A Litany to the Holy Spirit

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Icon of Pentecost

Descent of the Holy Spirit (source)

This Litany to the Holy Spirit was prepared using the traditional form of a litany. The contents of the litany are based on scripture, the Book of Common Prayer, and an Eastern Orthodox prayer to the Holy Spirit.

O God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth,
Have mercy upon us.

O God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy upon us.

O God the Holy Spirit, Sanctifier of the faithful,
Have mercy upon us.

O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, one God,
Have mercy upon us.

Spirit, intercede for us with sighs too deep for words,
Pray for us.

Spirit, intercede for the saints according to the will of God,
Pray for us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us.

Blessed Philip, patron of our parish,
Pray for us.

Holy Spirit, who is equal to the Father and the Son,
Keep us in eternal life.

Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father,
Enter our hearts.

Holy Spirit, who has spoken through the Prophets,
Open our ears.

Holy Spirit, who enlightens and strengthens for your service,
Dwell in us.

Holy Spirit, who in the beginning moved and brooded over the face of the waters,
Move and brood over our lives.

Holy Spirit, who is God’s life-giving breath,
Breathe in us.

Holy Spirit, who blew through the Valley of Dry Bones giving life,
Enliven us.

Holy Spirit, who overshadowed Mary that she might give birth to the Son of God,
Grace us to give birth to the divine in our time and place.

Holy Spirit, who rested on Jesus at his baptism,
Rest upon us and renew our baptismal life.

Holy Spirit, who as a tongue of fire rested on and filled the apostles,
Burn in us with the power of your love.

Holy Spirit, who descended on the day of Pentecost,
Teach us and lead us into all truth.

Holy Spirit, who descended on the day of Pentecost,
Unite us in the confession of one faith.

Holy Spirit, who descended on the day of Pentecost,
Empower us to serve you as a royal priesthood.

Holy Spirit, who descended on the day of Pentecost,
Encourage us to preach the gospel to all nations.

Come Holy Spirit,
Our souls inspire.

Spirit of understanding,
Come.

Spirit of counsel,
Come.

Spirit of fortitude,
Come.

Spirit of knowledge,
Come.

Spirit of piety,
Come.

Spirit of Godly fear,
Come.

With the fruit of love,
Fill us.

With the fruit of joy,
Fill us.

With the fruit of peace,
Fill us.

With the fruit of patience,
Fill us.

With the fruit of generosity,
Fill us.

With the fruit of gentleness,
Fill us.

With the fruit of self-control.
Fill us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
Send us the Advocate.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
Send us the Spirit of Truth.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
Send us the Holy Spirit.

V: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,
R: And kindle in them the fire of your love.

V: Send forth your Spirit, Lord, and they shall be created,
R: And you shall renew the face of the earth.

O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth who are present everywhere, filling all things, Treasury of Good, and Giver of Life,
Come and dwell in us, cleanse us of every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy Spirit, you came as Christ’s own first gift for those who believe, that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died and rose for us: Complete his work in the world and bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all. Amen.

Almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Bless us and keep us. Amen.

God’s Conspiracy Gives Life

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Jesus “breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22).

Icon of the Theotokos

Icon of the Theotokos (source)

Recall a moment when you held another person so close that you could hear his or her breathing, the sound of life. Maybe it was your husband or wife, a parent, your child or grandchild, a dear friend. Cheek to cheek. You could feel his or her breath brush across your face and he or she felt yours. The two of you shared and breathed the same air. Giving and receiving. Breathing in. Breathing out. There was only one breath, one life, one love.

That was a moment of holy conspiracy. The intimacy of that conspiracy is beautifully shown in this icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Mary cradles Jesus and pulls him close to her. Jesus’ left arm is on Mary’s shoulder. His right arm reaches around her neck pulling her face to his. They are cheek to cheek giving, receiving, and sharing the breath of life. They are coconspirators.

