…giving no offense,
in no respect,
so that
the (our) ministry
might not be faulted,
but in every thing
we commend ourselves
as God’s servants,
by great endurance:
a. in afflictions
b. in hardships
c. in difficulties
A. in beatings
B. in imprisonments
C. in riots
α. in hard work
β. in sleepnessness
γ. in hunger –

1. by purity
2. by understanding
3. by patience
4. by kindness
i. by the Holy Spirit
ii. by sincere love –
iii. by the word of love
iv. by the power of God

by the weapons of righteousness
for the right hand and the left –
in glory and dishonour
in ill repute and good repute

1. (considered) as deceivers, yet are truthful
2. as unknown, yet well known
3. as dying, yet, look, we are live
4. as punished, yet not killed,
5. as sad, but always rejoicing
6. as poor, but making many rich,
7. as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

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.

So working together (with God)
we indeed appeal to you,
not in vain
to receive
the grace of God.
For he says:
‘At an acceptable time,
I listened to you
and in the day of salvation
I helped you.’
Look, now is the acceptable time,
Look, now is the day of salvation.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind
and soul and strength we may seek thy face
and be brought by thine infinite mercy
to thy holy presence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Alcuin (735-804)

Now everything is from God,
who has reconciled us
to himself
through Christ
and who gave to us
the ministry of reconciliation.
That is
God was,
in Christ,
reconciling the world to
himself,
not reckoning
against them
their trespasses
and having committed
to us
the message of reconciliation.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ
on behalf of Christ
as God appeals through us.
We beseech
Be reconciled to God.
God made the one
who did not know sin
sin
on our behalf
so that we might become
the righteousness of God.

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

George Herbert

Therefore
from now on
we regard no one
according to the flesh.
Even if we knew Christ
according to the flesh,
yet we regard him
no longer (like this).
Therefore if
anyone is in Christ
(there is) a new creation
the old has gone away,
look! the new has come to be.

Contrasts from 2 Cor 4:16-5:15
outer self wasting away	inner self being renewed
light momentary affliction	eternal weight of glory
things seen	things unseen
transient	eternal
tent	building
earthly	in the heavens
destructible	eternal
clothed	further clothed (and not naked)
mortal	life
outward appearance	what is in the heart

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

So knowing the fear of the Lord,
we (try to) persuade people
we are well known to God.
I hope we are well known
to your consciences also.
So we are not commending ourselves again to you,
but giving you an opportunity
to boast about us
so that you might have (something to say)
in response to those who boast
about ‘outward appearance (face)
and not ‘Inward character’ (heart).
Whether we are out of our mind,
its for God
or we are in our right mind,
its for you.
For the love of Christ controls us,
having made this judgement:
that one died for all,
therefore all have died.
and he died for all
that those who are living
might no longer live for themselves,
but for him who died for them
and was raised.

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

So
always confident
and knowing that
(when) we are home
in the body,
we are away from the Lord…
– For we walk with faith
not with sight. –
… (in fact) we are confident
and we would
rather be absent from the body
and
at home with the Lord.
Therefore we make it our aim,
either at home or absent
to be pleasing to him.
For all of us it will be necessary
to appear
before the judgement seat of Christ
so that each person might receive
according to what they have done
in the body
(either good or evil.)

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 we know that
if our earthly home, that is a tent
is dismantled,
we have a building from God,
a house
not made with hands
eternal
in the heavens.
For also
we groan in this one
longing to put on
our dwelling from heaven.
If indeed having been clothed
we will not be found naked.
For being in the tent
we groan, burdened down
because we do not want to be
unclothed but clothed
so that mortality will be swallowed up
by life.
But the one who prepared us
for this very purpose
is God.
who gave to us
the down payment of the Spirit.

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

Therefore we do not lost heart
even if our outer self is being destroyed
our inner self is being renewed
day after day.
For our momentary, slight affliction
is producing for us
beyond measure and proportion
an eternal weight of glory
we are not focussing on what is seen
but what is not seen
for the things that are seen are temporary
but the things that are not seen are eternal.

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

Now we have this treasure
in jars of clay,
so that the surpassing quality of the power
may be God’s and not from us.
In every way afflicted
but not crushed
perplexed
but not despairing
persecuted
but not abandoned
knocked down
but not perishing.
Always carrying about
the deadness of Christ
in the body,
so that the life of Jesus
in our body
might be displayed.
For always
we who are living
are being handed over to death
because of Jesus
so that the life of Jesus
might be displayed
in our mortal body.
That is death is at work in us
but life in you.
But having the same spirit of faith
according to what was written:
‘I believed,
therefore I spoke’
we also believed
therefore we speak.
knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us with Jesus
and he will present (us) with you
For all these things (are) for you
so grace
extending
through many
with thanksgiving
might abound
to the glory of God.

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 even if our gospel is veiled
it is veiled to those who are perishing
among whom
the god of this age has blinded
the minds of the ‘rejecting-faith’ ones,
so that they cannot see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ
who is the image of God.

For we do not proclaim ourselves
but Jesus Christ as Lord
and ourselves your slaves on account of Jesus
For God, who said
‘From darkness light will shine’
has shone in our hearts
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.

Eternal God and Father,
you create us by your power,
and redeem us by your love,
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves in love and service
to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen