Nepsis

Category: Time to Pray

  • Matthew 5:21- 26

    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

  • Matthew 5:17-20

    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

  • Matthew 5:13-16

    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

  • Matthew 5:10-12

    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

  • Matthew 5: 7 -9

    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

  • Matthew 5:5,6

    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)

  • Matthew 5:1-4

    From the Mount of the Beatitudes

    Having seen the crowd, (Jesus) went up the mountain; and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And opening his mouth, he taught them saying:

    Blessed (are) the poor in spirit,
    because theirs is the Kingdom of the Heavens. 

    Blessed (are) the mourners,
    because they will be comforted.

    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

  • 1 Kings 19:5-18

    He came to a cave there and stayed the night there. And there, Yahweh’s word came to him. He said to him, ‘What is there for you here, Eliyyahu?’

    He said, ‘I’ve been very passionate for Yahweh, the God of Armies, because the Yisra’elites have abandoned your pact. Your altars they’ve torn down; your prophets they’ve killed with the sword. I alone am left, and they’ve been seeking my life, to take it.’ He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.’

    There was Yahweh passing, and a great, strong wind, splitting mountains and breaking up cliffs before Yahweh (Yahweh was not in the wind), after the wind an earthquake (Yahweh was not in the earthquake), after the earthquake a fire (Yahweh was not in the fire) and after the fire a low murmuring sound.

    When Eliyyahu heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat, went out and stood at the cave’s entrance. And there, a voice came to him and said, ‘What is there for you here, Eliyyahu?’

    He said, ‘I’ve been very passionate for Yahweh, the God of Armies, because the Yisra’elites have abandoned your pact. Your altars they’ve torn down, your prophets they’ve killed with the sword. I alone am left, and they’ve been seeking my life, to take it.’

    Yahweh said to him, ‘Go, turn back on your way, to the Dammeseq wilderness. You’re to come and anoint Haza’el as king over Aram. And Yehu ben Nimshi you’re to anoint as king over Yisra’el, and Elisha ben Shaphat, from Meholah Meadow, you’re to anoint as prophet in place of you. The person who escapes from Haza’el’s sword, Yehu will put to death. The person who escapes from Yehu’s sword, Elisha will put to death. But I will leave in Yisra’el 7,000, all the knees that have not bent down to the Master and every mouth that has not kissed him.’

    Goldingay, John The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

    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)

  • I Kings 19:1-8

    Ah’ab told Izebel all that Eliyyahu had done and all about how he had killed all the prophets with the sword, and Izebel sent an envoy to Eliyyahu saying, ‘May the gods do like this and may they do more, because this very time tomorrow I shall make your life like the life of one of them.’

    He was afraid, and he set off and went for his life. He came to Be’er Sheba which belongs to Yehudah, left his boy behind there, and he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came and sat under a broom bush and asked for his life, that he might die: ‘It’s too much. Take my life now, Yahweh, because I’m no better than my ancestors.’

    He lay down and slept under a broom bush. And there, an envoy touching him. He said to him, ‘Get up, eat.’ He looked, and there, by his head a loaf baked on coals and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. Yahweh’s envoy came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up, eat, because the journey is too much for you.’ He got up and ate and drank, and went in the energy of that food for forty days and forty nights as far as God’s mountain, Horeb.

    Goldingay, John The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

    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.

  • 1 Kings 18:41-46

    Eliyyahu said to Ah’ab, ‘Go up, eat and drink, because there’s a rumbling sound of rain.’ Ah’ab went up to eat and to drink, while Eliyyahu went up to the top of Carmel, crouched to the ground and put his face between his knees. He said to his boy, ‘Please go up and look in the direction of the sea.’ He went up and looked and said, ‘There isn’t anything.’ He said ‘Go back’, seven times. On the seventh he said, ‘There, a small cloud, like a person’s fist, going up from the west.’ He said, ‘Go up, say to Ah’ab, “Hitch up, and get down, so that the rain won’t hold you back.”’ Right then, right then, when the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, there was a great downpour. Ah’ab got into his chariot and went to Yizre’e’l. Yahweh’s hand came on Eliyyahu, he hitched things round his hips, and he ran before Ah’ab as far as when you come to Yizre’e’l.

    Goldingay, John The Bible for Everyone . SPCK. Kindle Edition.

    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.