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As we enter the fourth week of Easter, our churches remain vigilant in response to COVID-19. As we discern a faithful way forward, may we continue to find encouragement through our daily prayers, spiritual discernment, and a shared reading of the Scripture.
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Sunday, Fourth Week of Easter
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A Vision of Restoration (Zephaniah 3:14-20, NRSV)
The Home Daily Bible Readings for Monday through Saturday are selected in support of the Sunday lesson in the Uniform Lessons Series, ©Spring 2020.
3:14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
18 as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19 I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20 At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the Lord.
Feeding the Five Thousand (Mark 6:30-44, NRSV)
Today’s Gospel lesson is selected from the Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer (Louisville, KY:Westminster/John Knox, 1993).
6:30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
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A Prayer for COVID Times
Rev. Dr. Joseph V. Crockett, CEO, Friendship Press, Inc.
O God of the resurrection and life,
Teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
We live on the brink of death with every new sunrise
COVID 19 has become our new neighbor
He greets us with morning tears over the passing of those God loves
She enters our lives through front doors, backdoors, side doors, and doors unseen
And our mournful ways to say farewell have been stolen from the treasury of our rituals.
O God of the resurrection and life,
Teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
Some mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, partners, friends, and coworkers who court this dreadful disease mark their lives by BC (before COVID) and AC (after COVID)
Others less fortunate are marked in wooden boxes, held up by a layover in refrigerated coolers, until their resting space is prepared
Elderly persons are hidden in death-filled basements
Their concealers gave little thought that one day they would be discovered
As our mournful ways to say farewell have been stolen from the treasury of our rituals.
In a land of the free and home of the brave
America holds first place in a race that no nation wants to win
The sound of rattling, decayed bones screech against our ears
The stench of the dead interrupts our desire to smell
And our mournful ways to say farewell have been stolen from the treasury of our rituals.
O God of the resurrection and life,
Teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
Ventilator breathing has entered the lexicon of our language
Face masks are essential apparel for dress outside the home
Stay at home and shelter in place are code phrases for refuge
We dance by the rhythms of social distancing in public spaces
While our mournful ways to say farewell have been stolen from the treasury of our rituals.
O God of the resurrection and life,
Teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
O Lord of the resurrection and life, you know
These bones and these bodies will live again
Help us hold to the hope that the morning’s joy will follow this season of tearstained mourning
Breathe on us, O God, so that even though we die, yet we will live again
Breathe on us, O God, so that all who die in the comfort of your presence may rest assured that
You, O Christ, are the seat of resurrection and the power for life everlasting. Amen.
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