Lent 5

Bless the Lord who unburdens all of our sin.

God's mercy endureth forever.

Let's pray together.

Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

But if we confess our sin, our burdens, and our transgressions, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

God has not dealt with us according to our sin.

So great is God's mercy.

As far as the East is from the West, as a parent has compassion on their children.

So is the Lord merciful.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

And all that is within me blessed and holy man.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

And forget not all of God's ways.

And so let us give thanks to God for all the gifts freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation in earth and sky and sea.

We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of women and men, revealing the image of Christ.

We thank you, Lord, for our daily food and drink, our homes and families and our friends.

We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, hearts to love and hands to serve.

We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work and leisure to rest and play.

We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity.

We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice.

We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints in all times and places.

We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

The Lord be with you.

And with thy Spirit.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners.

Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise.

That among the swift and varied changes of the world our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

A covenant they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

Thank you.

A reading from Psalms.

Please respond at the half verse.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness.

Compassion, blot out my offenses, wash me through and through from my wickedness.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.

And so you are justified when you speak and upright in your judgment.

Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, a sinner from my mother's womb.

For behold, you look for truth deep within me, and I will make you understand wisdom secretly.

Purge me from my sin and I shall be pure.

Wash me and I shall be clean indeed.

Make me here of joy and gladness, that the body you have broken may rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence.

Give me the joy of your saving help again.

Today I have begotten you.

As he says also in another place, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death.

And he was heard because of his reverent submission.

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.

And having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.

They came to Philip, who was from Betheda in Galilee, and said to him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

Philip went and told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.

Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Now my soul is troubled, and what should I say?

Father, save me from this hour?

No.

It is for this reason that I've come to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.

And then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder.

Others said, An angel has spoken to him.

Jesus answered, This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

Now is the judgment of this world.

Now the ruler of this world will be driven out, and I, when I'm lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a lamb of your own fold, a sheep of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

I want to share a frame that increasingly matters to me from former Bishop Gene Robinson.

Bishop Robinson says it is our Christian duty to read the scriptures so seriously that we refuse to take them literally.

I think that matters this week because if we took a surface level read of what Jesus says, we might think he is saying we are supposed to despise our life on earth so that we can look forward to a glorious rebirth.

As the song goes, one glad morning, when this life is over, I'll fly away.

But I don't think that is what Jesus has in mind for us.

I think what Jesus is suggesting is this serious understanding that we are being called to live bigger, not smaller, that we're being called to live away from, frankly, the fear that we've been taught we ought to have towards difference and one another and those parts of ourselves that don't just seem to fit.

And if I'm really fair, we're being taught to live outside of the fear of God that many of us have been raised into.

And I want to say that I'm not a botanist, but literally what Jesus says about seeds isn't true.

Seeds don't die when you plant them.

What seeds do, of course, is they open up.

And I hope you'll hear me.

This at least is the word I feel like has been impressed on my life and my own journey, is that one of the hallmarks of discipleship and faith is that we move past our fear of being broken apart so that we can embrace being broken open.

I want you to consider that that's what happens to a seed when you plant it.

It doesn't break apart.

It breaks open.

That shell, that pit, that stone, that lining that is meant to preserve the seed will also be a prison for it until it breaks open and new life can come.

When we hear this reading from Jeremiah, of course, we're hearing the difference between having a heart of stone and a heart of flesh.

And in the story, God's words are written on tablets of stone.

And now we're hearing that God would write those words on hearts.

And I'd like you to hear, I think, at least an opportunity to hear that these tablets of stone represent a fruit stone.

And they're there, and the seed lies inside, but ultimately, until they break open, the seed cannot grow and produce fruit.

The word heart is really interesting because in the Bible, the heart is actually not the center of your emotions.

Those are centered in your bowels.

In the Bible, the heart is the center of your will.

Now, where would you say your will is centered?

Well, it's in your brain, of course, right?

And we understand scientifically that everything you feel and experience is in your brain anyway, right?

Heart is a word that we use to talk about the part of our brain that is our core.

Jeremiah writes that God would like to give us a new center of our will.

