Gathered Gulls
I
The gulls gather at first light over the islands,
screeching;
with loud cries they welcome day.
As light fails, they gather again,
screeching;
they swoop and wheel above the waters,
sketching circles on the wind,
screaming.
II
What do they tell the rocks, the sea, us humans
who hear their community over the wide waters,
screaming?
Do their dawn-breaching wings sense,
beyond night,
tireless flight
on up-drafts of Spirit?
As dark engulfs them
and waves roll under them,
washing and tossing,
do they grieve the wound
at the heart of the world?
Do the gulls know in their bodies that the sun is a gift
from One greater than the sun?
Do they scream through their yellow beaks
that Life must conquer,
being primary,
knowing the while nonetheless
that Life stands for the time being challenged
by the Blind Thief,
Purveyor of Darkness,
and shall be so challenged
till Time is fulfilled
and the One greater than the sun returns?
III
Is their screeching at dawn’s light
laughter,
laughter of birds,
laughter of wings,
joyous and wild beyond telling,
echo from the Kingdom of Heaven
where the Risen Lord reigns?
Is their screaming as night drops
weeping,
a weeping—oh, such a weeping!—
as to tear up the earth,
to rip open the planet,
the whole universe grieving God’s Logos,
his body ripped, broken,
hanging on the dark cross,
dying?
IV
Gulls, what do you tell us?
Your screams well up in our hearts like tears,
yet they bring good news from a far country;
they tear the soul,
yet they heal it with hope.
Great birds,
sea-riders,
what mystery do you know?
V
The gulls wheel above the wide waters,
scaling the air
swooping
screaming.
At dusk and dawn
under the enormous sky
they bestride the wind,
worshipping.
V. O Lord, open my lips.
R. And my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
V. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
by Fernando Ortega
O Sacred Head Now Wounded
Most merciful Creator, Lord,
May these few forty days of Lent
Give us new strength and will to live,
To be with you alone content.
You search our hearts, you read our thoughts,
You know our weakness and our faults;
May your all-healing Word, O Lord,
Save us from Satan’s fierce assaults.
Grant this, O blessed Trinity,
And undivided Unity,
That this our fast of forty days
May be for our profit and your praise.
Ant. 1: Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew a right spirit within us.
I said, “I will be watchful of my ways
for fear I should sin with my tongue.
I will put a curb on my lips
when the wicked stand before me.”
I was mute, silent and still.
their prosperity stirred my grief.
My heart was burning within me.
at the thought of it, the fire blazed up
and my tongue burst into speech:
“O Lord, you have shown me my end,
how short is the length of my days.
Now I know how fleeting is my life.
You have given me a short span of days;
my life is as nothing in your sight.
A mere breath, the one who stood so firm;
a mere shadow, the one who passes by;
a mere breath, the hoarded riches,
and who will take them, no one knows.”
And now, Lord, what is there to wait for?
In you rests all my hope.
Set me free from my sins;
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent, not opening my lips,
because this was all your doing.
Take away the scourge from me;
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
You punish our sins and correct us;
like a moth you devour all we treasure.
Human life is no more than a breath;
O Lord, hear my prayer.
O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.
Do not be deaf to my tears.
In your house I am a passing guest,
a pilgrim like all my forebears.
Look away that I may breathe again
before I depart to be no more.
Prayer from Jewish Life
by Ernest Bloch
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean:
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes:
cease to do evil,
learn to do good:
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
Come now, let us argue it out,
says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
Response: He will rescue us from the snare of the fowler.
V. And from the destroying pestilence.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
by Rev. Dr. Susan Bubbers
Take These Ashes
by Sarah Hart
by Otto Bam, Arts Project Manager
A Prayer
by George Hobson
Illuminate my shadows, Lord.
Against these sheets of dark that set
Sharp shapes across my walls, send a sword
Of light; on these shards of debt
Pass your stain-removing blood,
As, to illuminate a plain,
You might part clouds, let gold sun flood
The land, drown the dark, then drain
Away the shadow from our sight.
Illuminate my shadows, Lord.
Where loneliness still spreads fright
Inside my soul, speak your kind word.
Be my friend, Lord. In silence take
My hand, be my companion. I shiver
Sometimes in the cold night. Shake
Off my fears, Belovéd. Sever
Me from the blight of our bleak
Age, make me joyous. You are joy,
Lord. Love. Our great Father. You seek
Me as I seek you. Oh, destroy
In me self-doubt, cruel worm that eats
The heart.
When we serve, it shrivels.
Doubt goes. Blithe service soon defeats
The sullen canker, quickens verve.
In you, Savior, I meet the Other;
I meet my friends, my most dear wife,
Enemies, the wounded. You smother
Anxious, bleating self. You give life,
Lord. Yours. It’s your life you offer.
You strap my shadows to your chest,
Then plunge into night. As you suffer,
They die. Praise God! O Lord,
Number me among the blest.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
Lord Jesus, for forty days you fasted in the desert and were tempted, yet never sinned. Guard us with your power as we seek to follow you. Hear us as we pray: Lord, be our strength and salvation.
God of mercy, your will is that everyone be saved and no one be lost. You draw us to yourself by prayer and penitence. Grant that we may so follow Christ in love that our lives may help others and our weaknesses never hinder them. We make this prayer in his name, Jesus, the Christ, our Lord.
You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.
With a particular focus on KLC.
Please conclude your prayer with “Lord, in your mercy” and the rest will respond with “hear our prayer.”
Blessed are you, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his suffering and death you have overcome the judgment of death which entered the world because of our sin. With contrite hearts, we pray: Lord, spare your people.
May the cross of your Son, Lord God, keep us from being halfhearted and evasive. Repentant, we shall welcome your Holy Spirit, who wishes to fashion us after the image of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
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