Easter 7, Year B (2021): Litany for Straddling the Worlds

May 10, 2021 Fran Pratt

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In this week's text from John 17, Jesus is praying for his people. The reading seems like he's praying for his own specific group with whom he's spent the last several years leading up to the crucifixion. But we receive this insider glimpse into his mind - how he thinks about these people he loves, the responsibility he feels for their growth and well-being. This prayer is pastoral, but it's also... familial. Like, brotherly: 'listen pops I tried really hard to keep the kids out of trouble...'

There's also an aspect of it that feels sortof like a personal pep-talk - Jesus knows what's coming will be hard, but he's come this far and he's gearing up for the next phase, cataloguing his successes and mourning his losses (Judas). He leans hard on themes of unity, Oneness, and of belonging, not to paradigms of the world but to the paradigm of Heaven.

I find myself in deep gratitude for this peek into the cry of Jesus’ heart today; how human it is, how vulnerable. We see him, not as a victor (yet), but as a human person on the cusp of literal crucible. I resonate with this Jesus, and I love him - the one who goes to suffering with his beloveds on his mind. And I like to think that when he prayed for them he prayed for me.

Also, I’m seeing how Jesus is praying them right into a new world, a new way of being. And I echo those prayers for protection, for help, for Oneness, for living with one foot in heaven and the other navigating life on earth, straddling two worlds.

God, as Jesus prays for his group of beloved friends,
We pray for ourselves and each other:
Protect us, God (1);
Bring us to an understanding of Oneness;
Make our joy complete (2);
Fill us with truth (3)….

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Easter 4, Year B (2021): Litany for Love in Action

April 20, 2021 Fran Pratt

Here is the litany I wrote for the last cycle, Year B, Easter Week 4: Litany for the Good Shepherd

For Easter Week 4 Year B in 2018, my litany focused on John 10, the “I am the Good Shepherd” passage. This year I’m leaning on the Lectionary Epistle, 1 John 3.

God, we know that if we say we love you
And neglect to love our neighbors,
Our words are empty
And our faith is practically useless …

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Easter 3, (Year B 2021): Litany for Peace Be With You

April 13, 2021 Fran Pratt

I find that, occasionally, it makes sense to offer a prayer or liturgy with a simple refrain. It offers a place to mentally land for a few moments, especially in a litany dealing with heavy topics. This week, given the news, feels like one of those weeks. Also, sometimes we need to say a thing aloud a bunch of times to get it into our thick skulls :)

Sunday I preached a sermon about inner peace being an inside job and a choice that we get to make out of our free will about whether to take Christ up on the invitation into let "Peace be with you" regardless of what's happening around us.

And then we are confronted with news of more killings, more injustice, more police violence. (RIP Duante Wright, Lord have mercy.)

I even got news from my best friend that she is suddenly in hospital having emergency surgery.

Bad news is another opportunity for me to practice this lesson. To practice the Peace Within (John 20: 19) regardless of how the world, events, other people, etc are behaving or feeling.

I'm reminded of the hymn lyrics: "Thou wilt keep [them] in perfect peace / whose mind is stayed on Thee."

And I'm convinced that keeping that inner peace fire stoked, we are able to access more empathy, more compassion, and more right action. When we are not spinning our wheels in worry, anxiety, and emotional turbulence (here is the growth edge for me) we are better problem solvers and justice-doers. Today I'm even more sure that Inner Peace is an important Fulcrum of Transformation.

This is difficult spiritual work. Inner peace is not apathy. It's a radical restructuring of our way of being in the world.

We hear the voice of Christ speaking:
Peace be with you (1).
Right now these words seem impossible, mind-boggling,
Even, at times, annoying….

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Easter 2 (Year B 2021): Litany for Our Mission

April 6, 2021 Fran Pratt

Helloooooo! This is me, back in real time after my Lenten rest. Thank you all for your prayers, and thanks and welcome to new patrons who have come on board during that time. I offer this litany today with renewed strength.

This week’s Lectionary gospel selection is one of my absolute favorites in scripture, second only to the Beatitudes. In John 20, Jesus, freshly risen from a tomb preceded by unimaginable trauma, speaks some of the most revolutionary and radical ideas of his career. I rarely preach a sermon or give a talk without mentioning them. In fact, I was assigned this weekend to preach at my church and when I discovered that this was the text I got a shiver of rightness. I honestly can’t get over this account of Jesus’ statements.

He does 3 radical, amazing, mind-bending things in this passage:

1) He speaks peace, like a magic word, like a balm, like a miracle, to the disciples as they cower in fear in a locked room. “Peace be with you” he says. Which is even more crazy when you consider all the things he did NOT say in this moment. Wow.

