Visitation #2

God makes the woman of a motherless house the

 joyful mother 

of children.

Psalm 113:8

When the angel revealed his message to the Virgin Mary he gave her a sign to win her trust. He told of of the motherhood of an old and barren woman to show her that God is able to do what he wills... and Mary sets out for the hill country...

                                            St Ambrose, Bishop  of Milan (373-397)

The Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth

Brothers and sisters, partners in a  heavenly calling... we are God's house 

if we hold firm the confidence and 

the pride that 

belong to hope. 

Hebrews 3:1,6

Memorial Day

Behold and tend 

this vine, preserve 

what your 

right hand 

has planted.  

Psalm 80:14

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sing to the Lord a new song, 

sing to the Lord, all the whole earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his Name, Proclaim the good news of his       salvation from day to day.  Psalm 96:1-2

Saturday Evening Prayer

though 
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me   Psalm 23 

Saturday

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace... 

             so that you may abound in hope 
   by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Friday

Let us then persue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 

Romans 14:19

Evening Prayer Thursday

Do not be afraid. 

Only believe 

               

                                         Luke 8:50

Thursday

you are my hope, O Lord, God... 

I have been sustained

by you ever since I was born, 

from my mother's womb you have been my strength. 

Psalm 71:5,6 

Wednesday noon

 I call to you with heaviness in my heart; set me upon the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2

The Venerable Bede

In God’s time will the righteous flourish, 

there shall be abundance of peace

 til the moon shall be 

no more.

                                                 Psalm 72:7

Tuesday

For God alone 

my soul 

in silence waits,

from him comes my salvation. 

For God alone 

my soul 

in silence waits,

truly, my hope 

is in him. 

He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold, so that I shall not be shaken.

Psalm 62: 1, 6, 7

Monday EP

You make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy. Psalm 65: 8

Monday morning

Whenever I
am afraid 

I will put 
my trust 

in you.

In God, 

whose word 
I praise, in 
God I trust, and will not be afraid 

                                             Psalm 56:3,4 

Sunday at Evenng Prayer

Happy are he people whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on the pilgrim’s way. Grant that we, who have this day given thanks for Jesus resurrection, may praise you in that city of which he is the light... Psalm 84: 4 and Collect 
for SUnday at Evening Prayer 

The Fifth Sunday of Easter

The 

Lord 

sits 

enthroned 

as 

king 

for 

evermore, 

hallelujah.

Easter antiphon on Psalm 29

Saturday

“Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would hasten to escape from the stormy wind and tempest!”              Psalm 55:7,9

Friday Evening Prayer Third Step reminder

Jesus remember me when you come

into your kingdom, hallelujah. 

Easter antiphon: Psalm 51 

Friday - we even have sun!

          The Lord put a new song in my mouth, 
                   a song of praise to our God; 
               many shall see and stand in awe, 
      and put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3

Thursday

The Lord, 

the God of gods

has spoken, 

he has called 

the earth 

from the rising 

of the sun 

to it setting. 

Psalm 50:1

Wednesday

You are good and you bring forth good.  

The earth, O Lord, is full of your love. Let your loving-kindness be my comfort.          Psalm 119:68. 64, 76

Tuesday at Evening Prayer

We have 

waited 

in silence 

on your 

loving-kindness, 

O God, 

in the midst 

of your temple. 

Psalm 48:8

Tuesday

From him and through him and to him are all things ... in him all things hold together. For in him the fulness of God 
was pleased to dwell. 


Easter antiphon 
on the Benedictus, es 
and Colossians 1:17. 19

Monday May 16th

May you be made  strong with all 

the strength of God’s glorious power

Colossians 1:14

Happy 91st birthday Dad!

            

                                                            2009 Twain Harte

Evening Prayer 4 Easter

God has delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his Son, hallelujah.  

Easter Antiphon on Psalm 114

The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Let whoever thirsts take the water of life without price, hallelujah. 

Easter 

antiphon: 

Psalm 63

Saturday

W

e

e

p

i

n

g

  may spend the night, 

  but joy comes in the morning.   Psalm 30:6

JUST the other day I was out "dead heading" day lilies out back and I remembered Mom saying to me once while she was here, while she was out dead heading daisies "Louisa! Why don't you dead head these?" and I was so annoyed wit her. Gordon had been quadriplegic for more than a decade and things were not good - read incredibly hard, whatever was going on, and I "heard" her saying  that I was not measuring up or doing enough.  Then just the other day while I was outside as the nice warm sun was breaking through the fog and warming my back, it struck me that Maybe she was saying "Louisa, if you came out in the sunshine for a few minutes and just deadheaded flowers it would give you a beak, it would expand your heart and horizons."  Only, she couldn't say it and I couldn't hear it. I could only hear criticism and she could only hear rejection. 

