Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
Noonday Prayer for DFMS via Zoom
Feast of St. Patrick, March 17, 2020
May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that lead us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Good afternoon friends. I am grateful for this time of prayer to be together, even in the midst of the challenges and uncertainties we are facing. I think most of us have some experience of working at home on occasion, and to be looking at it as our reality for many weeks is a whole other thing entirely. Especially for those of us with kids at home! I hope we will all be gentle with ourselves and acknowledge the spiritual toll this can take on us, even if we are able to stay physically healthy in the midst of this global pandemic.
I am also grateful for the gift of our lectionary. As so often happens, we can find the solace we need for this time in our Scriptures and in the life of St. Patrick. In more secular culture, this day has become about all things Irish and all things green (beer, milkshakes, cookies, etc), but there are far more meaningful elements to the life of Patrick. I am finding solace in two things in particular. First, in Patrick’s own story. Remember he was taken as a slave to Ireland, then he escaped and returned to England. Did he just stay in England and go about his life? No, he returned to Ireland, determined to continue preaching the Gospel and sharing God’s love with the world. Patrick could have taken the easy way out. He could have decided his captivity was enough of a challenge, enough of a good work for this lifetime. But he did not. He chose to do more. He chose to step into new challenges and worked to ensure that more and more people knew the life transforming story of Jesus Christ. A good model for us on the days when we might feel exhausted or overwhelmed. As faithful followers of Jesus, we are not called to give up when the going gets tough. We are called to persist, as Patrick did. AND, and this is a really important AND. We can persist because we are not doing it alone. God is with us, and we are a community.
If you have ever been to a priest’s ordination, you have likely heard the hymn “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” (listen here), its text is a poem that is attributed to Patrick, and it too contains some important solace for these times. Like our Psalm for today, it reminds us of that all important truth that God is with us and God is so much bigger than we ask or imagine. My favorite stanza is:
I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.
Indeed God is our guide, our teacher, and our guard. The fear and uncertainty are swirling around us, and they likely will for some time to come. Today we are reminded that the way forward is to keep our focus on God, to remember that we never have to walk alone. We walk in the footsteps of saints like Patrick. So, so many of our fore-bearers in the faith have dealt with challenges, not unlike those we are currently facing, and they have found a way through, triumphed even. Like them we can keep our trust in God and our connections to each other (even if we are using different methods to do that). We can keep reading the Scriptures and saying our prayers, reminding ourselves to keep our perspective wide. This too shall pass. And we are in God’s hands, always, no matter what happens. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Good afternoon friends. I am grateful for this time of prayer to be together, even in the midst of the challenges and uncertainties we are facing. I think most of us have some experience of working at home on occasion, and to be looking at it as our reality for many weeks is a whole other thing entirely. Especially for those of us with kids at home! I hope we will all be gentle with ourselves and acknowledge the spiritual toll this can take on us, even if we are able to stay physically healthy in the midst of this global pandemic.
I am also grateful for the gift of our lectionary. As so often happens, we can find the solace we need for this time in our Scriptures and in the life of St. Patrick. In more secular culture, this day has become about all things Irish and all things green (beer, milkshakes, cookies, etc), but there are far more meaningful elements to the life of Patrick. I am finding solace in two things in particular. First, in Patrick’s own story. Remember he was taken as a slave to Ireland, then he escaped and returned to England. Did he just stay in England and go about his life? No, he returned to Ireland, determined to continue preaching the Gospel and sharing God’s love with the world. Patrick could have taken the easy way out. He could have decided his captivity was enough of a challenge, enough of a good work for this lifetime. But he did not. He chose to do more. He chose to step into new challenges and worked to ensure that more and more people knew the life transforming story of Jesus Christ. A good model for us on the days when we might feel exhausted or overwhelmed. As faithful followers of Jesus, we are not called to give up when the going gets tough. We are called to persist, as Patrick did. AND, and this is a really important AND. We can persist because we are not doing it alone. God is with us, and we are a community.
If you have ever been to a priest’s ordination, you have likely heard the hymn “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” (listen here), its text is a poem that is attributed to Patrick, and it too contains some important solace for these times. Like our Psalm for today, it reminds us of that all important truth that God is with us and God is so much bigger than we ask or imagine. My favorite stanza is:
I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.
Indeed God is our guide, our teacher, and our guard. The fear and uncertainty are swirling around us, and they likely will for some time to come. Today we are reminded that the way forward is to keep our focus on God, to remember that we never have to walk alone. We walk in the footsteps of saints like Patrick. So, so many of our fore-bearers in the faith have dealt with challenges, not unlike those we are currently facing, and they have found a way through, triumphed even. Like them we can keep our trust in God and our connections to each other (even if we are using different methods to do that). We can keep reading the Scriptures and saying our prayers, reminding ourselves to keep our perspective wide. This too shall pass. And we are in God’s hands, always, no matter what happens. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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