2) He breathes on them saying, “receive the holy spirit.” What? Just like that? Breathe it in? It was right here all along like the air? Whoooooosh and there you have it. Everything you ever needed.

3) He tells them that if they “forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” …. Wait like, us? Like we are the ones who have this power? Not just you, not just God?

In this moment, the disciples are given access to all the power in the world: the power of peace, the power of the Spirit, and the power of forgiveness. This moment tells me everything I need to know about how to live a life of following Jesus and what I am to embody and spread: peace, spriit, forgiveness. Three fulcrums of transformation. And they are presented so briefly here that we might miss them if we aren’t looking for them.

Look, go back and read and contemplate it. I hope it will give you chills like it gives me every time.

God we lay hold of the power you have shared with us
The Peace Christ speaks out over us
The Spirit Christ breathes upon us
The Forgiveness Christ invites us to spread ….

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Easter Year B 2021: Litany for Easter People

March 30, 2021 Fran Pratt

Just as we have been finding some solace and acceptance of the cycles of nature, of death > burial > resurrection during Lent, it strikes me that we must also acknowledge what has been completed - those cycles we need no longer participate in if we believe that the Christ completed them fully in his work here on the earth in the Resurrection.

I’m thinking here of cycles of shame perpetuating harm, trauma perpetuating violence, detrimental self-sacrifice perpetuating disempowerment, and the like.

In particular, I and so many people raised in a similar religious paradigm as I was, were taught that self-sacrifice and service to others was *the way* to live righteously; and I have witnessed the harmful fruit of that teaching in my own life and others’. Many of us sacrificed and served ourselves right out of any authentic identity or empowerment, self-confidence or self-esteem. Especially if we were women.

If we believe that Jesus came to love humanity, aren’t we part of humanity too, and deserving of that love? If we believe that Jesus came to offer “salvation” to humanity (however you interpret that - there are so many ways), aren’t you and I part of that humanity in receipt of salvation? If we believe that Jesus made the “ultimate sacrifice” why do we keep on thinking we need to do more sacrificing? If that work is complete, why do we not live as though it is?

Notice I’m offering questions. Not answers. This is where my head is as I ponder this week’s account of the resurrection of Christ, and as I enter into this more celebratory and joyful season, seeking to integrate the lessons of Lent along with the hope and joy of resurrection.

God, we are witnesses of what Christ has done (1)

Empowered by the Holy Spirit,

He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed (2);

And You, God, were with him in every moment.

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Easter 6 (Year A): Litany for The Way Through

May 27, 2020 Fran Pratt

Only 2 more Sundays in the season of Easter. Then Pentecost. Then ordinary time. In our small community here on the outskirts of the Austin Metro area, we have a family experiencing a tragic loss. This in the midst of a global pandemic and the accompanying upheaval and uncertainty. And the pandemic is overlaid atop ongoing systemic racial injustice, as we mourn the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and the countless other Black people who have been lynched in this country.

The Easter season is about resurrection while we are walking through a time of unveiling, and among families experiencing death. As it so often does, the Lectionary prompts me to reflect on the Now in light of its account and what wisdom I can glean from it. How to reconcile?

“In him we live and move and have our being,” the author of Acts quotes Paul as saying. “God has listened…[and] given heed to the words of my prayer,” says the Psalmist. “I will not leave you orphaned,” says the Christ in John 14.

Here’s a prayer for us as we navigate this dissonance: the ever-present love of God alongside the pains, traumas, and losses we inevitably experience in this life.

God, we are tested.
We are tried as silver is tried.
We are never guaranteed physical safety.
We know that with love comes risk of loss.

Easter 5 (Year A 2020): Litany for the Divine Within

May 7, 2020 Fran Pratt

Hi! In 2019 I moved much of my work over to Patreon
as part of my effort to make this work sustainable.
So thanks for reading and subscribing.
You can find archived litanies here, and purchase my book here.

Here in John 14, this week's Lectionary Gospel, we get a scene in which Jesus is winding down his pre-death-and-resurrection ministry, and it seems like he’s really sowing into his disciples. He’s sharing lesson after lesson, trying to help them understand what’s coming, where he’s going, the implications of it. He says a chapter or two earlier that his “soul is troubled” (John 12:27) and I can feel his edge here. I imagine him earnest but resigned. And he opens this soliloquy by saying “do not let your hearts be troubled;” his tone exhorting, encouraging. He affirms his Divinity as well as theirs, telling them that what he has, they share in. His resources are shared with them. His connection to God. His innate knowing of “the way” can be theirs too.

