Further, 
my sisters/brothers
rejoice in the Lord. 

To write the same things to you all
is not a something to hesitate over
but something to safeguard you.

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

But I have considered it necessary to send to you
Epaphroditus, 
my brother, 
my fellow worker
and my fellow soldier, 
and
your messenger
and (your) minister of my need.

For he was longing for you all
and distressed
because
you heard that he was sick. 
For he was sick near to death.
But God had mercy on him, 
and not only on him
but also on me. 
So that I might not have sorrow on sorrow. 
So I sent him eagerly,
so that seeing him 
you would rejoice again
and I might be without sorrow. 

So welcome him
in the Lord
with fullness of joy
and hold in honour such people
because 
for the work of the Christ
he came close to dying
risking his life
so that he could make up for your inability
to minister to me. 

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)

Now, 
I hope, 
   in the Lord Jesus
to send Timothy
   shortly
to you
so that also I may be cheered up, 
by learning about your affairs,

For I have no one of ‘like soul’ (available)
  who genuinely
  will care about your affairs. 
For all the others pursue their own affairs,, 
not the affairs of Jesus of Christ

But you know his ‘proven-worth’
how 
as a son-for-a-father
he has served
with me, 
for the spread of the Good News. 

Therefore on the one hand
I hope to send this one swiftly
directly when I am clearer about my affairs

and on the other hand
I am confident
in the Lord
that I will be released  shortly.

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

But even if I am poured-out-like-a-drink-offering
    on the ‘sacrificial service’  of your faith,
I rejoice
      and I rejoice with you all
likewise rejoice
and rejoice with me!

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)

Do everything without grumbling,
and arguing,
so that you will be pure
and innocent, 
children of God, 
unblemished
in the middle of a crooked
and perverse humanity ,
in which you shine as stars in the universe
holding fast to the word of life
so that I can boast  on the day of Christ, 
proof that I  have not run in vain
nor toiled in vain.

Steer the ship of my life, good Lord, to your quiet harbour,
where I can be safe from the storms of sin and conflict.
Show me the course I should take.
Renew in me the gift of discernment,
so that I can always see the right direction in which I should go.
And give me the strength and the courage to choose the right course,
even when the sea is rough and the waves are high,
knowing that through enduring hardship and danger in your name
we shall find comfort and peace.
Amen

Basil of Caesarea (c.329-379)

So then, my beloved, 
  just as you have always obeyed
         not only in my presence
        but now much more in my absence
     with fear and trembling
work out your own salvation. 

For God is the one who is working mightily 
in you all
the willing 
and the working
for the sake of his good pleasure.

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

Think like this (care about others)
among yourselves
which (thinking) was also in Christ Jesus,
who
though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard being equal with God
as something to be exploited.
But  he  emptied  himself
having taken the form of a slave
being born in the likeness of human beings
and being found in the shape of a man
he humiliated himself
    by being obedient, to the point of death, 
 even death on a cross. 

On account of which 
God exalted him to the highest degree
that is he generously gave him the Name (high) above all names. 
so that in honour of  the name of Jesus
every knee should bend
-the heavenly beings
and on-the-earth beings
and under-the-earthly beings
and that the tongue of every person should acknowledge:
‘Jesus Christ is Lord’
to the glory of God the Father.

O thou, who art the light of the minds that know thee,
the life of the souls that love thee,
and the strength of the wills that serve thee;
help us so to know thee that we may truly love thee;
so to love thee that we may fully serve thee,
whom to serve is perfect freedom.
Amen

Think like this (care about others)
among yourselves
which (thinking) was also in Christ Jesus,
who
though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard being equal with God
as something to be exploited.
But  he  emptied  himself
haven taken the form of a slave
being born in the likeness of human beings
and being found in the shape of a man…

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.

So
if there is any comfort in Christ
if there is any consolation in love
if there is any participation in the Spirit
if there is any affection and mercy…
complete my joy
that is 
think the same way
having the same love
    souls-together
thinking one thing

(doing) nothing from selfish ambition
or from conceit

but in humility-of-mind
consider one another
more important than yourselves.
Each of you should not be caring  about your things
but (should be caring) about others’ things.

Lord God,
your feed us with the living bread from heaven.
You renew our faith
increase our hope
and strengthen our love.
Teach us to hunger for Christ
who is the true and living bread
and live by every word that comes from your mouth,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Only 
worthily
of the Gospel about Christ, 
‘live citizenly’
    so that whether coming and seeing you
  or being away,
I hear things about you, 
namely that you stand firm
in one spirit,
one in soul
struggling side by side in the faith
which is the Gospel
and not being frightened
not in any way by those who are opposing 
which is a sign of destruction for them, 
but to you salvation, 
and this is from God. 

Because for you 
it has been given graciously
on behalf of Christ
not only in him to believe 
but also for his sake to suffer
having the same struggle
such as you saw to be mine, 
(and) now hear that is mine.

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