ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS January 6, 2020 Prayer for the Week: No category defines those who seek you – No class or classification, no degree or distinction, no title or entitlement delineates the boundaries of those who yearn to know you. O Holy One born in Bethlehem, O Nativity of Grace formed upon the earth, the world is drawn to you because of a deep yearning. As we begin a
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS January 5, 2020 Scripture: Matthew 2:12 Because the Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route. Thought for the Day: It is one thing to return home and something very different to return to a place you once called home that no longer feels like your home because of a transformative experience. Have
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS January 4, 2020 Scripture: Jeremiah 31:8-9 See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS January 3, 2020 Scripture: Matthew 2:11 They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Thought for the Day: And Mary looked up and saw these foreigners with a different religion and she said, “Get out of my house you
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS January 2, 2020 Scripture: Matthew 2:3 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. Thought for the Day: Herod was troubled, or as the original Greek reads: Tarasso. The word describes an inward collision, often between values, ideals or priorities. Herod was threatened, feeling an internal clash that most definitely included his desire for security that was protected
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS January 1, 2020 Prayer for the New Year: Your Holy Name is honored and hallowed, for in you we find life and value and purpose. Today, as a new year greets us, we acknowledge our past that has not always served your prime mission of love. Forgive us when we excuse or conceal certain aspects of the past. Too often we paint a picture of history
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS December 31, 2019 Scripture: Matthew 2:1-2 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” Thought for the Day: When we first brought Zach home
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS December 30, 2019 By Rev. Paula Gembala Prayer for the Week: Loving and merciful God, you have taught us you are the Light of the World. All throughout the bible, in the old and new testaments, we hear of your light. We want your light to shine from within us, that others may want what we have. Allow us to be your beacon of light so
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS December 29, 2019 Scripture: Matthew 2:8-9 Then Herod sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped