Therefore
having thrown off
all evil and
all deceit1
and hypocrisies
and envies and
all ‘running down’
as newborn babies
long for the spiritual, pure2, milk
so that by it
you might grow
toward salvation-
if you have tasted that the Lord is kind3.
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 if you call on the one
who judges impartially
according to each person’s work,
as Father
conduct yourselves
in fear
for the time of your exile,
for you know that
not with transitory things
(even) silver and gold,
you have been ransomed
from your worthless conduct
handed down from your ancestors,
but by the precious blood –
as from a lamb,
without blemish
and without defect
– Christ’s,
(him) having been foreknown
– before the foundation of the world
having been made known
– in these last times,
for your sake,
who
because of him,
are believing in God
who raised him from the dead ones,
and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope
are in God.
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.
Why do the nations rebel?
Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?
2 The kings of the earth form a united front;
the rulers collaborate
against the Lord and his anointed king.
3 They say, “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us.
Let’s free ourselves from their ropes.”
4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust;
the Lord taunts them.
5 Then he angrily speaks to them
and terrifies them in his rage, saying,
6 “I myself have installed my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 The king says, “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me:
‘You are my son. This very day I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
9 You will break them with an iron scepter;
you will smash them like a potter’s jar.’”
10 So now, you kings, do what is wise;
you rulers of the earth, submit to correction.
11 Serve the Lord in fear.
Repent in terror.
12 Give sincere homage.
Otherwise he will be angry,
and you will die because of your behaviour,
when his anger quickly ignites.
How blessed are all who take shelter in him!
Take from us,
O God, all pride and vanity,
all boasting and self-assertion,
and give us the true courage that shows itself in gentleness,
the true wisdom that shows itself in simplicity,
and the true power that shows itself in modesty.
Charles Kingsley
…being submissive to one another
in the fear of Christ:
the wives to their husbands
as to the Lord,
because a husband
(is) the head of (his) wife
as
Christ is also the head of the Church,
he is the saviour of the Body
but as the church submits to Christ
so wives also to husbands
(with reference) to all things.
Husbands,
love (your) wives
as also Christ loved the church
and handed over himself for her,
so that he might make her holy
by the washing with water
by the word
so that he might present the church glorious
to himself
not having a spot or wrinkle or anything similar
but is holy and without blemish
In the same way husbands must love their wives
as their own bodies
He who loves his wife, loves himself.
For nobody ever hates his own body
but feeds and takes care of it.
so also Christ and the Church.
because we are members of his body.
Because of this a man
leaves his mother and father
and is united with his wife
and the two will be one flesh.
This mystery is great.
I am speaking about Christ and the Church.
But each one of you too:
let each of you love his wife as himself
And let the wife respect (her) husband.
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
For he himself is our peace,
who made both (groups) one (group)
and
broke down the dividing wall,
that is the ‘fence’;
in his flesh
having abolished the hostility
the law,
that is the commandments
(consisting) in decrees
so that
he might create
(from) the two (groups)
in himself
one new human
so making peace
and to reconcile
them both
into one body
to God
through the cross
thereby killing the enmity.
And he came
and preached peace to you – who are far away
and peace to those who are near,
for through him
we both have access
by one Spirit
to the Father.
(unknown)
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.
…in my prayers,)
(I pray) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the glorious Father,
might give
to you
(the) Spirit of wisdom
and revelation
in knowledge of him
(since) the eyes of your hearts have been enlightened
s o that you might know
what is the hope of his calling
what is the richness of his glorious inheritance
among the holy ones
and what is the surpassing great power
toward us who believe
according to the working of his mighty strength…
Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.
George Herbert
Therefore having enough boldness
in Christ
to command you to do the right thing,
because of love,
I would rather beseech you,
– such as I am, Paul, an old man
and now a prisoner for Christ Jesus-
I beseech you concerning my child,
whom I have begotten during (my) imprisonment:
Onesimus, (Useful)
who formerly was useless to you,
but now is useful to you and me,
whom I have sent back to you,
and he is my very heart.
whom I wanted to keep with me,
so that he might serve me,
in my imprisonment for the Gospel,
in your place.
For
I wanted to do nothing,
without your consent
so that your good (deed) might not be from compulsion
but from free will.
For perhaps he was separated from you, for this reason, for a while –
that you might have him back – for good!
No longer as a slave,
but more than a slave –
a beloved brother,
-especially to me,
– and how much more to you
both ‘humanly’ and in the Lord.
So if consider me as a partner
welcome him as me.
And if he has wronged you in any way
or owes you anything,
charge it to me.
I, Paul, write (this),
with my own hand:
I will repay it.
– not to mention to you,
that you owe more – yourself – to me.
Yes, brother,
let me have some benefit from you,
in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ!
Having been convinced of your ‘compliance’,
I have written to you,
knowing that you will do more than I ask.
One thing more, prepare the guest-room for me.
For I hope
that through your prayers,
I will be restored to you all.
Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner, greets you.
in Christ.
and Mark, Aristarchus. Demas, Luke,
my fellow-workers.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
be with with your spirit.
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.
Everyone who hears these words of mine
and does them
will be compared to a wise man,
who builds his house on bedrock.
and rain fell
and the rivers came
and the winds blew
and beat on that house,
and it did not fall,
for it had foundations on bedrock.
And whoever hears these words of mine,
and does not do them
will be compared to a foolish man,
who builds his house on the sand.
And rain fell
and rivers came,
and the winds blew
and beat on that house,
and it fell
and the fall of it was great.
And it happened that when Jesus finished these words
the crowd were amazed because of his teaching.
For he was teaching them as having authority
and not as their scholars.
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)
Watch out for false prophets,
who come to you all
in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are savage wolves.
From their fruit
you will recognise them.
They do not gather figs from thorn plants, do they?
Or grapes from briars?
In this way every good tree produces lovely fruit,
but the bad tree produces evil fruit.
A good tree cannot produce evil fruit,
nor a bad tree produce lovely fruit.
Every single tree not producing good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.
Then, you will recognise them from their fruit.
Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of Heaven,
but the one doing the will of my Father in Heaven.
Many will say to me in that day:
‘Lord, lord, did we not
by your name – prophesy,
and – by your name – cast out demons,,
and – by your name – do many works of power?
And then I will say plainly to them:
‘I have never known you.
Go away from me, workers of lawlessness.’
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen
Therefore
everything that you wish that people would do for you,
in the same way, do for them.
For this is the Law and the Prophets.
Enter through the narrow gate.
because wide is the gate
and spacious the road
which leads to destruction
and many are those who entering through it.
Mark! Narrow is the gate
and narrowed the road
which leads into life
and few are those who find it.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen