St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Sunday – Clergy, Staff, Wardens and Vestry and the Rector Search (click HERE to read the Rector Search prayer)
My apologies for missing a few days. One post disappeared into the vastness of cyber space and the others, well I just ran out of hours in the day.

What do you do when you are too busy to pray? Martin Luther reminded us that when we are too busy to pray, we should pray twice as long as usual. Amen to that. So I confess to have missed my structured prayer time for a couple of days. And “missed” is the opportune word, as I missed it when I missed it.

The St. Augustine’s Prayer Book includes this story in the morning prayer section. “The founder of the Order of the Holy Cross prepared this brief morning prayer to answer the complaint of a young person who insisted the morning rush offered no time to pray. In little more than twenty words, this prayer sums up our response to God in praise, in self-oblation, and in petition: 

I praise my God this day. I give myself to God this day. I ask God to help me this day.”

Praise, give, ask. It’s prayer, y’all. Have a blessed Sunday and I hope you are attending worship somewhere today. 

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Wednesday – Paul’s Place after school program and the St. Paul’s Day School

From Psalm 119, the Psalm for Evening Prayer tonight:

133Steady my footsteps in your word; *

Psalm 119, the longest of the 150 Psalms, focuses on the Word of God, the Law given by Moses. The Law was not just a set of commandments, it was considered much more than that, spirit filled, alive with God. 

So we often teach of the Bible, much more than a rule book or history book, the Word of God tells a story of God, of unconditional love, of redemption in Christ, of God using some of the worst characters you can imagine to bring God’s message of love to the world. It is alive and flowing and sacred.

So when we are unsure of our path, either afraid to venture out or too quick to choose our own way instead of waiting on the Lord, these words from verse 133 are a great reminder for us.

Steady my footsteps in your word.

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Tuesday – Seekers and other Young Adults, those in our community who are unchurched, our community and those in need, especially Family Promise and CROS ministries

We continue in the New Testament lessons in the Daily Office lectionary with the 21st chapter of Acts. I was struck yesterday and today of the power of Paul’s leave taking as he makes his way to Jerusalem, where he knows things will not go well. Yesterday he said goodbye to the people of Ephesus, where he had spent much time starting up and building up the church. Their parting was filled with weeping. Today we see Paul on his journey back to Jerusalem, making his way by sea and land he is now close to the city. Despite all the warnings and prophecies against it, Paul makes it clear to all who loved him that he must, for the sake of Christ, depart and go on to Jerusalem.

One of the hardest parts of doing interim ministry is the knowledge that your time is short and that you will be leaving at some point sooner than with most calls. As my time winds down (I have a few months yet) at St. Paul’s, these words reminded me of the goodbyes to come soon, and also of the love I have for the people here, and their great support of me and my ministry. Yet, as Saint Paul himself reminds us, we press on towards the goal, which is always primarily about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Great adventure awaits for us all!

St. Paul’s Cycle of Prayer – Monday – Children, youth, and family ministries of St. Paul’s and those who teach and work with our youth. Our music program and choirs.

(click Prayer Instructions for links to Morning or Evening Prayer for today)

True confession time! I have hoped this prayer blog would encourage others to say the Daily Office of either Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer (or both). These two offices have anchored the Book of Common Prayer since the beginning (1549).

I have always struggled to be a disciplined daily office person. This prayer blog has really helped me with that. And while I do resonate with the offices when done in corporate worship, I tend to get really bored with them when using them on a daily basis by myself. That is probably a horrible thing for a Priest to admit, but it is true for me.

So what I need is variety. I will continue to follow the Daily Office lectionary, reading the Psalms and lessons appointed each day. But I am going to mixup the framework around the lessons. Consequently this may mean I will write about different prayers than are in the Book of Common Prayer. I apologize for any confusion.

I have several “go-to” prayer resources and I will let you know which I am using as I alternate. Don’t worry (if you are still reading this far), I will return to the BCP often.

For now I am using the St. Augustine’s Prayer Book, a small but very rich resource prepared by Forward Movement on behalf of the Order of the Holy Cross. This prayer book is Anglo-Catholic in nature and the 2014 edition is an update to the original published by the Order beginning in 1947. Stay tuned for more reflections from this book and the daily readings.

Sunday – Clergy, Staff, Wardens and Vestry and the Rector Search (click HERE to read the Rector Search prayer)
Our Psalm appointed for Eucharist this morning (34) reminded us to bless the Lord at all times. And to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. This evening I received an email from a friend reflecting on my borther’s induction in th Hall of Fame and my first grandchild’s birth and 2nd one coming soon, saying “sure seems your life is full of blessings lately.” 

Amen. I am sitting at the beach after a bike ride and remembering those blessings indeed. 

Taste and see indeed