Maundy Thursday (Year A): Litany for Christ our Companion

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I am particularly struck in the Maundy Thursday* readings by Jesus’ dismissal of hierarchy in John 13. He says baldly, “I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.” In washing the feet of his friends, he establishes once and for all that hierarchy has no place in his Kindom. He tells them and us that we should follow his example of sacred service, of the dignity of every human, of undoing and resisting hierachies and domination systems of all kinds. 

It’s a beautiful, countercultural message. Everything we think we knew about how the world works, Jesus unravels with a basin of water and a simple act of care.

God, you have shown us your love
And your nature,
In the person of Christ,
Who washed the feet of his friends (1),

*See also “Litany for Maundy Thursday” from 2016 Year A

Palm Sunday (Year A): Litany for Triumphal Entry

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In this week’s account of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, crowds of people shout praise to God, seeming to understand that Jesus was their long-awaited God-representative. Then, mysteriously, those hordes of supporters disappear. They’re never heard from again. Or maybe they are, but they’ve changed their minds about Jesus’ goodness and divinity. 

What happened to those people? Did they just stay home after that, thinking their contributions, work, and message didn’t matter? Did they not come to Jesus’ defense later because they had changed their minds about him? Or because they were afraid? Or because they were lazy and apathetic and assumed he’d take care of everything all by himself?

I’m honestly curious about those questions, despite knowing I’ll never have an answer.* But the un-knowing does lead me to one knowing: the critical mass of people either stayed home or turned against Jesus. The critical mass of people had power that they either abdicated or used against him. 

So this week, as I give thanks for the witness of Christ to God’s lovingkindness, I am contemplating my own power. My own power to stay home and save lives. My own power to advocate for the poor and marginalized. My own power to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world now when “Christ has no hands and feet except ours.”


God, we remember Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
His arrival met with cheering Hosannas.
He, seated on a humble donkey,
Accepting the praises of a fickle crowd (Matthew 21:1-11). 

see also: “Litany for Palm Sunday, Year A” from 2016.

Lent 5 (Year A): Litany for Living By Spirit

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The Lectionary this week is juicy juicy. Lazarus, the valley of Dry Bones, Romans 8, Psalm 130.  If you are searching for a litany tailored to the Ezekiel passage, please see Litany for Dry Bones. 

I take some issue with the greek SARKI in Romans 8 being translated as “in the flesh” or “on the flesh.” Not because I think it’s wrong; more that I think it’s just not enough. Not a big enough word. Not robust enough language. Strong’s says SARKI means “flesh, body, human nature, materiality.” I think human nature and materiality are getting closer. But as it is, oversimplified, I think it props up a harmful dualistic narrative: body is bad, spirit is good. This hasn’t done us any favors as embodied beings. 

What if, by “human nature” we mean humanity’s drive for self-preservation, self-satisfaction, and survival at any cost? What if we mean the ego-self, the one that propels us toward safety, separation, and self-sufficiency? What if we mean our tendency to be preoccupied with our bank accounts? Where we thought the contrast was between “flesh and spirit”, what if we are actually being pointed to disconnection vs connection?

Thinking about Romans 8 from this vantage point propels me into a different understanding, one of invitation into a life of Wholeness, Community, and Oneness. An invitation to drop our ego-needs (rightness, judgement, never-enough scarcity), and take up Spirit priorities: sacredness, service, generosity, abundance, love.

God, your Spirit dwells in us.
The Spirit of Christ is within us (1).
We turn away from self-preservation and survival
As our primary motivations;And toward unity, connectedness and service
As our foundation. 

Lent 4 (Year A): Litany for Mud and Spit

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Sometimes, like now, we have to endure mud and spit so that we can have our eyes opened and receive light in them. The very essentials of earth and humanity spread across our field of vision, that we may become unblinded. 

When this happens, we have choices: we can scoff at the method, ignore it, resist it. (Gross! Inconvenient! Unneccesary!). Or. We can see it as the love it is. Surrender. Practice gratitude. 

