Habakkuk 1:2-4; Ps: 1-2,6-7, 8-9; 2Timothy 1:6-14; Luke 17: 5-10
A prayer for courage and strength

increase our faith
as violence presses
around us
we feel your absence
in raging wars
let us hear your voice
that our hearts may
not be hardened
stir the flame
that is You in us
for You did not give
a spirit of cowardice
but strength
and love
and wisdom
that may bear
the hardship
of war, violence and evil
not stealing
your peace
and spirit of love
but doing the work
that needs
to be done
for the vision
still has its time
pressing on
to fulfillment

Can you wait in faith for God’s fulfillment?
What strength and courage has God given you?

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

How are you a channel of God’s peace?

Bar 1:15-22; Psalm 79:1-9; Luke 10:13-16

turning
from God’s way
of Truth
seeking love
and power
in all the wrong places
we leave a trail
of destruction
and our lives
become disordered
until we hear
a voice calling us back to life
to see God’s way
of truth
of light
of love
His cross
a path
leading us home

What do you see in His cross?
How does it lead you back to life?

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

with the joy of the Lord
as our strength
we embrace
God’s word
as trustworthy
and true
enlightening
pure
and enduring
bringing joy
to our heart-
as a child
of wonder
guarded
by angels
today
we rest
secure in God’s love

Does God’s word bring joy to your heart?
Is rejoicing in the Lord your strength?

Neh 2:1-8; Psalm 137:1-6; Luke 9:57-62

letting
the dead
bury the dead
not turning back
we follow
to new life
with nowhere
to rest our heads
but in the Spirit
that carries us
wherever we go
we are home
in God’s love
who gives us
all we need

Are you at home in God’s love?
Do you have all you need?

Zec 8:20-23; Psalm 87:1-7; Luke 9:51-56

the living God
with us
within us
we follow
turning from death
to life
embracing all
the Holy Spirit offers
with compassion
love
joy
peace
kindness
generosity
patience
self-control
gentleness
even as we face
terror, sickness and darkness
we are strengthened
with the light
of God’s courage

How do you embrace the living God?
How do you follow?

Feast Day of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

Daniel 7:9-10,13-14; Psalm 138:1-5; John 1:47-51

longing
for a new vision
we see heaven opened
in awe
of what we see
the work of the angels
complete
we see
a place of no duplicity
or cynicism
a place of harmony
a place of love
working
one for the other
with no discord
a glory of voices
each knowing
their part in
the most beautiful music
ever heard

Can you see this place called heaven?

Amos 6:1, 4-7; Psalm 146: 7-10; Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16: 19-31

seeking
our own comfort
above all
leaves us blind
to the cries
of the sufferings
of the poor
even as we are never
satisfied –
are we too
beggars of life
as our minds
are clouded
by delusion
searching for meaning
and truth
in all the wrong places

Where do you meet Lazarus?
How do you respond?
Where is truth?

Zec 2:5-9, 14-15; Jer 31:1-13; Luke 9:43-45

I will be for her
an encircling
wall of fire
the glory
in her midst
turning her mourning
to joy
her sorrow
to song
and even as He
was handed over to men
His spirit lives
guarded
and protected
by the living God

Do you feel protected by the living God?

Haggai 2:1-9; Psalm 43:1-4; Luke 9: 18-22

Jesus asks
who do you say I am?
we say
you are the Presence
that never leaves us
the Temple
that cannot fall
the Christ who suffers
and rises
who is with us
in ruin and glory
in fear
and in courage
in death
and in Life
the One
who is with us always
until all things
shine with God’s Love
and Peace

Who do you say He is?