Daily Prayers Wednesday, 5 October 2022
Good morning, Cornerstone friends
It is October already. How time flies.
Yesterday we remembered St Francis of Assisi, so I have in mind our care for the environment.
Pope Francis has reminded all Christians of our need to care for the earth in his encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’.
Last Sunday at a Congregational Meeting we reviewed our own commitment to the earth’s environment.
O praise the Lord, all you nations;
praise him, all you peoples.
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Alleluia
Psalm 117
Gracious God, we praise you for your faithfulness and pray that every nation
may find your blessing in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
He [Jesus] was praying in a certain place and after he had finished, one of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.’
He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come [a few ancient authorities add ‘your will be done on earth as in heaven’]
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’
Luke 11: 1–4
Two short readings this morning, but there is a big message in each. The short Psalm 117 is very appropriate for our time.
The version of the Lord’s Prayer in this chapter of St Luke’s gospel is very short too. The longest sentence is the one about forgiveness.
The words in this record are more explicit than the prayer we normally use;
‘for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us’.
Professor Gwen Adshead, a leading psycho-therapist, treats people serving sentences in Broadmoor for very serious crimes. In almost all cases the crimes had their roots in the life of the criminal in his formative years. (Broadmoor only had male ‘patients’). Firstly she helps them deal with the way in which their earlier lives have moulded their outlook then she makes her patients face that they have done a wicked thing, they must not forget that in order to get over their other trauma. She said, ‘If you forget, you never learn to improve and will keep making the same mistake over and over again. It you forget you can never truly get rid of the pain from earlier events that caused the problem. Being forgiven is not forgetting what you have done but vowing not to repeat the wrong again. It is the forgiver who has to forget the wrong. True forgiveness can be hard for both the sinner and the victim but the reward is a healthy growing relationship and peace of mind for both
May we, by God’s grace, avoid hurting others and when we do, to be ready to accept forgiveness and may we be gracious to truly forgive those who have wronged us and so through that become better Christians and better friends to all those we encounter.
May Almighty God have mercy on us and forgive us our sins
and bring us to everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial
For the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen
There are still many features in the current affairs of the world which are undesirable, unjust and create problems which have to be tackled on an individual, local, national and universal level.
The overriding issue is our preservation of Earth’s environment.
(The following prayer is from the Church of England website and I left copies at church for anyone to take home as I think it is a prayer worth using regularly.)
God Of Creation and Lord of Life,
You entrusted us to care for our environment, but in too many parts of the world we have failed.
Help us to realise how fragile and unstable our surroundings are because we are not looking after your creation.
We need to be truer stewards and to understand how the most insignificant of flowers and the tiniest insects each creature and each individual person are all part of a wondrous whole.
Amen
Heavenly Father, take us and bless us, send us that our lips may touched with the gentleness of your peace: that our hearts burn with passion and integrity; that our lives declare good news of your love for the whole of creation, in the name of Christ.
Amen
Donn Head
