One Word
This winter on The Daily Pattern we’re in a series called One Word. Each day we take one word – a feeling or circumstance – and bring a word from God to it. Let the Word of God speak to your life.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross, and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5) O Lord, I am lowly and humble. You alone are my inheritance. Amen.
Meditation
“A Marvelous Wreck” (prepared by Megan Roegner)
A Marvelous Wreck
an excerpt from a poem by Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman drew national attention as President Biden’s inaugural poet. Her recently published book of poems, Call Us What We Carry, deals largely with issues of social justice and the chaotic effects of the pandemic. Gorman, a member of a Black Catholic parish, writes frequently of finding ways to commit to healing, growth, and joy after experiencing shared trauma and grief. Her poem “Cordage, or Atonement” is filled with Biblical references to Jonah, the Beatitudes, and the Exodus as she explores humanity’s need for forgiveness, restoration, and unity.
from “Cordage, or Atonement”
No.
We are the whale,
With a heart so huge
It can’t help but wail.
We can’t help but help.
If given the choice, we would not be
Among the Chosen,
But amidst the Changed.
Unity is its own devout work,
The word we work in,
That leaves us devastated to be delivered.
The future isn’t attained.
It is atoned, until
It is at one with history,
Until home is more than memory,
Until we can hold near
Who we hold dear.
What a marvelous wreck are we.
We press out of our cold
& separate crouching.
Like a vine sprung overnight,
We were reaching & wretched
Upon this mortal soil
& even so we are undiminished.
If just for this newborn day,
Let us take back our lives.
~Amanda Gorman, Call Us What We Carry
Prayer for Family
· For my immediate family (parents, spouse, siblings).
· For extended family (cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents)
· For close friends that are as family to me.
· For those who don’t have families, or whose families are broken.
· For forgiveness and reconciliation where there is division in my family.
· For provision where there is need in my family.
· For God to be the foundation, and the cross the center of my family.
· For a generation yet unborn, future members of our family.
Closing Prayer
O Lord and King, your Kingdom comes even without our prayer. But we pray that it would also come among us. We are desperate for your reign and rule, for all we see is rebellion. Come into my heart, my home, my family, my work, my church, my community. Rule with justice and with mercy. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.