We are in a moment of apocalypse here on this planet. (Apocalypse meaning “revealing”.) Our fragility and vulnerability revealed. In our privilege we are convinced of our invulnerability. We put our faith in economic forces and our physical capabilities to keep us safe and insulated from hardship, only to learn that they are easily toppled by the most base and microscopic of single celled* foes. 

The best part about the story in John 9, of the man born blind whom Jesus heals with “mud and saliva”, is the new level of agency the previously blind man seems to step into. He speaks for himself. He decides to follow Christ. He stands up to bullies. He testifies to the Christ (John 9:33). 

So. We may be whirling. We may feel anxious. But we have an opportunity to have faith in the Light, to regard our new level of seeing as a gift. Because we know that “...Everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:13,14)


God, we know that Christ has come into the world
So that those who are un-seeing might see,
And so that we who are certain of our perspective,
Might have our spiritual blindness revealed ...


Lent 2 (Year A): Litany for Beginner’s Mind

The story of Nicodemus put me in mind of the Buddhist tradition of Beginner’s Mind. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs newly-born eyes to see the Kingdom of God in action. Jesus tells him that he needs re-born understanding to be able to perceive spiritual/heavenly things. He needs fresh eyes, fresh understanding. If we want to see and the truth about Jesus and his reflection of the image of God, and the Kin-dom God is inviting us to participate in, we need re-born consciousness. 

The concept of Beginner’s Mind is similar - to strive to keep the humble perspective of a beginning learner, to hang on to the fresh eyes of the uninitiated and unindoctrinated. So that we might see something other than what we’ve seen before. So that we can understand on a deeper level, with a higher consciousness. I believe this is what Jesus was referring to when he said in another text, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Unless we relinquish our old consciousness and understanding in favor of a better one, we won’t be able to see the kingdom of heaven right in front of us. 

Last week’s litany explored the concept of Non-dualism, another overlapping concept among Wisdom Traditions. This week’s litany explores what Christianity has called “being born from above” and “childlike faith,” and the similarities I see between that and what Buddhist traditions have called “shoshin” or “beginner’s mind.”


God, as Christ has spoken, we know we must somehow be “born from above” (1),
We know we need fresh understanding,
Must learn to perceive with heaven’s consciousness,
Learn to set aside our preconceived ideas.
This new awareness
Is an endless beginning. 

Eastertide 7: Litany for Resurrection Unity

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I’m ruminating on Jesus prayer/plea to Yahweh in John 17 (this week's Lectionary Gospel selection) for unity among his followers and among future generations of followers. I believe that, as Christ requested, we are one with God, invited into the Trinity, included in action and the love. In Christ, we learn what God looks like: relational, loving, unifying, inclusive. So I’m inviting us to pray into Jesus’ vision for unity and a new paradigm of being together in the world. And into the "right action" that true unity and shared love will reliably provoke us to.


God, we know that with the beginning of Resurrection,
Whose first fruit was Christ Jesus,
A new paradigm was established and articulated in the world -
A whole host of new possibilities -
One of the best of which is the hope of unity
Which Christ prayed and advocated for …

Eastertide 6 (Year C): Litany for Resurrection Glory

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Now here’s a Christian-ese word: glory. Ok. If you are off-put by this word because it has lost its meaning for you, let me tell you how I think of it: Beauty and Light. That’s all. The intense beauty and light that emanates from the Source of all that is.  

God, the light of your glory shines on all humanity
And on all creation.
The beauty and light that you generate
Lights our path,
Shines on our faces,
Glows from within us…

Eastertide 5 (Year C): Litany for Resurrection Belonging

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I’m being bowled over newly by this week’s Lectionary selection. In part because I’m also simultaneously reading Richard Rohr’s newest book _The Universal Christ_, so I’m already riding Saint Peter’s wave in Acts 11. Peter has a dream that God tells him to eat food (animals, in this case) that his Jewish faith considers unclean or taboo, and subsequently gets a lesson in the universality of God’s love and presence. No race or people group is outside the scope of the Creator’s love and image. 

