are shocked, 
    and several of my friends are about to drop me.
I am afraid to stop,
I am afraid to listen to men’s wisdom.
It whispers: you must go forward little by little,
    everything can’t be taken literally,
    it’s better to come to terms with the adversary . . .
And yet, Lord, I know that you are right.
Help me to fight,
Help me to speak,
Help me to live your Gospel,
To the end,
To the folly of the Cross.
 
Michel Quoist,1918 – 1997, French Catholic priest and writer
Prayers of Life

_________________________
 
 
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 
    it remains only a single seed. 
    But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 
Anyone who loves their life will lose it, 
    while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. 
My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
 

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Prayer for Psalm 77

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
remember mercy by ₡ґǘșϯγ Ɗᶏ Ⱪᶅṏⱳդ via Flickr
 
 
Lord! Have you locked your mercies in a cage?
Did you wrap your compassion with forgetfulness?
Has your rejection of your people become like a volcanic mountain?
Has your mercy become as small as a speck of sand?
Is there not one single umbrella of mercy 
    that provides shelter at the noon of your rage?
 
Just a moment of your rejection is like an eternity of pain.
The streets of hell become my path in your anger.
Will you reject your people forever?
Has the date of your mercy expired?
 
I am a Canaanite woman who has a daughter possessed by demons (Mk 7:26).
I seek your mercy.
I am blind Bartimaeus begging for your compassion (Mk 10:47).
You showed mercy to your servant Lot (Gen 19:16)
    and to Epaphroditus when you healed him (Phil 2:27).
We too are your people!
Nurse us with your compassion and embrace us.
Don’t call us Lo-Ruhamah (Hos 1:6);
     instead, fill our lives with divine mercy.
 
I shall recall your works and wonders,
    and I shall remember you.
Will you forget us while we remember you?
We contemplate your works and hunger for your mercy.
Your compassion is better than life.
 
O Lord, Pharoah is wandering in your land!
The devil holds the neck of your daughters.
Loudspeakers are everywhere, rejecting your religion.
The body of Christ is blistered with divisions,
    and your people are busy amputating your body.
Where are the winds of heaven and the thunder of your voice?
Where is the arm of God?
Where are your wonders, acts of power, and fountains of mercy?
 
I cannot be convinced that you have forgotten your mercies,
    and so I wait for you.
Have mercy on me and my country.
Have mercy on us and guide your people.
Bring millions of believers to your church.
O Lord – Kyrie eleison. 
    Have mercy, O Lord!
 
Yohanna Katanacho, 1967 – , Palestinian Israeli evangelical theologian
 
____________________________
 
 
I cried out to God for help;
    I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
    at night I stretched out untiring hands,
    and I would not be comforted.

I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
    I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
You kept my eyes from closing;
    I was too troubled to speak.
I thought about the former days,
    the years of long ago;
I remembered my songs in the night.
    My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

“Will the Lord reject forever?
    Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
    Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

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