The word “conspire” literally means “breathing with” or “to breathe together.” For most of us, I suspect, conspiracy brings up ideas of wrongdoing, secrets, and planning to do something illegal or harmful to another. That is a reality in our world today but it is not the only or even the final reality. There is another conspiracy about in our world. It is God’s conspiracy, God’s breathing with you and me. It began long ago and has never ceased.

In the beginning God took dust from the ground and breathed humanity into existence. The breath of God parted the Red Sea and blew God’s people through the wilderness to a new life in the promised land. In the valley of dry bones Ezekiel watched the breath of God return life to old, dry, brittle bones. God’s breath came upon the Blessed Virgin Mary so that the child to be born would be holy and called the Son of God. The breath of God gave voice to Jesus’ teaching and preaching of the good news. God’s life-giving breath was present at and the source of Jesus’ miracles. The breath of God swept through Jesus’ tomb, defeating death, and proclaiming, “He is not here.”

The breath of God, God’s Holy Spirit, is not simply a thing or an event. It is the abiding and transforming presence of God’s life with us and in us. Wherever life is being created, renewed, put back together, or inspired the Spirit is present. God is breathing and the conspiracy has been accomplished.

God breathes and we live. God breathes and our lives are put back together. God breathes and we are re-created. We cannot explain it but we know it when we see it. It looks like lives of love and self-giving, mutuality and intimacy, forgiveness and reconciliation, generosity and compassion, healing and wholeness, prayer and holiness.

What does it mean that God has been conspiring with creation from the beginning? It means that there is only one breath, one life, one love. It means that God never gives up on you, me, or any other person. It means that God breathes God’s life through humanity: through the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs; through the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints; and, most profoundly, through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. It means that we are to be co-conspirators, co-breathers, with God. It means that God is here with us, among us, and in us, as close as our next breath.

So breathe. Breathe long. Breathe deep. Just breathe. Participate in the conspiracy.

Unity is a God-Entrusted Life, A Sermon on John 17:20-26

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Be good. Take care of yourself. Have fun. Mind you manners. Work hard. Make good decisions. Learn a lot. Be careful. Call if you need something. Remember, I love you.

Those are the kind of things we say when we are leaving, departing. We give our last minute instructions for what the other should do after we have left. When I was growing up I heard some of these from my parents. I said some of these to Brandon when Cyndy and I would take him to church camp. I remember saying some of these to Randy before leaving him at the airport for his flight to Marine boot camp. I suspect each of you has said and heard these or similar words. They are our departing instructions to one we love. With those words we entrust the future well being of that loved one to himself or herself.

It would be easy to hear today’s gospel as Jesus’ departing instructions to his disciples. It would make sense. After all, it is the night of the last supper. Jesus knows he is leaving. He will soon be crucified and the disciples will have to find their way without his physical presence. So why not give some last minute instructions about how to act, what to do, the way they should treat each other? That’s what we might do but that is not what Jesus is doing. That is a misinterpretation of the text.

Jesus is not entrusting the future of the disciples to themselves. He is entrusting their future to God. His words are not departing instructions but a departing prayer. The disciples are God-entrusted not self-entrusted.

Today’s gospel is not a conversation between Jesus and the disciples but a prayer from Jesus to his Father, and our Father. Today we overhear Jesus’ prayer for us. His prayer isn’t for our benefit only but for the life of the world, so that the world may believe the Father sent Jesus. Our unity becomes the sacramental presence of God in the world. Our oneness continues the embodiment of God in human flesh and life.

Deesis-Mosaic-of-Christ-13th-Century-Hagia-Sophia1

This unity is not, however, something we do or create. Jesus does not tell the disciples to be nice to each other, to get along, to eliminate their differences, or to agree upon a common a plan or purpose. He doesn’t prescribe tolerance, uniformity, unanimity, or consensus. We are not the recipients of instructions but the subject and beneficiary of Jesus’ prayer.

Jesus prays three times for oneness. “That they may all be one.” “That they may be one.” “That they may become completely one.” The oneness for which he prays is modeled on the unity of the Father and Jesus, their shared life. He prays that we would be completely one as he and the Father are one. Jesus’ prayer echoes the ancient Jewish prayer, Shema Yisrael, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one (Deut. 6:4).