And then the Psalm for the week (149) reinforces the message, lumping in the heavenly bodies, the weather phenomena, landscapes, animals and creepy crawly things; with people of all descriptions, ages, and power-levels - in short EVERYTHING - together as things that reflect the divine image. Things that “praise” God. 

Stones sing God’s song. Animals and earth sing God’s song. People sing God’s song. Black people. Brown people. White people. Male people. Female people. Non-binary people. Industrialized people. Nomadic people. Indigenous people. And on and on. Every unique characteristic is glory. Everything belongs inside resurrection. 


God, we know that the Christ was already here,
Even before Jesus came along (1).
And now that Christ was revealed in human form,
We know he’s in us….

Litany for Breaking Down Walls

This litany was originally posted on Godspace. I wrote it for their very timely Lenten series on Breaking Down Walls. May it inspire you to embrace wall-breaking as a spiritual practice.

As always, if my work resonates with you I invite you to become part of my Patreon, and to pick up a copy of my book of litanies.

God, for centuries we have imagined that between us and you
Were distance and difference,
Silence and judgement,
And ultimately, walls.

But now we’re learning that wall-building
Is a uniquely human response
To fear,
To pain,
To vulnerability,
To a feeling of separation.

If we can forget the idea of separation,
Perhaps we can stop building walls on its behalf.
Oh God, may we let love have free reign
To build something more imaginative than walls.

See, we think our separateness is a given,
But you are constantly urging us toward a different perspective:
That nothing can separate us from you
Nothing created, nothing imagined, nothing contrived -
That you are, always and forever, for better and for worse,
In every circumstance, in every situation
Together with us.
You are God-With-Us.

And that togetherness, that persistence,
That in-it-for-the-long-haul relentless with-ness,
Is part of your personality, a characteristic of you;
Part of your everlasting love,
That is always building new spaces
And breaking down walls.

Amen




Eastertide 2, 3, 4 (Year C)

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I’ve moved much of my work over to Patreon.
This is part of my effort to make 2019 a #yearofwritingsustainably
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Hello folks,
I’m preparing ahead for some upcoming travel and conferencing, so Lectionary litanies for the second thru fourth Sundays of Easter are up on Patreon. I’m really liking how this “Resurrection” Series is turning out.

LITANY FOR RESURRECTION FLOW
LITANY FOR RESURRECTION WORK
LITANY FOR RESURRECTION PROGRESS
LITANY FOR RESURRECTION EXPANSION

I think I’m perhaps doing some of my best work. You can tell me what you think if you’d like to hop on my Patreon train.

Easter Sunday (Year C): Litany for Resurrection Flow

Hello! I’m happy to be sharing my Easter Sunday, which I happen to really like this year. If you haven’t taken advantage of my Patreon, it’s easy to jump in. Thanks for reading. And may the Peace of
Christ be upon you this Holy Week.

Oh God, we can feel the joy and wonder of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary (1)
As they shared the story of the empty tomb.
We share in their excitement, not because of pious ideas about personal salvation,
But because the resurrection they preached is still happening now!

Good Friday (Year C): Litany for Entering the Shadow

Hello! Today I’m making this year’s Good Friday litany publicly available. Most litanies appear in my Patreon for subscribers, but I try to make one or two per month available here. Please consider joining my Patreon, especially if you or your community are using my work regularly - by doing that you help make this work sustainable for me and my family. $1 - $3 is all it takes for your community to get access to my weekly offerings.

Hopefully you’ve been immersed in the journey of Lenten self-reflection. In Lent we clear space for exploring our inner selves, light and shadow, our complicities in systemic injustice, our addictions and unhelpful behaviors. This is all leading up to Good Friday, when Christ himself enters the shadow; when together we observe holy silence in following him on that journey.

I’m deriving this litany primarily from the John 19 narrative, which is the Lectionary prescription. But Pilate washes his hands in Matthew 27 and not in John 19.

God, today we remember the crucifixion of Christ,
His betrayal, suffering, death, and burial.
As we contemplate the narrative of Christ’s trial,
We imagine ourselves within it.

As we realize the ways we, like Peter, have denied the Christ,
In thought, in word, and in deed;
We observe a holy silence.

