Monday

Monday

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your angry.

Ephesians 4:26

Monday Prayer

Try as I might, Lord, my anger still prevails.  Try as I might, Lord, my anger causes me to sin.  Blessed Redeemer, guard my mouth from saying angry words that can damage relationships.  Guard my mind from thinking angry thoughts that can make me bitter.  Place my eyes on the cross of Christ, and show me the way to forgiveness.  Relationships, though often so full of joy and happiness, can also be a heavy cross to carry.  Let your Son, Jesus Christ, calm my frustrations and heal my relationships with his powerful forgiveness. Let the sun never go down on my anger, O Lord.  Amen.

Monday Meditation

Jesus calls us to gratitude.  He calls us to recognize that gladness and sadness are never separate, that joy and sorrow really belong together, and that mourning and dancing are part of the same movement.  That is why Jesus calls us to be grateful for every moment that we have lived and to claim our unique journey as God’s way to mold our hearts to greater conformity with God’s own.  The cross is the main symbol of our faith, and it invites us to find hope where we see pain and to reaffirm the resurrection where we see death.  The call to be grateful is a call to trust that every moment of our life can be claimed as the way of the cross that leads us to new life.  Can we be grateful for everything that has happened in our life – not just the good things but for all that has brought us today?

-          Henri Nouwen

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Hymn #297
Words by Elizabeth C. Clephane/ Music by Frederick C. Maker/ Tune Name: ST. CHRISTOPHER

1. Beneath the cross of Jesus  I fain would take my stand,  the shadow of a mighty rock  within a weary land;  a home within the wilderness,  a rest upon the way,  from the burning of the noontide heat,  and the burden of the day.	2. Upon that cross of Jesus  mine eye at times can see  the very dying form of One  who suffered there for me;  and from my stricken heart with tears  two wonders I confess:  the wonders of redeeming love  and my unworthiness.
3. I take, O cross, thy shadow  for my abiding place;  I ask no other sunshine than  the sunshine of his face;  content to let the world go by,  to know no gain nor loss,  my sinful self my only shame,  my glory all the cross.

Sunday

Fourth Sunday of Lent

So they are no longer two but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together
let not man separate.

Matthew 19:6

Sunday Prayer

My God, divorce hurts.  Separating the one-flesh union causes great pain to a great number of people.  Certainly the husband and wife are hurt when a relationship dissolves.  Yet the pain of a broken marriage sends a shock wave through children and parents, family and friends, neighbors and acquaintances.  Lord, give me all that I need to carry the crosses of relationships.  Uphold me in my time of weakness.   Amen.

Sunday Meditation

Oh, if we could sit for just one half hour a day doing nothing except taking a simple word or phrase from the bible and holding it in our heart and mind.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  Say it three times.  We know it’s not true, because we want many things.  That is exactly why we’re so nervous.  But if we keep saying the truth, the real truth – “The Lord is my shepherd,, I shall not want” – and let that truth descend from our mind into our heart, gradually those words will be written on the walls of our inner holy place.  That becomes the space in which we can receive our colleagues and our work, our family and our friends, and the people we will meet during the day.

-          Henri Nouwen

Saturday

Saturday

Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us.

Hosea 6:1

Saturday Prayer

Good Shepherd, being a caretaker has drained me in many ways. When I want rest, my help is needed.  When I want a night off, my vigilance is required.  When I need care, there is no one around to care for me.  O Lord, the cross of health that I carry as a caretaker is draining.  Restore my soul.  Renew my heart.  Reinvigorate my ability to care for others.  You are the Good Shepherd ever looking after your flock.  Let me never be ashamed to say that you are my Good Shepherd.  Amen.

