Saturday, February 4, 2023

02 25 2023 Prayer of the Day, Isaiah 58, Matthew 5:13-20, Epiphany 5a

Peace, all. Here's a prayer of the day for Sunday. It pairs well with the words from Isaiah 58:6-9 and Matthew 5:13-20 used by the Revised Common Lectionary. Use freely.

If you do use it, I invite you to cite this page. This will assist me as I continue to publish professionally beyond this page. 

Again, peace. 

~ Tom Gaulke 


[ abandoned prison by Claude Pinché: image source ]


Tongues recoiling, suspecting delight; hands, hallowed, scratching at the sun; foreheads, forlorn, bending, flexing, descending down to dust.

Where words form on these tongues, all the same, departing detesting to delude, to demand, to degrade and to destroy; where hands lifted, holy, become but fists, formed to abuse and to hurt and to exploit; where heads pressed to kiss your altar’s feet belong to bodies whose boots do not hesitate to stand upon straining necks–to grind with gusto their targets of hate down, down, down into earth; what good are these? 

They are not. They are not. They are not. 

The fast you choose, O God, is to break every chain. The fast you choose is the oppressed made free. The fast you choose is bread and shelter shared. A community loving so nothing is lacking. A community, loving, so together we are all that we need. 

These words were scorched into the hearts of your prophets. May they forever flow freely from our own. Amen.


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