Jonah Repents
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Prayer: A prayer to the Almighty God and Father who loves humankind
I bless you, O Lord,
that you have worked wondrous mercies upon me, a sinner,
and have been most loving to me in all things:
nurse and governor,
guardian and helper,
refuge and saviour,
protector of both soul and body.
I bless you, O Lord,
for you have granted me the power to repent from my sins
and have shown to me myriad occasions
to return from my malice.
For you have mercy and save us, O God,
and to you we send up glory, thanksgiving and worship,
together with your only-begotten Son,
and your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit,
now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Excerpt from a prayer
to the Almighty God and Father who loves humankind,
St Basil the Great, 4th century
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Jonah 2:1-10. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. 2 He said,
“I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,
and he answered me.
I called to you from the land of the dead,
and Lord, you heard me!
3 You threw me into the ocean depths,
and I sank down to the heart of the sea.
The mighty waters engulfed me;
I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.
4 Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’
5 “I sank beneath the waves,
and the waters closed over me.
Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.
6 I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth,
whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God,
snatched me from the jaws of death!
7 As my life was slipping away,
I remembered the Lord.
And my earnest prayer went out to you
in your holy Temple.
8 Those who worship false gods
turn their backs on all God’s mercies.
9 But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise,
and I will fulfill all my vows.
For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”
10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.
(Jonah 2:1-10 NLT)
Thought for the Day:
Jonah fled to prevent the brutal Assyrians having the opportunity to repent and change for the better. His hate blinded him to mercy.
Now God is giving him a lesson in empathy. Jonah, himself, is in a terrible situation in the belly of the sea monster. His only hope for escape depends on God and it is God who he has sinned against. Ironically, his salvation depends on repentance; the very thing he is denying to the Assyrians. Surely, this is an Old Testament story that teaches us this; “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
Whose sin do you think is beyond God’s mercy?
https://sacredspace.com/daily-prayer/
Sacred Space is inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a sixteenth-century Basque native, whose insights into God’s working with the human heart have been of great assistance to countless people over the centuries and are found more helpful than ever today.
Sacred Space is a ministry of the Irish Jesuits. The site originated in the offices of the Jesuit Communication Centre in Ireland in 1999. It has grown into a global online apostolate for daily prayer since that time, and now offers prayer in approximately 15 other languages.
It might seem strange to pray at your computer, in front of a screen or using your smartphone, especially if there are other people around you, or distracting noises. But God is everywhere, all around us, constantly reaching out to us, even in the most unlikely situations. When we know this, and with a bit of practice, we can pray anywhere!
We offer daily prayer on our site to guide you through a session of prayer, in six stages, including preparing your body and mind, and culminating in reflection on the Gospel of the day according to the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. The stages are:
- The Presence of God
- Freedom
- Consciousness
- The Word
- Conversation
- Conclusion
It is worth noting that we follow the Irish liturgical calendar which may at times differ from liturgical calendars used in other countries. We hope in the future to provide a choice of liturgical calendars depending on your location and preference.
Another resource that you may like to use is our Living Space page. Here you will find commentaries on both the daily readings and the Sunday readings throughout the Church year. Originally, this was the work of Fr. Frank Doyle, SJ who passed away in 2011. The existing commentaries continue to be edited and updated, but new commentaries are not currently being posted, and every once in a while, there is a day with no commentary available. It is possible to search the Living Space collection for commentaries on particular scripture readings and saints. The collection is also searchable by Gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), by Sunday of the Year or by Saint by Month. Please note that the site is undergoing updating and revisions for functionality.
The following devotional is attributed to Kelly Woods. Kelly (she/her) is better known by some as PastoralHare. She works for the Uniting Church by resourcing communities and engaging the younger generations across the VicTas Synod.
This year the Revised Common Lectionary has us exploring the Christmas story found in the Gospel of Luke, particularly looking at Luke 2:1-14, verses 8-14 which go something like this:
8 The Shepherds were not at Jesus’ birth as they were away in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 Because they were unable to be onsite with Mary and Joseph, the Lord sent a message via an angel. Like a glitch in the night sky, a figure materialised before them, and the glory of the Lord radiated like waves of energy around them. The Shepherds were terrified by these radical methods of communication. 10 The angel figure then spoke to them saying, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news—even in this unconventional way—and it will cause great joy for all the people.11 In the town of David a Saviour has been born, and he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 You must travel to go find him, and you will recognise him by this sign: a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 There was another flicker in the sky, as if the surround-sound system kicked in, and suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising, tweeting, and posting about God, sharing, 14 “Glory to God who transcends all time, and peace to those in the physical realms with whom God’ favour rests.”