Saturday Meditation      

Jesus wanted his disciples then and now to understand that we are sent into the world just as he was sent into the world – to heal, to cure and to proclaim the good news.  Trust in that healing power.  Trust that if we are living as the beloved we will heal people whether or not we are aware of it.  But we have to be faithful to that call.  Healing happens often by leading people to gratitude, because the world is full of resentment.  What is resentment?  It is cold anger. I’m angry with him.  I’m angry at this situation.  This is not the way I want it.  We tend to divide our past into good things to remember with gratitude and painful things to accept or reject.  Once we accept this division, however, we quickly develop a mentality in which we hope to collect more good memories than bad memories, more things to be grateful for than things to be resentful about, more things to celebrate than to complain about.

-          Henri Nouwen

Friday

Friday

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

Friday Prayer

Changing my plans in an instant is not easy, Holy Lord.  When my health changes, my plans much change as well.  When the health of a loved one changes, our plans must change accordingly.  Lord, establish my steps and give me your Word as a lamp unto my feet.  Let me trust in you even when my plans change on account of health.  The path on which I carry this cross may change a hundred times over.  Yet the certainty of your lovingkindness, O God, never changes.  Amen.

Friday Meditation

Freedom comes when you know with your heart that you are loved.  If you could accept and believe that you are unconditionally loved and embraced, you could go all over the world and never be lonely.  This is a struggle.  But if you experience it you will know what Jesus meant when he said: “You will be leaving me alone, yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me…”

Freedom is the core of the spiritual life.  It comes from claiming in your heart that unconditional first love that allows you to love your neighbors freely and unpossessively.  Jesus shares this word of hope in our world full of violence – violence in our families, in our communities.  In our personal relationship, a moral life is not enough.  We must also live the mystical life, a life which is embraced by God who says, “I love you fully and unconditionally.”

-          Henri Nouwen

Thursday

Thursday

Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind.

Psalm 26:2

Thursday Prayer

Outwardly, I may look fine and perfectly healthy.  Inwardly, I am often full of worry and anxiety.  Lord, give me inner peace and free me from the tumult of my heart and mind.  You have created me and know me better than I know myself, O God.  The crosses of health that I carry weigh heavily on me and drive me to worry.  Precious Lord, enable me to place all my concern onto you, trusting that you have a plan for my life.  Amen.

Thursday Meditation

To be living reminds of God we must be concerned first of all with our own intimacy with God.  Once we have heard, seen, watched and touched the Word who is life, we cannot do other than be living reminders.  Once our lives are connected with His, we will speak about Him, sing His praise and proclaim His great deeds, not out of obligation but as a free, spontaneous response… Prayer, not in the sense of prayers, but in the sense of a prayerful life, a life lived in connection with Christ, should be our first and overriding concern.

-          Henri Nouwen

Wednesday

Wednesday

But take care and watch yourself closely, so as neither to forget the things your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind…

Deuteronomy 4:9

Wednesday Prayer

Sometimes, O Lord, it is much harder to see someone else suffer than it is to suffer myself.  I want so badly to take the pain away for my loved one.  I want so badly for comfort to be restored.  Heavenly Father, I know that it is not in my power to take pain away; you alone are the Great Physician of body and soul.  Comfort me as I take up the crosses of health for others.  Place your words of comfort in my mouth so that I can share them with others. Amen.

Wednesday Meditation

It is central to the biblical tradition that God’s love for his people should not be forgotten.  It should remain with us in the present.  When everything is dark, when we are surrounded by despairing voices, when we do not see any exits, then we can find salvation in a remembered love, a love which is not simply a wistful recollection of a bygone past but a living force which sustains us in the present.  Through memory, love transcends the limits of time and offers hope at any moment of our lives.

-          Henri Nouwen

Tuesday

Tuesday

I delight to do your will, O my God.

Psalm 40:8

Tuesday Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know that growing old is a true gift from you.  Yet the gift of old age does come with struggles of its own – aches and pains, pills and prescriptions, inabilities and insecurities.  Lord, as I take up the crosses of my health, be with me.  Every breath I take is a gift from you.  Every day I live is an opportunity to sing your praises.  Let me carry the cross of growing older with patient joy and godly wisdom.   Amen.

