First-Friday contemplative service

Miserable wet night. Autumn in Ohio. I led the monthly first-Friday service of contemplative song and prayer this evening. The theme was "Christ, the bread of life." On the altar, I laid out bread, oil, and honey in addition to the usual candles and my icon of the risen Jesus breaking bread (which an Episcopal seminarian designed for LiberalMormon.net). During the long silence that follows the readings, people were invited to go up and help themselves to the bread, so they could experience its taste and texture, if they wanted, as part of their meditation.

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PSALM 105 (selections)

We praise you, Holy One!
We proclaim your deeds among the peoples!
You administer justice throughout the earth.
You honor promises that you made a thousand generations past.

When the people of Israel went into Egypt—
when they lived as foreigners among a hostile people—
you made them stronger than their oppressors.
You brought them again out of that land,
clearing every obstacle from their path.

In the heat of the day,
you spread a cloud over them to give them shade.
In the dark of night,
you provided fire to light their way.

When they cried to you in hunger,
you fed them with quails.
You sent down bread from heaven—
enough that they could eat their fill!

You remembered the promise
you made to Sarah and Abraham.
Therefore you rescued their descendants:
you led them out of captivity, amid songs of joy.

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ACTS 2:42-47

Those who had been baptized
came constantly to hear the apostles teach
and to experience fellowship with one another.
They shared bread
and prayed together.

They were continually amazed
by the wonders and signs God performed among them.
They lived as one, holding all things in common.
They sold their lands and possessions
and distributed the money to those in need.

They gathered daily at the temple
and shared bread in one another’s houses.
They ate with glad and humble hearts, praising God.

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JOHN 6:35, 37, 51

Jesus said:
I am the bread of life.

No one who comes to me
will ever be hungry.

No one who believes in me
will ever be thirsty.

No one who comes to me
will ever be turned away.

I am the bread
sent down from heaven.

Those who eat this bread
will have unending life.

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PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

Faithful One,
we thank you for all the ways that you nourish us—
in body, mind, and spirit.

We pray for our sisters and brothers who lack the necessities of life,
or who struggle to obtain them.
God of life—nourish us.

We pray for those who are sick,
wounded,
bereaved,
lonely,
afraid,
or overwhelmed.
God of comfort—nourish us.

We pray for those who have been victimized by oppression, violence, or injustice.
God, our liberator—nourish us.

We pray for your creation.
We pray that the resources, habitats, and webs of interdependence which sustain life on earth will be preserved.
Creator God—nourish us.

We pray for your church.
Bring us into true union through your Spirit.
Make us generous, as you are generous.
Christ our God—nourish us.

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CONCLUDING PRAYER

Christ our God,
we come to you in hunger and in need.
And you say to us, "Take—
take all that I have;
take my very self."