Morning Prayer Wednesday, 2 June 2021

Good morning, Cornerstone friends. It is June and we are enjoying some warm weather at last.
Everything is green including now all the altar frontals and colours in the parish churches, for we are in that long period referred to as Trinity.

To you, O Lord I lift my soul;
O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies triumph over me.
Let none who look to you be put to shame,
but let the treacherous be shamed and frustrated.

Make me to know you ways, O Lord,
and teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation,
for you I have hoped all the day long.
Remember, Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are for everlasting.
Remember not the sins of my youth
or my transgressions,
but think on me in your goodness, O Lord,
according to your steadfast love.

Gracious and upright is the Lord;
therefore shall he teach sinners in the way.
He will guide the humble in doing right
and teach his way to the lowly.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth
to those who keep his covenant and testimonies.

Psalm 25: 1–-9

Remember, Lord, your compassion and love.
Free us, God of mercy from all that keeps us from you;
relieve the misery of the anxious and the ashamed and fill us with the hope of peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. There were seven brothers; the first married and when he died, left no children; and the second married her and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise; none of the seven left children. Last of all the woman herself died. In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven have married her.’

Jesus said to them, ‘Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”? He is God not of the dead but of the living; you are quite wrong.’

Mark 12: 18 –27

The psalmist asks, ‘Make me to know you ways, O Lord, …. Lead me in your truth and teach me.’
That is what Jesus is doing in the gospel reading.
Our Lord was dealing with people who asked questions to show that they were right about things and others were wrong.
That is not how we learn or grow.
We have to ask questions and listen carefully to the answers and not be weighed down by our preconceptions or prejudices.
Let us pray for humility to learn and take on new things.

Let us pray for the church:
As we move further out of lockdown we all have to think carefully in our plans for resuming meeting together for worship, house groups
and for essential business meetings such as our Ecumenical Council and its committees.
What is going to be our mission to central Milton Keynes?
How do we respond to the changes in our society which offer great opportunities to some and seemingly insoluble problems for others?
Some people in privately owned rented accommodation have been unable to pay their rent
and have large arrears to pay and could be evicted from their homes.
If this happens then a new homeless problem is quite possible.
Will this impact upon our pastoral work daily in the Reception of our church?

O Lord, from whom all good things come; grant to us your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by your mercy perform the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

Let us pray for the world:
The parks and gardens are green,
but our politics and economic activity seem only to be making token gestures to dealing with the causes of global warming.
Let us pray that world leaders will be encouraged to make the hard decisions to tackle this issue together;
in the forthcoming G7 summit in Cornwall between 11th and 17th of this month
and the inter-government discussions from that form the UN COP26 in November in Glasgow.
Let us pray that we will all be prepared to accept the changes necessary to enable the world environment to renew itself
and be the green and beautiful creation that we all long for but find it so difficult to achieve.

I am using a translation of a native North American prayer.

Creator, open our hearts to peace and healing between all people.
Creator, open our hearts to provide and protect all children of the earth.
Creator, open our hearts to respect for the Earth and all the gifts of the Earth.
Creator, open our hearts to end exclusion, violence and fear among all.
Thank you for the gifts of this and every day.

That may not have Christian roots, but I can only end it with – Amen.

I, the fiery life of divine wisdom,
I, ignite the beauty of the plains,
I, sparkle in the waters,
I burn the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
With wisdom I order it rightly.
I, adorn all the earth,
I am the breeze that nurtures all things green
I am the rain coming from the dew that cause grasses to laugh with the joy of life.
I call forth tears, the aroma of holy work.
I am the yearning for good.

Hildegard von Bingen

Enjoy this green day.

Don Head