Tuesday Meditation

You get out and do what the gospel is saying.  Jean Vanier is a prophet for me.  He did something that I could relate to – working with mentally handicapped people.  There are some people who go to prison, who develop a whole nonviolent strategy around that.  There are people who live very simple lives of prayer.  Some live in monasteries, some as hermits, some in families.  There are doctors and lawyers who live as witnesses.  There are people who use their wealth to bring about things that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.  We have to get in touch with what is our unique vocation, to be a sign of hope in the world. 

-          Henri Nouwen

Monday

Monday

Wash and be clean

2 Kings 5:13

Monday Prayer

Health is the silence of the organs, O Lord.  Be with me when my organs cry out in pain and illness overtakes me.  Sustain me as I carry the crosses of health.  When it is your desire, Christ Jesus, remove my illnesses and restore me to full health.  When it is your desire, Good Shepherd, prolong my illnesses.  Though I may not understand why you choose not to restore me to health, let me trust in your loving plan for my days.  Amen.

Monday Meditation

Oh, Lord, you kneel before me; you hold my naked feet in your hands, and you look up at me and smile.  Within me I feel that protest arising, “No, Lord, you shall never wash my feet.”  It is as if I were resisting the love you offer me.  I want to say, “You don’t really know me, my dark feelings, my pride, my lust, my greed.  I may speak the right words, but my words, but my heart is so far from you.  You must have someone else in mind, not me.”  But you look at me with utter tenderness, saying, “I want you to be with me. I want you to have a full share in my life.  I want you to belong to me as much as I belong to my Father.  I want to wash you completely clean so that you and I can be one and so that you can do to theirs what I have done to you.”  I have to let go of all my fears, distrust, doubts and anguish and simply let you wash me clean and make me your friend who you love with a love that has no bounds.

-          Henri Nouwen

Sunday

Third Sunday of Lent

All the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12:3

Sunday Prayer

Lord, you have abundantly blessed me in body and soul, heart and mind.  More than there are stars in the sky; you have provided me with countless blessings to preserve my life.  Nevertheless, my soul still has thirsts, and my body is still prone to faintness.  O God, as I carry the crosses of my health, protect me from ever being overwhelmed with want.  Let me earnestly seek you for all my needs both body and soul.  You alone have formed me in my mother’s womb and you alone keep me going.  Amen.

Sunday Meditation

When we are hurt we want to know why, and we spend time with psychologist, and it is good, and counselors and psychiatrists to explore a little bit why we got hurt, where we got hurt.  Sometimes we discover that we were abused, or we discover that we were not wanted.  Or we discover that we were manipulated or exploited, and we get mad or get angry.  It’s good to know where it comes from.  But you can only look at that reality in a forgiving way if you know that before any human hand touched you, you were already written in the palms of God’s hands.  That it was the God of the first love who molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb.  When you realize that you are unlimitedly loved, then you can say, “Oh, my father, my mother, my brother, my sister, my church, my community didn’t give me all I wanted but I can forgive them.”

-          Henri Nouwen

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
Hymn 110

Text: Martin Luther Trans. by Frederick H. Hedge

1.      A mighty fortress is our God,

        a bulwark never failing;

        our helper he amid the flood

        of mortal ills prevaling. 

        For still our ancient foe

        doth seek to work us woe;

        his craft and power are great,

        and armed with cruel hate,

        on earth is not his equal.

2.      Did we in our own strength confide,

        our striving would be losing,

        were not the right man on our side,

        the man of God's own choosing.

        Dost ask who that may be? 

        Christ Jesus, it is he;

        Lord Sabaoth, his name,

        from age to age the same,

        and he must win the battle.

3.      And though this world, with devils filled,

        should threaten to undo us,

        we will not fear, for God hath willed

        his truth to triumph through us. 

        The Prince of Darkness grim,

        we tremble not for him;

        his rage we can endure,

        for lo, his doom is sure;

        one little word shall fell him.

