All Saints 2012

We bless your holy name, O God, for all your servants who, having finished their course, now rest from their labors. Give us grace to follow the example of their steadfastness and faithfulness, to your honor and glory; through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Prayer for All Saints Day, 20th Century England

BLESSINGS

May the Spirit of Life move you from apathy to action, from observing to doing, from despair to hope. May the Spirit of life bless you with both the pain and the joy of change— the change the world needs, the change for which you pray, the change you are becoming through Jesus Christ.” - Sam Hamilton-Poore Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation

Our Tears

The risen Christ, who meets us in our tears, calls us to embody his presence in a deeply wounded world. He calls us always to follow him to those places where people are struggling and in need and to share in his ministry of wiping away their tears. One way to accomplish this task is to weep with those who weep. -Trevor Hudson Hope Beyond Your Tears

FRIENDS

“Friends are those rare people who ask who we are and then wait to hear an anwer.”

Fall

THE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS   Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; To be understood, as to understand; To be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.   ("The Prayer of St. Francis" was not actually written by St. Francis. In fact, the prayer is generally believed to be only about 100 years old, a creative and sincere prayer penned by an anonymous French writer. Over time this anonymously drafted prayer became linked with the spirit of the 13th-century friar whose continual striving to follow more closely the Gospel of Jesus Christ led to a renewal in the church at many levels.)