The other-daughter relationship is just incredibly difficult and painful on a multitude of levels.  But it's obviously never too late - Mom had been gone nearly 3 years and yet I finally heard her voice and I finally knew what kind of care she had for me at that moment. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning. 

Friday

                                                          

Search 

for the Lord 

and his 

strength, 

continually 

seek his face. 

Psalm 105:4

Wednesday

in 

you, 

O 

Lord,

have 

I 

fixed 

my 

hope

Psalm 38:15

“we are to concentrate our full attention upon, or rather, within the words....” from The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallsitos Ware. The words themselves are so important and I have never read anything that begins to address or express that before so it was wonderful to read this. Even though he was talking about "turning away from images" in apophatic prayer and the words he was speaking of are the Jesus Prayer it still applies beautifully. Dwell not upon but within the words themselves. And this finally leads me to be able to express what is so wonderful about much of what I have read about the Orthodox Way.... it is written not ABOUT God but somehow from the inside and it is very appealing. 

Tuesday

Lord, 

I love the house 

in which 

you dwell 

and the place where your 

glory abides, 

hallelujah. 

Easter antiphon on Psalm 26

Gregory of Nazianzus c 330- 389. One of the Cappadocian Fathers, he "loved God, the art of letters and the human race - in that order."

The
paths

of the 
Lord 

are 
love
and
faithfulness. 

Easter Antiphon on Psalm 25

The Third Sunday of Easter

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the first and the last, 

the bright and morning star, alleluia.

Saturday evening

I love the Lord  because he has heard the voice 

of my 

supplication. because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him. Psalm 116:1

Saturday

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, The Name of  God of Jacob  defend you, send you help and strengthen you     

                                       Psalm 20:1,2  

Friday, my 36th anniversary of sobriety

You have shown me the path
of life;
in your

presence 

there is 

fullness of joy  

Based on Psalm 16:11a

A pre-1989
birthday
celebration

Then and now

Thursday morning

He 

rescued 

me 

because

 he 

delighted

 in me. 

Easter Antiphon on Psalm 18
"Hell is a point not in space but in the soul. It is a place where God is not. (And yet God is everywhere!) If Christ truly "descended into hell" that means that he descended into the depths of the absence of God.  Totally, unreservedly, he identifies himself with all our anguish and alienation. He assumed it into himself, and by assuming it, he healed it. There was no other way he could heal it except by making it his own." 
                          From The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware 
                                          "What s unsassumed is unhealed." 

Wednesday

Lord, open 

our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.  

And so has begun Morning Prayer in monasteries and parish churches, on airplanes and cruise ships, in homes and backyards and in front of computers, alone and in physical community  with one another, in every part of the globe,  for centuries.... "As o'er each continent and island, the dawn leads on another day, the voice of prayer is never silent, nor dies the strain of praise away." (Hymn #24)

Tuesday Evening Prayer

Be of good cheer, 

I have overcome

 the world, 

hallelujah. 

Easter antiphon: 

Psalm 11

St Philip and St James, transferred from May 1 because of Easter Week

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; 

early in the morning 

I make my appeal and watch for you. 

                 I make my appeal and watch

The Feast of St Mark, transferred from April 25 because of Easter week

Deliverance 

belongs to 

the Lord, 

hallelujah. 

Easter antiphon on Psalm 3

        As I sat with this verse I was struck by the choice of words: it's not "comes from" but "belongs to." Deliverance is the utter and sole possession of God and hard won at that as hinted by the wounds and empty tomb...

Second Sunday of Easter, Vespers

Do not let your hearts be troubled 

    Believe in God, believe also in me. 

The Second Sunday of Easter

Do 

not 

doubt 

but 

believe. 

John 20:27

The third step of AA is ”Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” Like the folks in the Gospel story today,  the community has had an experience of God’s saving power. Thomas, who was not there the first time Jesus appeared after his resurrection, is now present (underlining again the importance of suiting up and showing up.) Being there, he has the experience himself, after  which, the Lord says: "Do not doubt but believe.”  Although the decision is not made in a vacuum, nevertheless a decision must be made and on it rests “the success of the whole rest of the AA program.” It is the “triumphal arch to which we walk to freedom. “