4.      That word above all earthly powers,

        no thanks to them, abideth;

        the Spirit and the gifts are ours,

        thru him who with us sideth. 

        Let goods and kindred go,

        this mortal life also;

        the body they may kill;

        God's truth abideth still;

        his kingdom is forever.

Saturday

Saturday

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession?

Micah 7:18

Saturday Prayer

My community is not always as safe as I would like it to be, Gracious God.  There are times when I am filled with concern about my neighborhood.  Lord, calm my fears and ease my concern.  Take the many crosses that I carry for my community and use them as a way to increase the well-being of my neighbors.  Breathe new life into this place, spreading your protection over my community and using me to promote justice.   Amen.

Saturday Meditation

What basically Jesus is saying is that all of what I have said so far is a big lie.  That we are not what we have nor what other people say about us.  We are not the product of the world in which we live.  That is not who we are.  So the gospel is a radical statement that our identity, who we are as people, is not given to us by the outer world.  Who are we?  We are children of God.  We are not what happens here on this line, but we belong to God, the children of God.  God says I am who I am.  You are who you are as a child of God.

-          Henri Nouwen

Friday

Friday

And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner:  I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:10

Friday Prayer

More than I deserve, O God, you have given me so many blessings.  Though I may not have as much as some, Lord, I have far more than many others.  Keep me ever mindful of those living near me in need of my assistance.  Loving my neighbor as myself is a cross that you have given me to carry for my community.  Give me people to help and opportunities for self-sacrifice.  You care for the poor and the sojourner as your own.  O Lord, fill me with your same heart for those in need.  Amen.

Friday Meditation

Money and power go together.  There is also a real relationship between power and a sense of self-worth.  Do we ever use money to control people or events?  In other words, do we use our money to make things happen the way we want them to happen?  Do we ever use money simply to give others the freedom to do what they want to do? How do we feel when people ask us for money?  If any of these questions make us uncomfortable, it may be because talking about money is one of the greatest taboos around.

-          Henri Nouwen

Thursday

Thursday

The heart is devious above all else… who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9

Thursday Prayer

Governing a community is certainly no easy task, dear Lord.  Unlike you, O King of king, the rulers of my government all too often lack wisdom and judgment.  I need more patience and understanding as I carry the crosses of my community.  In your wisdom, you have purposefully placed me here in this place. Lord, keep me from angrily deriding my elected officials.  Rather, form in me the habit of praying for my rulers and offering up the gifts you have given me for the benefit of the whole community. Amen.

Thursday Meditation

When our identity comes more from what we do than who we are, then we have allowed ourselves, intellectually, emotionally and sometimes even spiritually, to be defined by the many “goods” or the “bads” that our world sets before us.  Praise, success and the attention of many friends make us feel happy, self-confident and comfortable.  Criticism, setbacks and lack of attention makes us feel sad, self-doubting and lonely.  When our work plans work out, we are all smiles; when they fail, we look downcast … I vividly remember giving a lecture for a large audience.  Everyone liked it except one man who told me that I had said a lot of nonsense.  When I went home, I felt depressed!  A hundred successes are nullified by a single setback.  One word of criticism cancels out a hundred of praises.

-          Henri Nouwen

Wednesday

Wednesday

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever …

2 Samuel 7:16

Wednesday Prayer

This land upon which I live has been entrusted to my care, Lord of Creation.  My actions, whether positive or negative, leave an indelible mark on the land and have a lasting impact on my neighbors.  Let me not shirk any of my responsibilities.  Even when it is inconvenient, O Lord, remind me of the crosses I am to carry for my community.  Show me then, Lord, how to live in your creation without ruining it for any of my neighbors. Amen.

