Morning Prayer Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Good morning, Cornerstone friends,
on this spring day of clouds and gentle breezes, birdsong and blossom.

Canticle ‘Bless the Lord’ from The Song of Three 29–30 & 34–35
(Just four verses from a longer prayer, with a fifth added in the Common Worship prayer book to make it relevant to us Christians):

Blessed are you, the God of our ancestors, worthy to be praised and exalted for ever.
Blessed is your holy and glorious name, worthy to be praised and exalted for ever.

Blessed are you in your holy and glorious temple, worthy to be praised and exalted for ever.
Blessed are you in the heights of heaven, worthy to be praised and exalted for ever.

Bless the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, worthy to be praised and exalted for ever.

Common Worship, Daily Prayer

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’

They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free.”’

Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place for you in my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.’

John 8: 31–38

The lectionary has given us two less familiar readings, so we need to think a bit more this morning.
In place of a psalm we have part of an ancient Jewish song
attributed to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three Jewish exiles in Babylon
who were thrown into a ‘fiery furnace’ to die, but miraculously came out unhurt.
This is part of the prayer that they offered on their release.
It is included in quite a number of ancient manuscripts in chapter 22 of Daniel,
but was not included in the agreed version of scriptures
which was set some three hundred years after our Lord’s earthly ministry.

St John has quite a number of events and teachings which are in the other gospels,
but it does not follow the pattern common in the other three gospels.
In reading it one has to remember that John starts with;

In the beginning was the Word … and the Word was God.

‘Word’ is a translation of the Greek logos,
which can also stand for ‘idea’ or ‘thought’ or ‘first principle’.
Read it again for Word with a capital letter.
Similarly, when Father has a capital letter and not, and Son has a capital letter and not.
It may then be clearer.

We can all think quite often that we have got something right,
when we are just taking the easy route or doing the usual thing.
Lent gives us opportunity to reappraise how we approach our spiritual life.
Let us continue doing that, so that, ‘we know the truth and the truth will set us free.’

Let us pray for the church.
Today we remember Oscar Romero, Bishop of San Salvador, who was martyred in 1980.
El Salvador was a very divided country with extreme right- and left-wing factions
physically fighting one another for power.
Bishop Oscar spoke out for the poor and for a more tolerant society, which angered both sides.
He had a need to speak the truth and was not free if he kept quiet
but was also aware that this could put him in danger.
He was murdered in church forty-two years ago, a witness for truth.

Let us pray for our own fellowship,
that we may seek the truth in undertaking our mission in Central Milton Keynes
and embarking on our three-year programme as we move away from the current lockdown.

Lord, you are the light of the minds who know you,
the life of the souls who love you
and the strength of the souls who serve you.
Help us to know you that we may truly love you,
so to love you that we may truly serve you,
whose service is perfect freedom through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Prayer of St Augustine of Hippo

We pray for the world and its people, most of whom do not have the advantages we enjoy.
The covid pandemic is still strong in Europe, North and South America and in India.
It is still increasing in most of Africa, but appears to be under control in many parts of Asia.
There ae floods in New South Wales
and a raging fire the home of a million refugees from Myanmar in Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh.
People are on the move in many places because of the threat of war
or to move away from areas of poverty and starvation,
and are facing barriers and other difficulty.

We are still using more of earth’s resources than it can supply
and continue to operate its ecosystems with regularity into the future.
Yet we feel so inadequate to deal with all these issues.

O God, the Well of Life, we thank you for the bounteous things you have given us,
make us bright with wisdom,
free us, righteous God, from all oppression
and bring justice to the nations,
that all the world may know you as King of kings and Lord of lords
now and for ever.

Amen

May we feel our lives blossoming today and find at its end our hearts full of birdsong in thanks.

Don Head