Luke 1:8-14 PH Translation*
This version may seem a tad different to what you have read before, however, the Christmas story and the digital world are surprisingly more connected than we may think.
You see, just like the author of Luke documented the events of Jesus’ birth within the larger narrative of scripture, our lives are also unique stories within a larger divine narrative. How we connect with each other, what we post and share across digital forums and communities document the events of our own lives.
Acknowledging our own agency is the first step in understanding the role we play in the grand scheme of the digital world, as these interactions are not just about us as individuals—they are part of the bigger story.
The second step to consider is how you are to use your agency within the digital landscape, and the Christmas story found in the Gospel of Luke can also help us with this.
The author of Luke tells us about how an angel appeared to share the good news of Jesus’ birth, and how it should bring about great joy for all people. The angel was accompanied by a throng of heavenly hosts proclaiming God’s glory, and how the peace of God is also possible on earth as it is in heaven. Perhaps this should cause us to ask whether we are living our life in such a way that we are contributing to this joy and peace for all people? Are our digital interactions documenting words, actions, and expressions of joy, encouragement, and hope to others? Are we able to see our digital platforms as part of the throng of heavenly hosts?
Another learning we can glean from the Lucan story is in the depiction of Jesus’ birth in a manger. That the Saviour of the world came to find rest in a humble manger can help us to seek out this same humility in the digital world. Despite the array of possible ways God could have chosen to enter the world, we find the Messiah to be wrapped in cloths as a baby—vulnerable and dependent on others.
Despite the array of possible ways we can interact in the digital world, are we choosing our interactions to be clothed in humility, open to learning, respectful of others, and seeking authentic community that cultivates genuine interdependent connections?
Along with a sense of authentic connection between each other, are we taking the opportunity to seek God’s presence in the digital world? Like how an angelic figure can materialise out of nothing, are we open to God speaking to us in radical, unconventional ways, too? The angelic presence spoken of in this Christmas story reminds us that God repeatedly transcends all matters of time and space. Are we on the lookout for this divine presence in our digital interactions?
The points above are just a handful of ways the Christmas story continues to speak into our current lives, by offering us lessons into the digital world. No matter how personal our algorithms get, our digital interactions are never only about us; we are connected like a web of threads woven into a divine digital tapestry.
And don’t forget that the Christmas story not only tells us of the day Jesus’ entered the world, but it can help guide us in understanding who we are and why we matter in the interconnected digital realms, too.
*PastoralHare.com Translation 2024
Posted with permission by Kelly Woods PastoralHare.com
Faith and Doubt
Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
I place my hands in yours Lord
I place my hands in yours.
I place my will in yours Lord
I place my will in yours
I place my thoughts in yours Lord
I place my thoughts in yours
I place my days in yours Lord
I place my days in yours
I place my heart in yours Lord
I place my heart in yours
I place my life in yours Lord
I place my life in yours
Amen.
David Adam in The Book of a Thousand Prayers
Read:
Luke 1:5-20. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
5In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
8Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
18Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
(Luke 1:5-20 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
What a strange scene. An angel appears and Zechariah knows it is an angel judging by his reaction. The angel brings astonishing good news that he and his wife are to have a miraculous birth in old age. And Zechariah asks the miraculous angel standing right in front of him in plain sight, how he can be sure?
And yet is Zechariah so different from us. His problem was the clash of world views that was taking place in his life. Life experience and social norms say that old people can’t have babies whereas God was assuring him that when God is involved other alternatives open up in life. Does that not sound like your experience and mine? Isn’t it true that God asks us to do abnormal things like loving the ‘unlovable’, and sharing Good News that changes lives. Don’t we believe in a loving personal God when the world appears as secular?
And yet sometimes, when we are called to defy the norms of society by Christ do we not hesitate and say “How can I be sure?”
Doubt and hesitation are not dealt with by denial and suppression but by accepting the feelings and bringing them before God. Sitting with God and praying with the father of so long ago, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief”.
Epilogue. God gave Zechariah the proof he asked for; miraculous muteness. Strangely his silence communicated God’s message to the community better than his spoken words.
Photo by Tachina Lee on Unsplash