Wednesday Meditation

Community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: “I’m so lonely; you’re so lonely. Please stay awhile!”  Grabbing too easily becomes grasping, and grasping may quickly turn into suffocating closeness.  No, community is solitude greeting solitude: “I am the beloved; you are the beloved.  Together we can build a home.”  Sometimes we are close to each other, and that’s wonderful.  Sometimes we don’t feel much love, and that’s hard.  But we can be faithful.  We can build a home together and create space for God and for the children of God.

-          Henri Nouwen

Tuesday

Tuesday

Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in Heaven.

Matthew 23:9

Tuesday Prayer

Lord, I did not choose my neighbors.  Rather, the people among whom you have placed me are a blessing from you.  I must confess that I often see my neighbors as less of a blessing and more of a bother.  You, however, have seen fit to place me among these people, so let me love them as your children. As I take up the crosses of community, keep me from bearing false witness against my neighbors.  Place upon my heart a desire to be constantly committed to the well-being of the people in my community.   Amen.

Tuesday Meditation

Jesus speaks about his Father as the source of all his words and actions.  When he withdraws to be with the Father… All through his life Jesus considers his relationship with the Father as the center, beginning and end of his ministry.  All he says and does he says and does in the name of the Father.  He comes from the Father and returns to the Father, and it is in his Father’s house that he wants to prepare a place for us.

-          Henri Nouwen

Monday

Psalm 118:19-29

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Open for me the gates of the righteous;
    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous may enter.
²¹ I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

²² The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
²³ the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

²⁵ Lord, save us!
    Lord, grant us success!

²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    From the house of the Lord we bless you.^[a]
27 The Lord is God,
    and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
    up^[b] to the horns of the altar.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise you;
    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

Monday

Give and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together,
running over, will be put into your lap.

Luke 6:38

Monday Prayer

Worshiping you, Christ Jesus, in the presence of others is a foretaste of the great feast that is to come on the Last Day.  Though I love to gather with others to worship you, O Lord, our worshiping community is sometimes marred by infighting and petty divisions.  Fill me with your forgiveness as I take up the crosses of community.  Let me be a peacemaker in my congregation so that your love can be shared by all.   Amen.

Monday Meditation

Our lives are full of losses, failures and disappointments – disappointments of dreams, failures of hope, loss of friends, family or health.  Over time, there are more and more things we can be negative about.  Resentment makes us cling to our failures or disappointments and complain about the losses of our life.  There is always a lurking danger that we will respond to life’s incredible pains with resentment.  Resentment gives us a hardened heart, and we become resentful people.  Gratitude in its deepest sense means to live life as a gift to be received gratefully.  But gratitude as the gospel speaks about it embraces all of life: the good and the bad, the joyful and the painful, the holy and the not so holy.

-          Henri Nouwen

Second Sunday of Lent

Second Sunday of Lent

All the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Genesis 12:3

Sunday Prayer

O Christ, why is your creation so full of grumbling?  Though I am frustrated by constant complaining, I, too, am part of the problem.  Life together in community is seldom free from squabbling.  As I carry the cross of community, help me patiently to attend to the grumbling of others.  Help me to hold my tongue when I am tempted to add a negative world.  Open my mouth to speak when a loving rebuke is necessary.  Life together with brothers and sisters in faith is truly a gift from you worthy of my praise!   Amen.

Sunday Meditation

In every human heart there lives a deep hunger for communion.  This hunger manifest itself in many ways:  in a desire to be held, in a need to be close to someone, in a search for intimacy, friendship and companionship, in the hope of being listened to and understood, in a craving for union of body, mind and heart.  The hunger for communion is never far away from us.  Whenever it is satisfied, we experience joy and peace. Whenever it is frustrated, we experience pain and, often, inner anguish.  We want to belong, to be connected, to feel at home, to be safe, and we can fulfill none of those desires on our own.  Our whole being yearns for another mind; our hearts needs another heart.  Our deep hunger for communion is a precious gift from God and a true driving force of our spiritual journey.