That Jesus is praying to the Father for our oneness, rather than giving instructions, means that unity is of and from God. It is not something we do or create. It is the very life and being of God. We do not establish unity, we participate in and manifest to the world the already existing oneness that is God.

This doesn’t mean we can just sit back and wait for God to answer Jesus’ prayer. We too have a part in answering Jesus’ prayer. Our oneness must take tangible and visible form if it is to show the world the invisible and spiritual life and presence of God. In some way our lives in relationship to God and one another become the answer to Jesus’ prayer.

Our lives and relationships are to be outward and visible signs of God’s inward and invisible presence. We can become and live this, however, only when we know ourselves to be God-entrusted rather than self-entrusted. That means our life comes not from ourselves but from God. That’s what allowed Jesus to choose the cross. That’s why he prayed rather than instructed. It’s how we become one as Jesus and the Father are one.

Right about now some instructions would be really helpful but I don’t have any. Jesus didn’t give any. There is no list. I can’t tell you what to do but I can tell you where to begin looking. This oneness exists at the intersection of our love for God and our love for each other. It is the intersection of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis. Unity is cross shaped. That point of intersection is, according to St. John’s account of the gospel, the hour of Christ’s glory, his death and resurrection. That is the preeminent image of a God-entrusted life. That’s where we find our oneness. That’s what we show the world.

Each time we live with a God-entrusted understanding of ourselves boundaries soften, divisions are not as deep, and relationships reconcile. Each time we take a step toward a God-entrusted understanding of ourselves and let go of a self-entrusted life we move towards oneness.

When, in love for God and each other, we surrender our self-entrusted life to a God-entrusted life we embody the Father’s answer to Jesus’ prayer and we are one as Jesus and the Father are one. In that moment we have, as a friend of mine says, “met the glory of God and it is us.”

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This sermon is for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C, and is based on John 17:20-26.

Ascension Day Blessing

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May Almighty God enlighten the eyes of your heart to see that his blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above the heavens that he might fill all things. Amen.

May he who ascended into heaven prepare a place for you; that where he is you might also be, and reign with him in glory. Amen.

May you who believe that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell. Amen.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you forever. Amen.

Icon Detail Ascension of Jesus

Ascension of Jesus (source)

Get Up Off Your Mat – A Sermon on John 5:1-9

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Icon of Jesus and Man at Pool of BethzathaThirty-eight years is a long time to sit on your mat. Every day is the same. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. Not much changes. Sitting on his mat has become a way of life for the man in today’s gospel. His life is stagnant. He’s unable to see that the deep well of life is within him. He’s convinced that life will bubble up outside of him, over there, in that magic pool of water. So he sits on his mat waiting, watching, and hoping that things will change.

There was a belief that this pool of water called Beth-zatha had healing properties and that it could change one’s life. It was said that every now and then an angel would stir the water, the water would begin to bubble, and the first one in the water would be healed. The man in today’s gospel won’t get up off his mat until he sees the first bubble. He is living an “as soon as” life.

“As soon as the water bubbles then I will get up off my mat. As soon as I get to the water my life will be better. As soon as I get into the water my problems will be fixed.” Continue reading →

Entrances into the Divine Life and Presence

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Icon of St. Philip and Jesus

The Protection of Philip

“Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” We may never have said those exact words but I’ll bet most of us understand and know what Philip is asking. He has expressed a deep and universal desire of humanity. Sometimes we say, “You know, something is missing. I just feel restless. Nothing seems to satisfy.” In those moments we have echoed Philip’s words. It is the longing to stand in the presence of holiness, to see God, and to know ourselves as transcendent.

That Philip would say this in a face to face conversation with Jesus reveals a common misunderstanding about God. It is the myth that God is distant, far away, and removed. “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?” It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Do you not see, not understand, who is right in front of you?” Somehow we have been convinced that the entrance into divine life and the presence of God are not to be found in this world, and that’s just wrong. It’s not true. Continue reading →