Prayer of Sacred Reading and Listening (Lectio Divina), Monday , October 5, 2026, 9:00am

 Zoom Meeting ID: 814 8663 8380        Passcode: scripture

Link:   https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81486638380pwd=elNs

John August Swanson, "Psalm 23"

Matthew 22: 1-14

1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, 'Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

A Responsive Lord’s Prayer for the Season of Creation 

Leader: Our Father in heaven, You are at home in the air, soil, forests and oceans 

People: Hallowed be your being! 

Leader: By the care we take of your Creation, Your kingdom come, Your will be done 

People: Your will to till and care 

Leader: Give us this day our daily bread 

People: That all may have enough to live life in fullness 

Leader: Forgive us our trespasses 

People: Our greed, our exploitation, our lack of concern for other species and for future generations 

Leader: As we forgive those who trespass against us 

People: with reconciliation and justice and peace. 

Leader: Lead us not into temptation 

People: The temptation to equate “dominion” with domination 

Leader: And deliver us from evil 

People: The evil of destroying your gift of creation 

Leader: For yours is the kingdom 

People: Yours, Lord, not ours 

Leader: For ever and ever 

People: beyond beginning and end. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Holy God, Lord of the feast,

you have prepared a table before all peoples
and poured out life with such abundance
that death cannot claim the triumph over your universe.
Call us again to your banquet where we may receive your holy food,
and strengthened by what is honorable, just, and pure,
be transformed into a people of righteousness and peace. Amen.

Prayer of Sacred Reading and Listening (Lectio Divina), Monday , September 28, 2026, 9:00am

 Zoom Meeting ID: 814 8663 8380        Passcode: scripture

Link:   https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81486638380pwd=elNs

Peter Koenig, "My Vineyard" (20th century)

Isaiah 5:1-7

1 I will sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes. 3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield rotten grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a wasteland; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7  For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his cherished garden; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness but heard a cry!

The Lord’s Prayer in Three Voices

Voice 1 Our Father who art in HeavenVoice 2         Holy One beyond all names, Eternal Wellspring, 

Voice 3 O Great Spirit, our Father from above,

Voice 1 Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come

Voice 2 May love rise again in us today 

Voice 3 we honor your name as sacred and holy.

Voice 1 thy will be done on earth as it is in heavenVoice 2 with food for every table, shelter for every person,

Voice 3 Bring your good road to us,  where the beauty of your ways in the  spirit-world  above is reflected in the earth below.

Voice 1 Give us this day our daily bread

Voice 2 and reverence for every living being.

Voice 3         Provide for us day by day--the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon.  The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the  things we need for each day.

Voice 1 Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against usVoice 2 Forgive us our failings in love,  and free us from all  falseness,  

Voice 3 Release us from the things we have done wrongin the same way we release others  for the things done wrong to us.

Voice 1 and Lead us not into temptation,

Voice 2 that the light of our souls may shine  

Voice 3     Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road

Voice 1      but deliver us from evilVoice 2      and help the strength of our spirits endure for earth and all its people

Voice 3  and set us free from the evil one & his worthless ways.

Voice 1 For the kingdom, the power, & the glory are yours forever

Voice 2 this day, tonight,  and forever.  

Voice 1      Amen!

Voice 2   Yes, I commit! 

Voice 3   Aho! May it be so!

Texts  from  Matthew 6: 9-13 (NRSV),  "Celtic Benediction," by John Phillip Newell,        
First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament.

Closing Prayer

Holy God,
you love justice and hate oppression;
you call us to righteousness and not to exploitation.
Give us generous and loving hearts,
and eyes to see the splendor of your reign,
that we may live in truth and honor,
and praise you for the transformation of our lives,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer of Sacred Reading and Listening (Lectio Divina), Monday , September 21, 2026, 9:00am

 Zoom Meeting ID: 814 8663 8380        Passcode: scripture

Link:   https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81486638380pwd=elNs

Stained Glass  in National Cathedral, depicting self-giving charity of Elizabeth of Hungary

Philippians 2:1-13     

If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness. And being found in appearance as a human, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, 10 so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

The Lord’s Prayer in Three Voices

Voice 1 Our Father who art in HeavenVoice 2         Holy One beyond all names, Eternal Wellspring, 

Voice 3 O Great Spirit, our Father from above,

Voice 1 Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come

Voice 2 May love rise again in us today 

Voice 3 we honor your name as sacred and holy.

Voice 1 thy will be done on earth as it is in heavenVoice 2 with food for every table, shelter for every person,

Voice 3 Bring your good road to us,  where the beauty of your ways in the  spirit-world  above is reflected in the earth below.

Voice 1 Give us this day our daily bread

Voice 2 and reverence for every living being.

Voice 3         Provide for us day by day--the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon.  The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the  things we need for each day.

Voice 1 Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against usVoice 2 Forgive us our failings in love,  and free us from all  falseness,  

Voice 3 Release us from the things we have done wrongin the same way we release others  for the things done wrong to us.

Voice 1 and Lead us not into temptation,

Voice 2 that the light of our souls may shine  

Voice 3     Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road

Voice 1      but deliver us from evilVoice 2      and help the strength of our spirits endure for earth and all its people

Voice 3  and set us free from the evil one & his worthless ways.

Voice 1 For the kingdom, the power, & the glory are yours forever

Voice 2 this day, tonight,  and forever.  

Voice 1      Amen!

Voice 2   Yes, I commit! 

Voice 3   Aho! May it be so!

Texts  from  Matthew 6: 9-13 (NRSV),  "Celtic Benediction," by John Phillip Newell,        
First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament.

Closing Prayer

God of our salvation,
we falter before the demands of your word
and turn away from your call to life.
Pour out your mercy on us
as you showed mercy to your people of old,
that we may turn from our sinfulness
and walk the path of self-emptying love
made known in Jesus Christ. Amen.