-          Henri Nouwen

Saturday

Saturday

Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Isaiah 41:4

Saturday Prayer

To much pressure, O Lord, is placed upon me.  My family sometimes expects so much of me that I am not certain I can fully meet their expectations.  Remind me daily that I have not been left alone to meet the needs of my family; you care for your children through me.  You, Heavenly Father, are the first and last to meet all the needs of your people.  Let me not place undue pressure on myself, but instead trust fully in your unending care and sustenance.   Amen.

Saturday Meditation

Some people’s lives are destroyed often because of what people say about them.  Often our lives look like a zigzag on that line of our little life.  If we are above the line when we have what we need and people speak well about us, we are quite excited.  That gives me a sense of goodness.  But as soon as we start losing things or people start talking negatively about us, we quickly get depressed… When you go back and forth from excitement to depression, whether you have or have not, you are very much a victim of the world.  You are very much the victim of your environment.  What I want you to sense, just for a moment, is that if you believe that you are what you have or that you are what other people say about you, the world around you has a lot of power, it can make you feel bad or make you feel good.

-          Henri Nouwen

Friday

Friday

First be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5:24

Friday Prayer

Wayward as I am, kind Father, you always welcome me home with open arms.  I constantly chase after my own desires while neglecting your will for my life.  Forgive me for my waywardness, O God.  I know that I need to forgive wayward members of my family.  Yet welcoming them with open arms is hard for me to do.  Teach me, Lord, to forgive as I carry the crosses of family.  Let me forgive the members of my family as you have forgiven me.  With joy and thanksgiving, let me welcome back members of my family who were lost but are now found.  Amen.

Friday Meditation

The name of love in this world is forgiveness.  We always have to forgive each other for not being God, for not giving what we most desire.  My heart yearns to be loved and every time I meet another human being, he or she disappoints me, eventually somewhere, somehow – maybe not the first week, maybe not the first month, but eventually.  And do not say, “Oh my goodness you are no good anyhow, get out of my life.”  The question is you realize a limited refraction of the unlimited love of God.  And the fact that you are so limited calls me to love God always more and to deepen my communion to the one who offers it to me so that I can love you better, even though you’re not God.

-          Henri Nouwen

Thursday

Thursday

Do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

Matthew 7:12

Thursday Prayer

My family loves to laugh, O God, almost as much as they love to shout.  Almighty God, fill my home with laughter and calm our shouting when our anger swells.  Uphold me as I carry this cross of family.  Let me be a source of godly peace in my household as I share your forgiveness with my family.  You are slow to anger and abounding in love.  Loving Father, fill me with your Spirit so that I can take up the crosses of family.    Amen.

Thursday Meditation

Caring as God’s beloved children is making the effort to be present to, listen to and affectionately embrace a weaker brother or sister who may have been frightened by harsh comments, examined by hostile hands or ignored by deaf ears.  We do this even when we can do nothing to change the situation.  This is the crux of our challenge.  Whether or not we have chosen caregiving as our profession, we do profess that caring is first of all about presence to a beloved brother or sister who at this moment feels powerless.  Right here, we accept in ourselves that we are not first of all someone who takes the pain away, but rather someone who is willing to share it.

-          Henri Nouwen

Wednesday

Wednesday

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:12

Wednesday Prayer

Lord, you know the trials that my family has experienced.  I have been tested in so many ways as I have taken up the crosses of family.  Heavenly Father, I know that more struggles are sure to come in the days ahead.  Use the trials in my life as a way to produce a steadfast faith in me.  Let me count the crosses I carry as joy.  Let me be there for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. Amen.

Wednesday Meditation

The spiritual life is a life that is guided by God’s Spirit, the same Spirit that guided the life of Jesus.  So the question is how to be in touch with Spirit, hear the voice of the Spirit and allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit.  This is not so easy in a world where there are so many things going on and so many voices calling for our attention.  Can we create some space for God where we can hear, feel and experience the Spirit of God, and where it becomes possible for us to respond?  Is there space in our lives where the Spirit of God has a chance of getting our attention?

-          Henri Nouwen