The story is told that the soon-to-be Pope Francis asked Pope Benedict, ‘Can you smoke while you pray?’ A shocked Benedict retorted, ‘Of course not’.
Francis then asked, ‘Well, can you pray while you smoke?’
The face of a reflective Benedict suggested he acknowledged a lesson learnt.
You might want to equip yourself with a candle (& lighter!), your preferred version of the Bible…
Offering ourselves, open to God:
This is the place and this is the time.
Here and now God waits to break into our experience
to change our minds, to change our lives.
This home, this scene is the place, as are all places;
this hour, this space is the time, as are all times.
Here and now, lone or with others,
lone but with our Wesley family,
lone but with sisters and brothers around the globe,
lone but with the entire creation,
lone but with a great cloud of witnesses gone before, some whom we know,
lone but with multitudes, let us offer ourselves to worship God.
You might wish, safely, to light the candle
Luke records that, outside the village of Nain, Jesus encounters a widow about to bury her only son.
Let us listen for a word from God:
Read Luke 7. 12-15:
aloud, slowly, a couple of times, and then allow some quiet space to reflect.
Encountering someone about to experience family, social, economic and faith-community isolation, Jesus’ heart is ‘filled with pity’, understanding an utterly human emotion.
By walking over and touching the coffin, he breaks through customs regarded as religion’s norms - for faith and love are not rooted in rites, however familiar, however widely followed, however valued - but in the compassion of God known in Jesus, the human face of God.
Despite a lack of physical human company, fellowship and companionship continue, and we are touched by God in Jesus.
Jesus ‘gave him back’ to his mother. Despite her sense of desolation and loss, she experiences a restoration, a renewal; her social isolation and distancing will come to an end.
We remember the sick in body, mind and heart, and all who aid their healing.
We thank Thee that Thy church unsleeping,
while earth rolls onward into light,
through all the world her watch is keeping,
and rests not now by day or night.
As o'er each continent and island
the dawn leads on another day,
the voice of prayer is never silent,
nor dies the strain of praise away.
The sun that bids us rest is waking
our brethren 'neath the western sky,
and hour by hour fresh lips are making
thy wondrous doings heard on high.
Captain of Israel's host, and Guide
of all who seek the land above,
beneath thy shadow we abide,
the cloud of thy protecting love;
our strength, thy grace; our rule, thy word;
our end, the glory of the Lord.
By thine unerring Spirit led,
we shall not in the desert stray;
we shall not full direction need,
nor miss our providential way;
as far from danger as from fear,
while love, almighty love, is near.
A Blessing:
May the strength of God pilot us;
may the power of God preserve us;
may the wisdom of God instruct us;
may the hand of God protect us;
may the way of God direct us;
may the shield of God defend us;
may the host of God guard us against the snares of the evil one
and temptations of the world,
this day, and for evermore. Amen.
This, this is the God we adore,
our faithful, unchangeable friend,
whose love is as great as his power,
and neither knows measure nor end:
’Tis Jesus, the first and the last,
whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
we’ll praise him for all that is past,
and trust him for all that’s to come.