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PRAY NOW: TODAY'S PRAYER
Risk-taking Relationships - Syro-Phoenician woman and Jesus
... it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.
Prayer
Was there silence while you took breath?
Was there hushed stillness as you turned to see?
Was there an epiphany in the time it took you to recover from the retort?
That woman was going where angels feared to tread
and she trod on your toes!
And thank you God that she did,
for who wouldn't face the greatest hurdle
if they thought it would bring good to a loved one:
her daughter,
my child,
their partner.
Thank you God for the risk-takers,
who teach us the length love is willing to go,
and the barriers love will not stop at,
and the line love is willing to cross.
May we be such risk-takers for you.
But your cross was beyond any risk we can imagine.
Thank you God that you are the ultimate risk-taker:
without a limit to the
love you offer us,
without a barrier at
which love will stop,
without a line beyond
which love will not cross
for us your daughters and sons,
your children,
your partners.
In such risk-taking for us,
it is we who find the silence that takes our breath away.
Readings
Exodus 6:28-7:7 Moses visits
the king
Mark 7:24-30 The Syro-Phoenician
woman
Luke 9:21-27 Jesus speaks about
suffering and death
Acts 10:9-16 Peter's vision
Prayer activity
Fold a piece of paper in half and open it out again. What things would you like
to do but cannot? What lines would you like to cross but find yourself hesitating.
Think of those who have crossed lines for love's sake. Pray for them, and strength
for yourself that one day you may follow them.
Prayer for the Church
Those who at all levels encourage and enable different braches of the Church to relate
to and to learn from each other about the Gospel we share
especially those involved in ACTS (Action Together of Churches
in Scotland) the Committee on Ecumenical Relations,
the World Council of Churches, The Conference of European
Churches, and the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
Blessing
May today take you one step further than you intended
and allow you to celebrate in finding God waiting there.
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