1.  PRAYER

We thank you for the many blessings in our lives. Help us to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, recognizing the good in every day. Even in difficult times, remind us of the small joys and kindnesses that brighten our lives. Let our hearts be filled with thankfulness. May our gratitude inspire us to give back to others and to the world around us. 

Thank you for your endless gifts and love. Help us to see your hand in both the big and small moments of our lives, and to be grateful for your constant presence. May we express our gratitude through acts of kindness and generosity, sharing our blessings with those in need. Guide us to appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world around us, and to find joy in simple pleasures. 

Let our hearts be filled with gratitude for the people who enrich our lives and for the opportunities we have been given. Thank you for the gift of gratitude itself, which transforms our perspective and brings us closer to you.

2.  MEDITATION 

https://youtu.be/77bmP_SqsfQ

3.: SONG

https://youtu.be/2PZnT6Tz6aU

4.  NARRATIVE

An Attitude of Gratitude

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Father Richard Rohr reminds us that when we receive everything as a gift, we can live gratefully, allowing the energies of life and love to flow through us to the benefit of the whole.

In Philippians 4:6–7, Paul sums up an entire theology of prayer practice in very concise form: “Pray with gratitude, and the peace of Christ, which is bigger than knowledge or understanding [that is, making distinctions—Richard], will guard both your mind and your heart in Christ Jesus.” Only a pre-existent attitude of gratitude, a deliberate choice of love over fear, a desire to be positive instead of negative, will allow us to live in the spacious place Paul describes as “the peace of Christ.”

It is important that we ask, seek, and knock to keep ourselves in right relationship with Life Itself. Life is a gift, totally given to us without cost, every day of it, and every part of it. A daily and chosen attitude of gratitude will keep our hands open to expect that life, allow that life, and receive that life at ever-deeper levels of satisfaction—but never to think we deserve it. Those who live with such open and humble hands receive life’s “gifts, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over into their lap” (Luke 6:38). In my experience, if we are not radically grateful every day, resentment always takes over. Moreover, to ask for “our daily bread” is to recognize that it is already being given.Not to ask is to take our own efforts, needs, and goals—and our selves—far too seriously. Consider if that is not true in your own life.

All the truly great persons I have ever met are characterized by what I would call radical humility and gratitude. They are deeply convinced that they are drawing from another source; they are instruments. Their genius is not their own; it is borrowed. We are moons, not suns, except in our ability to pass on the light. Our life is not our own; yet, at some level, enlightened people know that their life has been given to them as a sacred trust. They live in gratitude and confidence, and they try to let the flow continue through them. They know that “love is repaid by love alone,” as both St. Francis of Assisi and St. Thérèse of Lisieux have said.

In the end, it is not our own doing, or grace would not be grace. It is God’s gift, not a reward for work well done. It is nothing for us to be boastful about. We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus. All we can do is be what God’s Spirit makes us to be, and be thankful to God for the riches God has bestowed on us. Humility, gratitude, and loving service to others are probably the most appropriate responses we can make.

References:

Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations (Albuquerque, NM: CAC Publishing, 2016), 281, 134;

Breathing under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps (Cincinnati, OH: Franciscan Media, 2011, 2021), 61; and

Richard Rohr and Joseph Martos, The Great Themes of Scripture: New Testament (Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1988), 96–97.

Explore Further. . .

• Read Richard on the humbling truth that our lives are not about us.
• Learn more about this year’s theme Nothing Stands Alone.
• Meet the team behind the Daily Meditations.

5. MEDITATIONS

https://youtu.be/Jr0pmaF6g98

6. SHARING 

7.  PRAYER AND INTENTIONS 

Thank you, God, for the life you have blessed me with. Thank you for the opportunities that I have been given and for the strength to make the most of them. Thank you for guiding me through difficult times and for giving me the courage to face whatever comes my way. Most of all, thank you for your unconditional love and support, which has seen me through every challenge and kept me going. You are an ever-present source of comfort and hope, and I am deeply grateful for all that you have done for me.

8.  SONG

https://youtu.be/UoHrBNTfzIs

Finding God in the Blueberry Patch

 

 1.   PRAYER

Lord, Come Find Me: a prayer to meet with God

Lord, come find me listening
in the quiet,
where my world stands still.
Meet me in Scripture,
help me recognize your will.

Lord, come find me wondering,
“What happens next?”
Gather me in your arms,
show me how to catch my breath.

Lord, come find me praising!
In countless ways, you are good.
Train my soul to be thankful,
especially when 
trouble is not understood.

Lord, come find me praying
first for wisdom,
then in faith.
Align my perspective with your will,
make holy glory my highest aim.

Lord, come find me confessing.
I have sins the Spirit helps me see. 
Unentangled, I can freely chase
dreams you have conceived for me. 

Lord, come find me serving
with character shaped by compassion.
Use me to encourage the church
in unique ways you have imagined.

Lord, come find me seeking
in nature, 
in faces,
in words, circumstances, and places.
May your companionship be
the undaunted desire 
for which my softened heart races.

Lord, come find me.
Sometimes you feel distant,
but you are never far away.
Jesus, find me leaning in close.
I will be whispering your name. 
Amen.