And Jeremiah is going to continue to say that God would like to do away with that rigid seed casing and write a new word on a heart of flesh.

A heart of flesh, of course, that is soft and that is moving life.

And in this passage, it's opening up and producing fruit in life.

Now, maybe all of this sounds weird, but over the last few months, I've been in a small group doing some spiritual direction work.

And I've been having a conversation with the parishioner about what's the difference between religion and spirituality.

And I want to suggest one of the ways this has all coalesced, at least in my own mind, is that doctrine and dogma are just manners.

You know what manners are.

They're ways that we can become comfortable with one another in a group setting.

Many of us don't realize that manners have not always been around.

But there's a reason, of course, you put your knife down when you're not using it at dinner.

People didn't always do that.

And people were quite worried that their opponent would stab them at the table.

So this is why we put the knife down.

This is good manners, right?

It allows somebody else to eat in your company without worrying you're going to stab them.

Not only do we put the knife down, but if you know your table manners, the blade is supposed to face the person dining.

Because when the blade is faced outward, that's a threat to the person on the other side of the table, right?

We teach our kids manners like please ask, use words like please and thank you.

We do this to guide them into virtues like gratitude and openness.

We use this to guide them into a way of living that is hopefully open and community sustaining, right?

And you know what's very interesting as a southerner, we all prize our manners, especially in the South.

But it is really not, I should say, it's poor manners to comment on somebody else's poor manners.

I hope you know this, especially while they're there.

Now we know if we're really going to have proper manners, we don't comment on somebody's poor manners when they're not there either.

Although that is the southern tradition.

Manners are really meant to guide us into how we can dine together, how can we ask and receive together.

But manners are guiding us towards something deeper than themselves.

Sometimes we get stuck in the manners.

Sometimes we get stuck in the dogma and the doctrine, and that acts to us like a pit and holds the seed of grace inside of us that God would be delighted for us to break out of.

And that God would be delighted if we could break open.

And I think Jesus uses this language that unless a seed perishes, it won't grow.

Not because that happens, but because that's how it feels.

When we open ourselves to grace, I think it's very scary because we start to feel like we're going to be broken apart when really, in fact, we're just going to be broken open.

And as Leonard Cohen says in the song Anthem, we all have cracks.

It's how the light gets in.

The cracks are also how the growth and the grace and the light come out.

And this I want to suggest to you is what Jesus is inviting us to consider.

Much of my spiritual formation was about learning how to stay shut.

Because if you loved people who were different from you, well, you might be condoning their evil ways and their wicked lifestyle, and you might end up lazy or even worse using poor grammar.

And we all know what poor grammar leads to, dancing.

I mean, you know, this is the kind of thing, sadly, that we've been taught.

We've been taught to worship manners.

We've been taught to worship manners.

Instead of understanding that manners are there into guiding comfort, into guiding ease, into being the conduit of relationship.

And when I look back, why was I afraid of consenting adult behavior?

Because I was afraid of God.

And when we're afraid of God, you may not have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun somebody else.

What a sad way to live.

What a sad way to live.

It's occurred to me as we've done some work over the last several weeks on our Wednesday morning group about reconciliation.

We ask God every single week when we come to church to forgive us.

And I've got to say, I've spent quite a bit of my religious life doing that, but at the same time being disappointed.

Offensive.

Well, God, I want you to forgive me for this thing, but you know the reason why I did it is this sort of business, you know.

And I don't know if you're like me, you're probably much more mature, but when I offer adults apologies, I usually do it that way too.

Well, I'm sorry I did this, and then there's the but.

Sometimes it even comes out of my mouth, God forbid.

But it's often in my head, I did this because, of course, I had this really good reason you didn't know about, and there's just some collateral damage, or you know, I'm sorry your feelings were hurt by what I did.

This is the sort of thing that we do because we're just afraid sometimes, or I should just say for myself, I'm afraid sometimes to apologize for my part.

And I'm afraid because, geez, you know, I don't want to be misunderstood.

But here's the promise of our faith: God already knows why you did what you were doing.

