Saturday Mid-Day Prayers

Afternoon Prayer for Ordinary Time
Daily Prayer for All Seasons

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As the day lengthens, we are filled by the day’s encounters; now, more than ever, we accept the depth and breadth of God’s grace.

Opening

As you have loved us,
may we love one another.

Prayer

O Tree of Calvary, send your roots deep into my soul. Gather together my frailties — my soiled heart, my sandy instability and my muddy desires — and entwine them with the strong roots of your arboreal love. Amen.

Praise

Lord God, we praise you for those riches of our creation
that we will never see:
For stars whose light will never reach the earth;
For species of living things that were born,
that flourished and perished before humankind appeared in the world;
For patterns and colors in the flowers,
which only insect eyes are able to see;
For strange, high music that humans can never hear.
Lord God, you see everything that you have made
and behold that it is very good.

Scripture

Mark 8:1-10

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ They said, ‘Seven.’ Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Meditation

“Isn’t that what friendship is all about: giving to each other the gift of our belovedness?”

— Henri Nouwen

Where do we need to offer and receive the gift of our belovedness?
How can we treat the earth as beloved?

Prayers

As the day lengthens, O Christ,
Teach us to walk in your love.

While we strive to be faithful in word and deed,
Teach us to love one another.

While we live as part of your creation,
Teach us to love this good earth.

While we offer our prayers this hour:
{name silently or aloud the intercessions and thanksgivings of our lives}

With grateful hearts,
Teach us to trust in your love.

Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, 
     hallowed be your Name, 
     your kingdom come, 
     your will be done, 
         on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our sins 
     as we forgive those 
         who sin against us. 
Save us from the time of trial, 
     and deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom, the power, 
     and the glory are yours, 
     now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer

Gracious Lord, the air sings with songs of glory, water flashes silver with creation, and the forests bloom with leaves for healing nations: May your light and love fill our hearts and souls and minds, that we may share your love with the world. Amen.

Closing

As you have loved us,
may we love one another.