A Prayer for Easter

Risen Lord

You are life,

You are new life,

You are fullness of life. 

Risen Lord

You are hope,

You are renewing hope,

You are our journey of hope.

Risen Lord

You are here,

You are here among us, 

You are here raising us up.

Risen Lord 

On this pilgrimage of life,

we rejoice in your resurrection 

for it reminds us hope is always here 

because you dwell among us.

May we be witnesses 

of your resurrection in all we do,

in the ways we build community,

in how we gather at table

and recognize you in the breaking of the bread.

May we journey with hope,

May we raise our voices with hope,

May we allow our hearts to be transformed 

by the hope which is your new life in us.

Amen. Alleluia! 

Photo Credits: Heino Eisner

Kelly Sikkema

A Prayer for Holy Week

 “When the hour came…then the criminal said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”    - Luke 22.14-23.56

Lord Jesus,

As we enter this sacred week with you

Remember us.

As we pay attention to your words

Remember us.

As we take note of your actions

Remember us. 

As we journey on the way

Remember us.

As we wave palms in praise

Remember us.

As we gather at table with you 

Remember us.

As we pray with you in the garden

Remember us. 

As we stand before the cross

Remember us.

As we see the stone across the tomb

Remember us. 

As we come with our fears

Remember us. 

As we sit in uncertainty 

Remember us.

As we rejoice in your resurrection 

Remember us 

as you come into your kingdom. 

Amen.

Photo Credit: Cristiano de Assunção

Lent: A Hope Marker Along the Highway

For my entire life I have traveled up and down Highway 48 East of Regina. It is a simple highway to drive; nothing complicated. There are a few curves, lots of straight-a-ways, the occasional dip, usually not too many potholes and plenty of beautiful farmland to see. This highway is part of my holy ground as it always leads me home. In leading me home it also has markers along the way which anchor and remind me hope lives here.

Like the burning bush Moses encountered which caused him to remove the sandals from his feet (Exodus 3.1-8), I too have had encounters of the living God along this highway. Whether it has been visiting with my Goddaughters and their families, or enjoying a visit to the family homesteads or connecting with family, I have removed my shoes many a time encountering God the great I AM. I have prayed in nearly every Catholic church on this highway, wept at funerals, rejoiced at weddings and delighted in baptisms. I have made pilgrimages to the Calvary Memorial Shrine Site at Candiac, to the cemeteries along this highway, and I have stood before many a nativity scene in front of churches and homes. These holy ground moments remind me God, the great I AM, is with us in all the moments of life. I have been guided home by streetlights, farm lights, the Candiac cross lights and the front lights of my parent’s home. Each time I make this pilgrimage of hope I am reminded God, the great I Am is gracious and abounding in steadfast love (Psalm 103).

No matter which season I am traveling Highway 48 there is always one marker I look for on the journey. It’s not a burning bush per se but always captures my attention. It’s not a fig tree needing tending too, but it has been left alone for one year more and this always makes me glad. When driving East on the 48 just past Kendal on a little bluff stands a lone tree. It stretches its branches to the west in an uneven manner. It’s not a very big tree but remains sturdy. Sometimes cattle are grazing around it, other times it seems to shudder in the cold Saskatchewan wind, but still it remains. I have the buds in spring and have seen years of full green leaves. It stands out against the harvest sky and is majestic when adorned by frost; it really is a tree for all seasons.

As a child when we were traveling West on the highway this tree was the beacon of hope indicating we would soon be at our Grandparents. When traveling East it was the reminder I was coming from the holy ground of time spent with one set of Grandparents and would soon be embraced by my other Grandparents.

I’ve been thinking about this lone prairie tree as we enter this Third Week of Lent. Both the burning bush encounter of Moses and the fig tree of the vineyard in the parable of Jesus (Luke 13.1-9) we hear this Lenten Sunday called it to mind. This tree has been a sign of hope for me my whole life and I bet it has for countless others who have passed by it; for my mom tells me it has been there for her whole life. I’m so grateful it has been left “alone for one more year” by the farmers of the field in which it stands. This tree speaks to me the message of hope which is the undertone of the parable shared by Jesus.

The gardener begging for one more year to tend the tree is the reminder of how God gives us time to grow, for conversion of heart, to mend relationships and to bear fruit. As we step further into Lent let us be attentive to the tending we need to do in our lives and in our relationships. You never know when a burning bush may appear. As we continue in this Jubilee Year let us be attentive to the beacons of hope along the highway of life. Let us be attentive to the holy ground on which we tread. Let us be brave enough to say again, “Here I am” as we pilgrimage onward.

 

A Prayer for Lent

 

If today you hear the voice of God,

harden not your hearts. – Psalm 95.8

 

 

Christ my Saviour,

In this season of Lent

guide my steps

from their destructive patterns

I masquerade as good,

from the words spoken

I masquerade as truth,

from the judgemental thoughts

I masquerade as protection,

from the little lies

I masquerade as healthy,

from the false images

I masquerade as who I am.

 

Guide my heart

and restore it.

Guide my living

and transform it.

Guide my all

and renew it,

so, when Easter dawns

I may be a new creation

filled with new life.

Amen.

 

 

Photo Credit: Lucas van Oort

A Prayer for Ephphatha – To Be Opened

Jesus said…

 

“Ephphatha, Be opened.”

 

Mark 7.31-37

 

Be opened my heart

to love like Jesus.

Be opened my eyes 

to see like Jesus. 

Be opened my ears 

to hear like Jesus. 

Be opened my mouth 

to speak like Jesus.

Be opened my hands

to serve like Jesus.

Be opened my life

to know Jesus is at work in me.

Be opened my life 

to trust Jesus is my all.

Be opened my life 

to be guided by faith hope and love. 

Be opened. Ephphatha.

My daily prayer.

Be opened.

Amen.

Photo Credit: Cyrus Gomez

A Prayer for Ordinary Time

God of the Journey,

You are with us in the rhythms of our days:

dishes to wash, beds to make, emails to send,

meals to cook, games to play, people to visit,

snow to shovel, deliveries to make, prayers to pray.

Draw our hearts to be attentive 

to where you are in these regular rhythms.

God of the Journey,

You are with us in the standout moments of our days:

baptisms, weddings, funerals, 

birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, 

engagements, promotions, retirements.

Draw our hearts to be attentive 

to where you are in these extraordinary rhythms.

God of the Journey,

You are with us in the journey all the days of our life

on a weekday, weekend, high day or a low day 

for you are our hope.

We are pilgrims with our compass set to you

draw our hearts to be attentive 

to where you are in this Ordinary Time.

Amen.

Photo Credit: Alexei Scutari

A Prayer for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Jesus,

Your baptism is always an invitation for us.

An invitation to see you in the every day of our living.

An invitation to profess you with our living.

An invitation to claim the dignity 

of being a beloved one of God in our living.

An invitation to the awareness of the presence of 

Your Father and your Spirit at work in our living.

An invitation to live out our baptismal call 

to be messengers of hope in our living.

An invitation to thankfulness and praise for you 

who are our way, our truth and our life.

May we be courageous enough to live from our belovedness.

Amen.

Photo Credit: Alex Shute