God understands.

And that fear of God that was programmed into me as a child, fear that your apology won't be good enough or you won't meet it enough, which by the way, that's why we had the Reformation.

That fear has kept my heart stuck within a frame of stone.

Because if I don't have any grace for myself, how can I have any grace for you?

And what happens when we break open to grace?

Well, geez, we might have to love people that are hard to love.

And that seems like a really good thing to me, by the way, as I age.

That seems like a really good thing.

And you know the question I always heard as a child is, well, sure, if you accept this person, when does it stop?

I hope it doesn't now.

Don't you?

Why are we afraid to recognize and celebrate the virtue within consenting adult relationships?

What are we afraid of?

That our own marriages won't measure up that somehow we won't be enough, that there's only enough grace for a few folks.

Are we afraid that one day we're gonna come into church and we're gonna say, I confess the things I've done and left undone, and the priest is gonna get up and say, Not today.

You didn't mean that.

Nope.

Hey, on behalf of God, I'm gonna tell you your confession.

God doesn't accept it.

You realize the liturgy is a script, and the conclusion is preordained.

You will never go to church or read the prayer book or do the rite of reconciliation and say what you would like to unburden and have the priest reply, not this time.

And you know why that's the case, because it's God's property to have mercy, not to have punitivity.

And the journey where we actually live into that is all about being broken open.

And it feels sometimes to me like God just wants to break me apart.

But God is not interested in breaking you apart, and God is not interested in scattering us into bits.

God just wants to open up the light that's already there.

And God would be delighted if we would open ourselves to the light that is already there.

You notice what kind of people in the gospel show up, and this is unique to John.

They're Greeks.

They're the kind of people that if Jesus gets too close to, he'll have to quarantine himself.

It's a timely message, isn't it?

He'll have to quarantine himself in order just to talk to these people.

It's a curious thing because, you know, John doesn't say whether Jesus talks to these people or not, just that they're interested, you know.

And of course, the fact that the story is there represents breaking open.

Going from just our group to, oh, there's room for somebody else.

And maybe there'll be room for somebody else after that.

And by the way, if you've read the book of Acts, that's the story.

The book of Acts is about a series of dominoes.

It's about a slippery slope, it's about the Holy Spirit jumping over every obstacle we put in the way of being the beloved community that God imagines for us.

And not only is it okay and God puts up with it, God pushes people to do it to open up.

As your priest, I want you to hear.

God has already forgiven you.

God has already made peace with everything you've done.

God is going to seek reconciliation and presence with you until the day you die, because the day you die, it's going to be full.

Our invitation in the Christian life is to not wait until we die, don't you see?

Our invitation is to peel back those layers now and allow the center of our being not to be fixed and rigid and stuck in some sort of rule or tradition, but to move life through us.

Can you go too far?

I don't know if I've ever seen anybody do it.

I think the question is, how far can we go?

How far can we go?

This story we read in Hebrews, I want you to notice, please, the author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus prayed for his own life with loud sobs and pleas and petitions, and the scriptures say God heard him.

And he died.

And this, I think, speaks to frankly the cross as a way of life.

It is about willing our willingness to lay down a worldview that has kept us shut up.

And we don't even realize that's what it's doing.

And we've jockeyed to live into these rules so long we can't imagine living without them.

It's comforting to be better than somebody else.

It's comforting to be morally superior to somebody else.

That's comforting.

I don't mean that everybody else, who can do that?

Gandhi, maybe.

And to lay that down.

To be able to pick up something new and I base my life around that entire lie is painful.

And God's not afraid of that pain.

I mean, that's the story.

God's not afraid of that pain.

God actually is really excited for us to do that painful work of being broken open.

You see, the net result is not that we'll be shattered, it's that we'll be opened.

And it's only painful because we based our life in the wrong thing.

And that's what you hear in this psalm.

Against you only, Lord, have I sinned.

That's not true.

He raped a woman.

I mean, he sinned against her and her husband.

We know that's the case, right?

We know that's the case.

This is about our feelings.

God, I feel like I was born in sin.