- Silence is kept -

As we observe the ways we, like Pilate, have washed our hands in pretense
But been complicit in evil’s unfolding;
We observe a holy silence.

- Silence is kept -

As we contemplate the ways we, like the mob, direct retribution toward one: a scapegoat,
And refusing personal responsibility,
e observe a holy silence.

- Silence is kept -

As Christ went down into darkness and shadow,
A breathless tomb, a soundless silence,
We follow faithfully, into shadowy places inside ourselves
We leave no stone unturned; no tomb unexamined.

We give way to the silence, and to conviction,
Waiting in hope of redemption.
We wait,
And we remember.

Amen



Palm Sunday (Year C): Litany for Shouting Stones

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This week is Palm Sunday, and the Lectionary offers two options. I'm using Liturgy of the Palms references for this prayer. Enjoy, and if you have a second, please let me know how this Lent series has gone for you and your community. Thanks!

God, we throw down our cloaks
And raise up shouting praise
Because of the beauty of Christ
And his deeds of power …


Find my book of congregational litanies on Amazon. And follow along via instagram @thelitanist


Lent 5 (Year C): Litany for Wilderness

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This is part of my effort to make 2019 a #yearofwritingsustainably
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This week's litany follows along with the Lectionary texts for week 5 of Lent. A strong theme of wilderness, persistence, and joyful homecoming threads through these texts. I hope you're all leaning in to the Lenten journey in some way this year - letting the wilderness Christ leads you into shape your soul and your practice, offering you a new way of being. 


In Lent, we follow Christ out to wilderness places.
We deny ourselves the comforts that numb us.
We rid ourselves of the distractions that consume us.
We stand aside to let you realign us to your way…

Thanks for following along. If you haven’t grabbed a copy of my book, may I suggest that it makes a great Easter gift :) Also, I’m on instagram @thelitanist ! come join in the contemplative fun going on there! Much love to all you readers and pray-ers out there embodying Divine Love and Light.

f

Lent 4 (Year C): Litany for Wandering

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I’ve moved much of my work over to Patreon.
This is part of my effort to make 2019 a #yearofwritingsustainably
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Hey friends!
Before I get into the litany for this week, I want to say thank you thank you thank you for being on this journey with me. March has been the biggest month ever for me in terms of new patrons, and I am so stinking grateful. Welcome to new friends in this space! May it be a blessing to you! May it throw you a life-raft on a sinking day! May it jolt you with encouragement in a distressing moment! May it offer you sustenance when you're empty! Amen, Amen. Also, thanks for your patience while I was on vacation last week. After a rough month, I needed the break to stoke my curiosity and creativity, and hallelujah the LORD provides.

Ok, this week's Lectionary is juicy! The prodigal son. Psalm 32. The beautiful "new creation" language in 2 Corinthians 5. Week 1 we explored Weakness, week 2 Loneliness, week 3 Longing, and now Wandering. (preview: next week we're pondering "Wilderness.) So basically the hard parts of the life of faith. Which is what Lent is for - uncovering our blindness, exposing our need and vulnerability, urging us toward repentance. It's not supposed to be fun, but it is necessary for our growth.


God, like the prodigal son we have wandered far
From Love’s Center (1).
We are prodigal children,
All of us…

Also, if you’re unsure how to properly attribute a litany when you’re using it congregationally, please check out this post. And if you haven’t already snagged a copy for yourself, a minister, or a friend, you can purchase my book here. 

May you find more joy, peace, and love during your Lenten journey.
Fran


Lent 3 (Year C): Litany for Longing

Hello all.  I'll be on spring break vacation with my family next week and away from my desk. So here is next week's Lent litany. Leaning into the longing of the Lenten Lectionary :) 


O God, you are our God,
We seek you, our souls thirst for you;
Our flesh faints for you,
As in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (1)


Lent 2 (Year C): Litany for Loneliness

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In this week's Lectionary, I'm struck by the sense of loneliness in the passages. I keep thinking how exhausting and draining it must have been for Christ to always be on the run, moving from place to place, never pausing at home, always faced with someone wanting to kill him. And I'm struck that Lent is a time for us to face our own loneliness with intention. If ever there were a time to seek out solitude for self-reflection, Lent is it. 

