So I say this,
and affirm in the Lord,
you are no longer to ‘walk’
as the gentiles ‘walk’
in the futility of their minds,
having been darkened in their understanding,
having been separated from the life of God
because of the ignorance
in them
because of the hardness of their hearts
who
having became insensitive
have given themselves to debauchery
for the practice of every impurity
with a hunger for more.

God be in head and in my understanding;
God be in my eyes and in my looking;
God be in my mouth and in my speaking;
God be in my heart and in my thinking;
God be at my end and at my departing.

And he gave:
apostles
prophets
evangelists
shepherds and teachers
for the equipping of the holy ones
for the work of service
for the building up of the body of Christ,
until all of us attain
the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God
a mature person
the measure which is the stature of the fulness of Christ
so that we are no longer infants
tossed here and there by waves
or blown about by every wind
that is teaching
by human cunning
by craftiness
according to deceitful schemes,
but by speaking the truth
in love
we might grow in love
into him
(in) all things
who is the head,
Christ,
from whom all the body is being joined together
and being held together
by every supporting ligament
-each one working its part-
is making the growth of the body
for the building up of itself in love.

O Lord
Open our eyes to your presence
Open our minds to your grace
Open our lips to your praises
Open our hearts to your love
Open our lives to your healing
And be found among us.
Amen.

To each of us has been given
grace
according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Therefore it/he says:
‘Having gone up
to the high place
he led captured captives;
(and) he gave gifts to people.’

So what is ‘He went up…’
unless he went down also
to the lowest (parts), (that is) the earth?
The one who went down is
the one who went up
far above all the heavens,
so that he might fill all things.

Psalm 68 18

You ascended on high,
    leading a host of captives in your train
    and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

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.

(There is)
one body
and one Spirit,
just as you also have been called
in one hope (produced by) your calling
one Lord,
one faith
one baptism
one God
and Father of all,
who is over all
and through all
and in all.

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.

So…

I urge you all,
I, the prisoner in the Lord
to ‘walk’ worthily
of the calling
with which you have been called,
with all humility
and gentleness,
with patience,
(by) bearing with one another
in love,
(by) making every effort
to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.

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

George Herbert

So to the powerful one
who can do infinitely more things
than we might ask or understand
according to the power
at work in us,
to him
be glory in the Church
and in Christ Jesus
to all the generations of the ages of the ages,
amen.

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

For this reason
I bow my knee before the Father,
from whom every family in the heavens and on the earth
is named,
that he might give to you all
according to his rich glory
to be strong with power
through his Spirit
in the inner person,
that Christ might live
through faith
in your hearts
by love
firmly rooted
and well established
that you may be fully able to understand
with all the holy ones
what is the width,
and length
and height
and depth
and so to know
the surpassing-knowledge-love of Christ Jesus
and that you might be filled up
to all the fullness of God.

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

To me,
the least of the least of all the holy ones
has been given the grace
to announce-the-gospel to the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ
and to enlighten everyone
about the plan of the mystery
having been hidden from the ages
in God
who created all things,
so that the multi-faceted wisdom of God
might now be made known
to the rulers and powers
in the heavenly places
through the church
according to the purpose of the ages
which he carried out
in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
in whom we have confidence and
access
in boldness
through his faith
therefore I ask you
not to become discouraged
because of my tribulations
for you all,
which are your glory .

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

(the mystery)

… that is the Gentiles have become
co-heirs with
one body with
and sharing-with
in the promise
in Christ Jesus
by means of the gospel,

of which
I did became
a servant
according to the gift
which is the grace from God
that was given to me
according to the working of his power

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

For this reason…
I, Paul,
the prisoner of Christ,
on behalf of you
Gentiles,
surely
you have heard of the stewardship
of the grace from God
given to me
for you
that
by means of revelation
the mystery has been made known to me
as I have written before in brief,
in accordance with which
-reading this –
you are able to know
my understanding
of the mystery of Christ
which was not made known in other generations
to (humans)
-as now it has been revealed
to his holy saints and prophets
by the Spirit.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)