We all know there's nothing wrong with babies.

We know that.

This is about our feelings, which God hears and honors, but God also invites us to something greater than our feelings, which is the truth.

The truth.

The truth is God hopes we will open ourselves to grace because God knows we'll enjoy it.

God hopes we'll lay down the burdens we put between ourselves and other people because God trusts if we do, there will be new life for all of us.

So I don't know, we've only got two weeks left in Lent, but if you haven't given something up, give up the shell of the seed so that you can have a heart that is soft and moves grace through your life and the rest of the world.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, the eternal of the Father.

God, light and mind, truth God, truth God.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became and he suffered him in his head.

On the third day he rose again and according to Jesus.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Grant that every member of the church may truly and humbly serve you, in your name and be glorified by all people.

We pray for Michael, our presiding bishop, for Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kai, for bishops in the diocesan cycle of prayer, St.

Francis of Assisi Prairie View, St.

Francis College Station, and St.

John's Columbus, for Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the priests in our community, Mike, Craig, Bill, and Lillian, and for all bishops, priests, and deacons, that they may be faithful ministers of your word and sacrament.

We pray for all who govern and authority in the nations of the world, for all the members of the armed forces, for all who struggle for peace and justice, that they may act with prudence and vision and plant the seeds of your kingdom everywhere.

That there may be justice and peace on the earth.

We pray for our parish and our ventry, that our people continues to learn clearly and minister effectively.

We pray for St.

Thomas the Apostle School for those who teach and those who learn.

Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake.

Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble.

Give to the departed eternal rest.

We praise you for Saint Thomas the Apostle and your saints who have entered into joy.

May we also come to share in your heavenly kingdom.

Let us give thanks for our blessings and pray for our own needs and those of others, especially Chris, Sean, Jerome, Mark, Janice, Leslie, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time silently or aloud.

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit, you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth.

Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy.

We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit and who lives and reigns forever and ever.

Amen.

The socially distanced peace of the Lord be always with you.

And with thy spirit.

Just to clear up, we don't bring food to the event.

A tractor trailer full of fresh food comes from the food bank and we distribute it.

We're pretty much always done in two hours, having served more than 100 vehicles, and there are jobs, really, ways to support for any age group.

We've had small children do this before, and what a delight.

So this is an opportunity we have usually the first Saturday of the month, but this month uh they're closed for Easter in two weeks, so we're gonna do it.

We're gonna do it early.

Um, next week, of course, is Palm Sunday, and I'd like to call to your attention uh plans for Holy Week.

I'm really happy to say we're going to have it, first of all, as compared with last year.

Um, but it is a little bit peeled back.

So on Maundy Thursday, uh we'll be having an evening worship service.

We are not going to do foot washing this year.

That's okay.

Uh we'll we'll return there, but that'll be at 6.30 p.m.

On Good Friday, we'll have services both at noon and 6 p.m.

And um then on Easter Day we'll have three opportunities for worship.

The first is at 6 30 a.m.

with the great vigil of Easter, uh, and then an 8.30 and a 10.30 service as well.

I just want to prepare you.

The Easter Vigil is unlike the other services, different readings, different structure.

Um many of us, it is um frankly one of our favorite liturgies of the year, and I want to prepare you if you come that we will be holding a candle for a long time, which is a beautiful and lovely thing to do.

So uh that's what we're doing for Holy Week this year, and you'll see that in the bulletin as well.

Um, a couple of other words, um, you know, you're you're seeing we've got festival here, and that's because yesterday we celebrated St.

Mel the Weaver.

Um, and there's this wonderful thing that happened.

Not only are we streaming services because of COVID, but it didn't occur to us how helpful it is to have streaming capabilities for family who can't come to funerals.

So continued thanks to Bob Ketchum, to uh Hal Snap, to um Todd Parker and uh Paul Bielski for helping us stream not only our services on Sunday mornings, but funerals so that we can be gathered to really celebrate the lives of our saints and commend them into Christ the Good Shepherd's arms.

That's going to continue.

Some of you know uh Jerry Mulder.

