You have heard it declared: ‘”Love your neighbour .” and hate your enemy.’

But I say to you all  ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’

So you will be the children of our Father in heaven,
because he causes his sun to  rise on the evil people
and the good people
and he sends rain upon the righteous
and the unrighteous.

For if you love those who love you,
what sort of  reward do you have?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same thing?

And if you only love your sisters and brothers, 
what more do you do?
Do not even the pagans do the same thing?

So you all be perfect as your Father who is  in heaven is perfect. 

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

You have heard that it was declared:
‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’

But I say to you all,
do not oppose in court an evil person. 

And whoever slaps you on your right cheek,
turn to them the other as well. 

And to the one who wishes to sue you to take your shirt, 
let them take the coat too.

And whoever dragoons you to go one mile, 
continue with them two. 

To whoever asks, give,
and do not refuse the one  who wishes to borrow from you. 

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)

And it has been declared
‘Whoever divorces his wife, will give her a divorce certificate’.

But I say to you that every man who divorces his wife,
except for a matter of sexual immorality 
causes her to be adulterous
and whoever marries a divorcee commits adultery. 

Again  you all  have heard that it has been declared to our ancestors:
‘You will not swear falsely,, but keep your oaths to the Lord.’

But I say to you do not make oaths at all.
Neither by the heavens, because it is the throne of God
nor  the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet
nor  towards Jerusalem because it is the city of the great King;
neither swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.. 

Your word will be ‘yes, yes’ or ‘no no’. 
More than this is from the Evil One.

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.

You have heard it declared ‘You shall not  commit adultery.’

But I say to you that every man
who looks at a woman
to desire her
already has committed adultery with her in his heart. 

If your right eye causes you to stumble,
pull it out and throw it away from you. 
For it is better for you to lose one part of your body
than your whole body be thrown in to Gehenna,

And if your right hand causes you to stumble,
cut it off and throw it away from you. 
For it is better for you to lose one part of your body
than your whole body go to Gehenna. 

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.

You all have heard that it has been declared to our ancestors 
‘Do not murder’, whoever murders, will be liable at the judgement.

But I say to you all that
everyone who is angry with their brother or sister
will be liable at the judgement.

And whoever calls  their brother or sister ‘stupid’
will be liable at  the Sanhedrin / Council

And whoever calls  their brother or sister ‘fool’
will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

So if offering your offering  at the altar, 
and there you remember that a sister or brother has anything against you, 
leave the offering there, before the altar, 
and go first to make peace with your sister or brother, 
and then go, make your offering. 

Be friends quickly  with your accuser,
while you are with them on the road,
lest the  accuser hands you over to the judge
and the judge to the guard
and you will be thrown into prison.
Truly I say to you, you will not get out from there,
until you repay the last penny. 

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

George Herbert

Do not think that I have come to destroy  the Law or the prophets.
I have not come to destroy them but to fulfil them.

For truly I say to you:
Until the sky or the land pass away,
certainly not one comma or dash will pass away from the Law,
until all things come about.

Therefore whoever looses  one of the smallest commandments
and teaches this to people,
will be called smallest in the Kingdom of the Heavens.
But whoever does them and teaches them
will be called great in the Kingdom of the Heavens. 

For I say to you that unless your righteousness is way beyond that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will certainly  not enter the Kingdom of the Heavens. 

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

You are salt of the land.
If salt becomes tasteless,
    who will restore it?

It is useful for nothing, 
    just to be thrown out to be trampled on by people. 

You are light of the world;
a city cannot be hidden, 
     if it lies on a mountain.

And people do not light a lamp
  and put it under a basket,
but on a lampstand,
and it shines for everyone who is in the house. 

In the same way shine your light before people,
so they see your good works
and will glorify your Father in the heavens.

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

Blessed are those who have been persecuted because of righteousness,
because theirs is the Kingdom of the Heavens. 

Blessed are you when they insult you,
and they persecute you
and say all kinds evil against you
and because of me. 

Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven.
For in this way they persecuted  the prophets before you. 

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

Blessed are the merciful,
because they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart
because God they will see.

Blessed are the peace-makers
because (   ) of God they will be called .

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

Blessed are the meek
because they will inherit the land.
Blessed are the hungry and thirsty for righteousness,
because they will be well filled.

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)