{by Jamie Trunnel ©2021, ascripturedlife.com}

2. MEDITATION 

https://youtu.be/tuPW7oOudVc?si=3V50GmE3QF4hcGua

3. SONG

https://youtu.be/vaqb5qkwZjA?si=fkGUtv7lNbe3jFGx

4.   NARRATIVE 

BY PATTY HAMMOND, CSJA

Video of haikus paired with photos of associates’ garden. Prepared by lulu   

https://youtu.be/hqtYauL7pXQ?si=D2v53ZrSc1zki54M

5. MEDITATION 

https://youtu.be/zW3-9bUhbRw?si=lsoUgC48SR1rbFDP

6. SHARING

7. PRAYERS AND INTENTIONS 

A Prayer for Finding God in All Things

Walk with me, Creator, in the cool of today. Point out to me those things you’ve made for my pleasure and my nourishment. Show me the people you are inviting me to know, to care for, and to defend. Draw my attention to the subtle hints of your beauty, your glory, and your power. As I wander, fill me with wonder and worship at your presence. Amen.

 8. SONG 

https://youtu.be/J_g76phMf5E?si=-BlOkHQfA5j7mSyt

Paula’s meeting 5/14/2025

 https://youtu.be/PcTP3Pj6Smo

 JESUS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIGHT!

Gracious God,

Thank you for the gift of today.

​Refresh me …invite me…to discover Your Presence in each person that I meet and every event encountered.

 ​Teach me when to speak and when to listen; when to ponder and when to share.

 ​In moments of challenge and decision attune my heart to Your Wisdom.

 ​As I undertake ordinary tasks, gift me with simple joy.

 ​​When the day goes well, may I rejoice!

​​When it grows difficult, surprise me with new possibilities.

 ​When life is overwhelming call me to Sabbath Moments to restore Your Peace and Harmony 

 ​May my living today reveal Your Goodness.  Amen.

 

 

Rohr on vulnerability

1.  PRAYER

Prayer for Unshakeable Faith

Oh, Lord, in the face of self-doubt, grant me unwavering faith. Strengthen my belief in your divine guidance, knowing that with you, all things are possible. Help me cast aside the shadows of uncertainty and trust in the purpose you have bestowed upon me.

May my faith be a beacon of light, illuminating my path and dispelling any doubts that seek to hinder my progress. In your infinite wisdom, empower me to embrace my worth and walk with confidence in the knowledge that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

2.  MEDITATION 

https://youtu.be/vj0JDwQLof4?si=5cUs7gbx5t_vVHYT

3.  SONG

https://youtu.be/DXXeawzLcgc?si=vtc9SU-SLa1pcsju

4.  NARRATIVE

https://cac.org/daily-meditations/vulnerability-2016-09-27/

Vulnerability

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Vulnerability
Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Did you ever imagine that what we call “vulnerability” might just be the key to ongoing growth? In my experience, healthily vulnerable people use every occasion to expand, change, and grow. Yet it is a risky position to live undefended, in a kind of constant openness to the other—because it means others could sometimes actually wound us. Indeed, vulnera comes from the Latin for “to wound.” But only if we take this risk do we also allow the opposite possibility: the other might also gift us, free us, and even love us.

If and when we can live an honestly vulnerable life—the life we see mirrored in a God who is described as three persons perfectly handing themselves over, emptying themselves out, and then fully receiving what has been handed over—there will always be a centrifugal force flowing through, out, and beyond us. Then our spiritual life simply becomes “the imitation of God” (see Ephesians 5:1), as impossible as this sounds to our ordinary ears.

This, then, seems to be the work of the Spirit: to keep you vulnerable to life and love itself and to resist all that destroys the Life Flow. Notice that the major metaphors for the Spirit are always dynamic, energetic, and moving: elusive wind, descending dove, falling fire, and flowing water. Spirit-led people never stop growing and changing and recognizing the new moment of opportunity. How strange to think that so much of religion became worship of the status quo and a neurotic fear of failure. It does make sense, though, when we consider that the ego hates and fears change and failure.

What, then, is the path to holiness? It’s the same as the path to wholeness. And we are never “there” yet. We are always just in the river. Don’t try to push the river or make the river happen; it is already happening, and you cannot stop it. All you can do is recognize it, enjoy it, and ever more fully allow it to carry you.

As John O’Donohue put it:

I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding. [1]

This is the great surprise, and for some a disappointment: this divine Flow has very little to do with you. The Flow doesn’t have to do with you being perfect, right, belonging to the right group, or even understanding the Flow. Jesus never has any such checklist test before he heals someone. He just says, as it were, “Are you going to ask for or allow yourself to be touched? If so, let’s go!”

The touchable ones are the healed ones; it’s pretty much that simple. There’s no doctrinal or moral test whatsoever. Jesus doesn’t check if the people he heals are Jewish, gay, baptized, or in their first marriage. There’s only the one question, which he asks in various ways:

Do you want to be healed?

If the answer is a vulnerable, trusting one, the Flow always happens, and the person is always healed, usually on several levels. That is the real New Testament message, much more than miraculous medical cures.

Gateway to Silence:
Dance with Us.

Reference:
[1] John O’Donohue, “Fluent,” Conamara Blues (Cliff Street Books: 2001), 23.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (Whitaker House: 2016), 57-59

5.  MEDITATION

https://youtu.be/T1i_pKiMz-E?si=rw2Lk9E_EoJluNCx

6.  SHARING

7.  PRAYERS AND INTENTIONS

Prayer for Strength in Vulnerability

Heavenly Father, in moments of vulnerability and self-doubt, grant me the strength to persevere. Teach me to find solace in revealing my true self, knowing that true strength lies not in a facade of perfection, but in embracing my authentic emotions.

Help me to acknowledge that vulnerability is not a weakness but a gateway to connection and growth. In your loving presence, I find the courage to share my fears and doubts, trusting that you will provide comfort and renewal. Enable me to see vulnerability as a stepping stone toward greater self-awareness and deeper relationships.

8. SONG

https://youtu.be/sIaT8Jl2zpI?si=Vd8ZgNpLuOwaDOxr