Uh he passed into larger life about 10 days ago, and his funeral is this Thursday morning at 10.

Because school will be open if you come to attend, that'll be on YouTube streaming, but it'll also be here at 10 a.m.

And of course you're invited to come.

Um you'll come through the front doors and you'll have to sign in because you'll be a visitor during school hours.

I just want to prepare you for that.

They're not going to turn you away, but we will have to sign in and we'll come in at 10 for that service.

And you'll see an email coming out that Carol is having a reception outdoors following the service, not here because of school, but you'll see that in an email that's going to come tomorrow.

So again, that's Jerry Mulder's service this Thursday morning at 10.

Um, it bears reminding why it is that the floors look like they do.

This, of course, is all planned.

It's part of our Capital Funds Drive.

So we have removed the carpet, and over the next probably five weeks, the roughly 4,000 square feet of our sanctuary is going to be tiled as we planned.

And following that, they'll remove the carpeting and tile the narthex as well.

This was our second priority in our Capital Funds Drive, and it's something we have to do before we install the organs so that we keep the dust off of the pipes.

Not only is it good to know why the floors look like they do, it's just a great reminder of your generosity during difficult times.

During COVID, you've been so faithful in not only your annual pledges, but your capital pledges that many of you know, not only were we able to do phase one, the completion and elimination of our debt, which we celebrated in December, but now here we are moving into phase two, resurfacing our floors.

Thank you.

Thank you, not only for honoring your pledge, but doing it in difficult times, continuing to be examples of generosity.

Continue to walk in love as Christ first loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

Him when into the woods he came.

Out of the woods my master came, and he was well content.

When death and came with us, all things come of thee, O Lord.

This is the table not of the church, but of Jesus Christ.

It is made ready for those who love him and those who want to love him more.

So come.

You who have much faith and you who have little, you who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.

You who have tried to follow and you who have failed, come.

Not because the church invites you, it is Christ.

And he invites you to meet him here.

The Lord be with you.

Lift up your hearts.

Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.

It is meeting your hearts to do.

It is very meet, right, and our bound in duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father Almighty, everlasting God, who does bid thy faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the paschal feast, that fervent in prayer and in works of mercy, and renewed by thy word and sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace which thou hast prepared for those who love thee.

And therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory.

Glory be to thee, O Lord Most High.

Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.

All glory be to thee, O Lord our God, for that thou didst create heaven and earth, and didst make us in thine own image.

And of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to take our nature upon him and to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption.

He made there a full and perfect sacrifice for the whole world, and did institute, and in this holy gospel command us to continue a perpetual memory of that, his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.

For in the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus took bread.

And when he given thanks to thee, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Likewise after supper, and when he'd given thanks, Jesus gave them the cup of wine, saying, Drink this, all of you.

This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for all for the remission of sins.

Do this as oft as you shall drink it in remembrance of me.

Wherefore, O Lord and Heavenly Father, we thy people do celebrate and make with these thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto thee, the memorial thy son hath commanded us to make, having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming again with power and great glory.

And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and with thy word and Holy Spirit to bless and sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that thee may be unto us the body and blood of thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness to accept this, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, whereby we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies.

Grant, we beseech thee that all who partake of this holy communion may worthily receive the most precious body and blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction.

And also that we and all thy whole church may be made one body with Him, that He may dwell in us and we in Him, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

By whom and with whom and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world without end.

Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to pray, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

Therefore, let us keep the beast.

These are the gifts of God.

These are the gifts of God.

And we are the people of God.

I invite you to receive bread or a blessing by coming to the aisle closest to your right, coming down front in six-foot intervals and returning from the far side.

Almighty and ever-living God, we most heartily thank thee for that thou dost feed us in these holy mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of thy son, our Savior Jesus Christ, and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness towards us, and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, the blessed company of all faithful people, and are also heirs through hope of thy everlasting kingdom.

And we humbly beseech thee, O Heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, world without end.

Amen.

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.

All things break, and all things can be mended.

Not with time, as they say, but with intention.

So go.

Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.

The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be with you this day and remain with you always.