Daily Common Prayer
As we move through lent this year we invite you to a practice of prayer and scripture that will connect you with God and to other past and present. For more info on the Book of Common Prayer check out the introduction at the end of this post.
March 3, 2015
On March 3, 1968, more than twenty thousand Mexican and Chicano students walked out of Los Angeles high schools, calling for an end to racist policies. The students were not allowed to speak Spanish in the classroom or to use the bathroom during lunchtime. Mexican-American history was often denied, and Chicano students were advised toward menial labor instead of college.
Unite us in justice, Lord: that all might praise your name together.
Psalm 18: 14– 18
The LORD thundered out of heaven: the Most High uttered his voice. He loosed his arrows and scattered them: he hurled thunderbolts and routed them. The beds of the seas were uncovered, and the foundations of the world laid bare: at your battle cry, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. He reached down from on high and grasped me: he drew me out of great waters. He delivered me from my strong enemies and from those who hated me: for they were too mighty for me.
Unite us in justice, Lord: that all might praise your name together.
Pandita Ramabai, a nineteenth-century Indian activist, said, “People must not only hear about the kingdom of God, but must see it in actual operation, on a small scale perhaps and in imperfect form, but a real demonstration nevertheless.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, where there is injustice, unite us as your children to speak out and walk out as necessary. May all of our acts of protest be steeped in love for others and for you. Amen.
To practice the whole Daily Common Prayer, you can click here (it includes daily scripture, prayers and reflections)
Introduction to the Book of Common Prayer
Christians have been singing and praying and worshiping together for thousands of years. We can sometimes forget that and view our worship, our prayers as something we do on our own…private.
This year during the Lent season, we want to dive into an exciting, new (for us!) practice…of praying prayers with people around the world, from diverse places, traditions, denominations. We’re going to do this from what is called “The Common Prayer” (www.commonprayer.net), a book with prayers and scriptures for every day, called a “liturgy”.
Liturgy (literally means “the work of the people”) is a communal response to the sacred. Its something we do together, as a way to ground ourselves TOGETHER in Christ.
Every day you will have the chance to join people…in all parts of the world, praying some of these very same prayers. There is strength in numbers, and there is a powerful sense of unity that can come as people from diverse places and circumstances pray together, even though they have never met, and don’t even speak the same language.
We also want to encourage you to do this in community….whenever possible.
So maybe you want to find a common time in your home to pray these prayers and read these scriptures together, or include them at the beginning of your cell gatherings…to remind us that we are NOT on this faith journey alone, but are meant to live our lives in community.