God, as Christ is teaching us, we have your essence within us.
The Divine is within Christ (1)
Christ is within us (2),
And so The Divine is within us.

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Easter 4 (Year A 2020): Litany for the Gate

April 29, 2020 Fran Pratt

I’m prepping a sermon on this passage from John 10 this week, and lots of themes are presenting themselves to me, particularly as I read the other Lectionary passages. Christ as gate. Christ as Shepherd. Christ as Suffering Servant. Christ as “Guardian of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25).

I’m very taken with Christ’s I AM statement: I am the gate. Ive heard this text preached many times as though Christ is the one who guards the flock and keeps them safe inside the confines of their pen, their spiritual home, their expectations and norms. Safe from heretics and marauders of the faith. But I’m seeing it now as a pathway that leads to journey, adventure, growth, learning, trial and error, uncertainty, and a broader experience of the world.

Christ, as you taught us in the holy scriptures
You are the gate
That leads us to green pastures.
You are the gate
That opens up to still waters…

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Easter 3 (Year A 2020): Litany for Walking with Christ

April 22, 2020 Fran Pratt

Here’s a litany to go along with the Lectionary passage for the 3rd Sunday in Easter, from the gospel of Luke. The Road to Emmaus is one of those few cherished post-resurrection interactions we get in on. I have another based in this passage from 2016, available here.

God, we journey through our lives, from place to place,
From experience to experience,
Often oblivious to your presence with us,
Though you were there all along…

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Easter 2 (Year A): Litany for Tested Faith

April 15, 2020 Fran Pratt

This passage in John 20 is one of my all-time favorites in scripture. References to it make it into most of the sermons I ever preach. The three things Jesus says here are among (aside from the Sermon on the Mount) the most impactful things he says, at least in my opinion. Peace be with you. Here is the Holy Spirit. Forgive everything. I have been mulling these over for years, and they get stronger and stronger, more radical, more profound. More indicative of how we might live, how we might go on following our traumas, how we might keep the progress of the Kin-dom going.

Here’s a litany to follow along with it, and with the story of the ever-relatable “Doubting Thomas.” I’m hoping it will be helpful to us all as we are tested during this time of COVID-19.

God, we are looking for signs of resurrection everywhere
We need proof.
Like Thomas, who needed to touch and see Christ’s wounds for himself,
We have doubts. …

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Good Friday (Year A): Litany for Love and Suffering

April 7, 2020 Fran Pratt

This litany is based on a reading of the Gospel Lectionary text for Good Friday Year A: John 18:1 - 19:42. I have added the reference to forgiveness, which is found in Luke’s account and not in John’s.

God, we know that some losses are unavoidable,
But they punch us in the gut anyway.
Just like the story of Christ’s crucifixion
Gets us every time. ..

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

April 6, 2020 Fran Pratt

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),

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

Eastertide 2, 3, 4 (Year C)

April 26, 2019 Fran Pratt

Hi! As you may have noticed,
I’ve moved much of my work over to Patreon.
This is part of my effort to make 2019 a #yearofwritingsustainably
So thanks for reading and subscribing.

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.

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Easter Sunday (Year C): Litany for Resurrection Flow

April 16, 2019 Fran Pratt

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!

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

April 13, 2018 Fran Pratt

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

Easter 3 (Year B): Litany for the Body of Christ

April 9, 2018 Fran Pratt

This litany is drawn from a reading of the Lectionary passages for the Third Sunday in Easter, Year B.

Resurrected Christ, you came to us after your journey through death,
Speaking peace,
Eating and drinking,
Embodied and whole.

And yet, your body still bore the scars of your acceptance,
The marks of your ordeal.
As we, too, bear the scars of our trauma
In this we find hope.

In your body you wear the full arc of humanity:
    It’s struggle and hope,
    It’s birth and death,
    It’s pain and redemption.
Also you carry the full spectrum of divinity:
    Creation’s origin,
    The seeds of the cosmos
    Love’s power.

And these are echoed within us, too:
In Spirit’s presence,
In DNA’s intertwined strands,
In Imago Dei. (1)

So we set out to echo, each day of our lives on this earth,
Your “Peace Be With You,” (2)
Your graceful mission,
Your healing presence,
Your hopeful faith,
Your unstoppable love.

Grant that we may reflect the fullness of your beauty
In all we are, all we say, and all we do.

Amen.