It's true, we are spiritual beings having an embodied human experience here on earth (at least that's my belief), and there is something inherently lonely about that. But also, the community of humanity is bright and diverse and available - and I think part of why we're here is to make connections and realize our connectedness on both a human level and a spiritual level. Those two ideas exist in tension. And I imagine they created tension for Christ as well.

It seems like we have a few ways to combat loneliness: by realizing our oneness with God, deep in our innermost selves, often via solitude; by realizing our spiritual citizenship in heaven, that we are part of something more vast than what we can see; and by realizing community with other spiritual humans on earth. We have these means, but I think we are still going to feel lonely sometimes - it's just part of the human experience. One that has a lot to teach us if we are willing to listen. 


God, we know that we are citizens of heaven first (1)
Sent to earth to learn lessons and build outposts.
But this is sometimes lonely work
That tests our resolve and our stamina.
Citizens of heaven
Aren’t always earth’s favorite people (2). …

Easter 6 (Year B): Litany for Lasting Fruit

This litany is taken from a reading of John 15, which is part of the Lectionary selection for 5/6/18. In particular this verse:
"You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name." (John 15:16)
 

God, in Christ you let us in on your Grand Plan. (1)
You shared your heart with us,
And invited us in to be part of your agenda:
Part of the healing.

You didn’t set up barriers - not to baptism, nor the table, nor forgiveness, nor community
You tore them down!
You ripped down the temple dividers (2).
You flung open doors.
You set up a new paradigm for faith
And a new benchmark for success:

Which is love.
Always love. (3)

We want to do things for you:
Beautiful things.
We want to create things for you:
Things that last.

So help us, God, to do small things with great love (4),
And great things with great love;
And lasting things that create love,
And creative things that love well and long.

Amen
 

  1. John 15:9

  2. Matthew 27:51

  3. John 15:12

  4. From a quote attributed to Mother Teresa: 'Do small things with great love'

Easter 5 (Year B): Litany for Abiding in Love

This litany is based on a reading of the Lectionary selections for the Fifth Sunday in Easter.

 

God, you put us here on earth as embodied human beings,
For your glory and our learning.
We experience you in all kinds of ways:
    In nature,
    In relationships,
    In community,
    In silence,
    In sacredness.

You dropped a lot of hints about yourself along the way,
     From stone tablets to still, small voices,
     From prophets to angel messengers,
     From rainbows to rescues.
Then you sent Christ Jesus, the epitome of you, to teach us about yourself,
     About your love,
     About forgiveness,
     And about resurrection.

Let us love one another,
Because love is from God;
Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
God is Love. You are Love. (1)
As Christ abides in you, and we abide in Christ, ()
So we abide in Love.

We meditate on all we’ve learned of you,
And we meditate on the life and work of Christ;
Asking that we may know more deeply, more fully,
The Love in which we abide.
 

Amen

1) 1 John 4:7,8
2) John 15:4


 

Easter 4 (Year B): Litany for the Good Shepherd

This litany is taken from a reading of the Lectionary passages for the 4th week of Eastertide, Year B. You can also find Litany for Sheep here.


The Lord is our Shepherd
We lack for nothing. (1)
You are the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (2)

As Christ has laid down his life for us
So we ought to lay down our lives for one another (2).

Beloved, let us love, not in word or speech,
But in truth and action.
By this we will be reassured:
That we believe in Christ Jesus,
And that we love one another
Just as Christ has commanded.

For the Good Shepherd has taught us by his good example:
To share with those in need (3),
To bring the outsider in (4),
To abide in the Spirit (5),
To lay down our own agendas,
To take up Love’s agenda. (6)

Lead us, Good Shepherd,
Into green pastures,
Beside still waters;
And restore our souls to your peace. (7)

Amen


1) Psalm 23:1
2) 1 John 3:16-18
3) 1 John 3:17
4) John 10:16
5) 1 John 3:24
6) John 10:17
7) Psalm 23:1-3