Proper 24 (Year A): Litany for the Imprint of God

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.

(Note: here is an alternative litany for Proper 24 of Year A)

In Matthew 22, Jesus demonstrates a startling lesson to any of us who might be confused about the separation of church and state. The Pharisee are trying to entrap him into some treasonous statement for which they might turn him in and be rid of his unsettling influence on the people and his undermining of their religious power. First they try to butter him up with flattery: “we know you don’t show partiality…” (It’s true. He doesn’t.) And then they hit him with a tax question (tricky in any age).

And he says: whose face is on this coin? Caesar’s? Then it must be a thing born out of a Cesarous imagination… (Matthew 22:20).

Whose face is on your DNA? Whose image are you made in? Whose image is the natural world made in? Whose image do you bear? Then to whom do you belong, and to what Kin-dom Community? And to whom will you give what you are, your gifts?


God, show us your ways (1),
So that we might know The One Whose Image We Bear (2),
The one whose stamp is on us,
Whose imagination brought us the natural world
Whose creativity begot the beauties of nature and humanity
Whose invites us into alignment with Love….






Day of Pentecost (Year A): Litany for Holy Spirit Fire

I'll mostly let Frederick Buechner do the commenting this week. Except to say, the Lectionary is never the wrong thing for the moment.  And to say: Rest in peace George Floyd, who was murdered in a racist act of police brutality earlier this week.

“Every morning you should wake up in your bed and ask yourself: "Can I believe it all again today?" No, better still, don't ask it till after you've read The New York Times, till after you've studied that daily record of the world's brokenness and corruption, which should always stand side by side with your Bible. Then ask yourself if you can believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ again for that particular day. If your answer's always Yes, then you probably don't know what believing means. At least five times out of ten the answer should be No because the No is as important as the Yes, maybe more so. The No is what proves you're human in case you should ever doubt it. And then if some morning the answer happens to be really Yes, it should be a Yes that's choked with confession and tears and. . . great laughter.”

― Frederick Buechner

God, our world is rife with violence and evil
With cruelty, injustice, and materialism.
We need Holy Spirit’s fire
To burn away our unjust systems…

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

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