(1) Imago Dei is a latin term meaning "image of God" that applies to humans and refers to the relationship between Creator and created.
(2) Luke 24:36

Easter Week 2 (Year B): Litany for the Resurrected Christ

April 3, 2018 Fran Pratt

This litany follows along with the Lectionary Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter. For more litanies, consider becoming a patron.

Resurrected Christ, as you appeared to your apostles, speaking peace and showing them the evidence of your ordeal and victory,
Appear to us now.
Be with us and among us
As we learn to live resurrected lives.

We see now that you always lived as though resurrection were possible
Even before you had done that work.
Your every breath, step, and touch,
Was a testament to the newness of life.

Breathe on us, Resurrected Christ
That we may receive your spirit. (1)
Breathe on us, Resurrected Christ,
That we may receive your peace.
Breathe on us, Resurrected Christ,
That we may receive your life.
Breathe on us, Resurrected Christ,
That we may be of one heart and soul. (2)

Teach us how to live with the hope and assurance
That new life is just around the corner.
Teach us how to live with the peace and trust,
That what looks to us like death is resurrection’s first act.

And may we walk this earth,
Speaking peace,
Fostering healing,
And living out resurrection.

Amen

1) John 20:22
2) Acts 4:32

Easter Day (Year B): Litany for Christ’s Life

March 27, 2018 Fran Pratt

God, in human form you lived on the earth,
Doing ordinary things;
But also doing extraordinary things:
Preaching, teaching, healing, calling.
You proclaimed the Good News from a human mouth:
The Kingdom of God is here!

Your good work and proclamation drew the attention of worldly powers
Who perceived it as a threat,
Because it was: The kingdom of God undoes everything it touches
And builds it again newly.

And, by the power of human sin, violence, and confusion -
You were killed -
A fate you did not resist, but instead accepted -
You were buried -
So that you might shame the powers, and teach them a new way:
You were resurrected!

Hallelujah! This changes everything!
Hallelujah!
From the enemies we love, to the suffering we accept -
Hallelujah!
From the violence we reject, to the justice-mercy-healing work we do -
Hallelujah!
This Way-of-God-come-down-to-earth completely rearranges our perspective!
Hallelujah!

For Christ has torn the temple down
And rebuilt it.
The Way of God came down.
The Way of God lives on in us.

Amen

Resurrection Sunday (Year A): Litany for the Story

April 12, 2017 Fran Pratt

Here are the Lectionary texts for Easter morning, Year A. I have tried to draw elements from each text, plus an additional reference from John 2. Hallelujah! He is Risen!

God, You have loved us with an everlasting love;
You have continually been faithful (Jeremiah 31:3)
You are our strength.
You are our salvation. ((Psalm 118:14)

This is the story of Jesus of Nazareth:
He was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.
He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed.
He was put to death on a cross and his body laid in a tomb. (Acts 19:38,39)

“Tear this temple down,” he said,
“In three days I will rebuild it!” (John 2:19)

And so it is:
On the third day,
As the disciples Mary and Mary Magdalene have seen:
Christ’s tomb is empty! (John 20:1)
An angel has rolled away the stone: (Matthew 28:2)
He is not there.
He is risen!
He is risen, indeed!

We celebrate the story of Jesus Christ:
Birth, work, death, resurrection.
And we have been raised with Christ,
Who is our life. (Col 3:1,4)

Amen

Good Friday: Litany for Scapegoats and Surprises

April 11, 2017 Fran Pratt

The texts for Good Friday (Year A) are expansive and rich. In the end, I had to veer away from them specifically to get a better overall picture. I could have written a whole litany on Peter resorting to violence (scolded by Jesus) and then denying Jesus. I could have written a whole litany with imagery from Psalm 22, which Jesus quotes in his last breath. I could have written a whole litany on "approaching the throne... with boldness" from Hebrews 10. It was just too much to pull together into a bite-sized congregational litany. Alas.

Hallelujah to the Lamb of God
Who was sacrificed;
Who was Scapegoat,
Who willingly went to death,
Who gave himself over to principalities and powers
So that they could be undone.

Everything we thought we knew about justice,
Everything we thought we knew about God
All our expectations of power and force
Our preconceived notions of victory
Were overturned in Christ
The old ideas are shadows.

Christ, who went to death
To prove life;
Who went to defeat
To prove victory;
Who went to darkness
To prove light.
Who went to pain
To prove joy.

We wait with you, Son of God, in mourning and quiet,
In the darkness of Good Friday,
Until the day dawns
And the Morning Star surprises our hearts. (1)

Amen

(1)2 Pet 1:19