Category: Time to Pray

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.
If someone loves the world, the love for  the Father is not in them. 

Because all that is in the world-
the desires of the flesh,
the  desires of the eyes 
and pride of of life 

– is not from the Father, but is from the world. 

And the world is passing away with its desires,
but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

I write to you, little children, 
Your sins have been forgiven because of his name. 

I write to you, mature in the faith, 
You have known him *,  who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young in the faith, 
You have overcome the Evil One.

I wrote to you, little children
You have come to know the Father. 

I wrote to you, mature in the faith
You have known him *,  who is from the beginning.

I wrote you, young in the faith
You are strong
and the word of God dwells in you
and you have conquered the Evil One. 

—-

*the Son?

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

The one who loves their sister or brother dwells in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in them.  

The one who hates their brother or sister is in the darkness and  they walk in the darkness  and they do not know where they are going, because the darkness blinds their eyes.

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment for you,
but an old one which you have had from the start. 
(The ‘old’ commandment is the teaching which you have heard.)

Yet I am writing a new commandment to you:
because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining
[all] that is a truth – in him and in you.

The one who says that they are in the light and hates their brother or sister  is in the darkness up to now. 

The one who loves their sister or  brother dwells in the light
and there is no cause for stumbling in them.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commands. 

But the one who says ‘I know him’ and does not keep his commands is a liar
and the truth is not him. 

Whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is made perfect in them.
By this we know that we are in him. 

The one who says they dwell in him must walk just as that one [Jesus] walked.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

Peter turned around and saw the disciple, whom Jesus loved following, who reclined close to him at the meal and had said ‘Lord, who is your betrayer?’ 

Peter seeing this one said to Jesus ‘Lord, what about this man?’ 

Jesus said to him: ‘Suppose I wish him to stay until I com e, what is that to you? You, follow me!’

As as result, the word went out to the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say  to him that he might not die but ‘Suppose I wish him to stay until I come, what is that to you?’

This is the disciple who bears witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his witness is true. 

And there are many other things which Jesus did, if every one were written, I suppose that the world itself might not have room for the books that might be written.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)