Daily Prayers for April 19
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “Sing and Rejoice”
Alabare! Alabare! Alabare a mi Senor : Praise to the Lord! Praise to the Lord! Sing praises now, forevermore.
Psalm 96:1 – 4, 11 – 13
Sing to the Lord a new song : sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.
Sing to the Lord and bless his name : proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations : and his wonders among all -peoples.
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised : he is more to be feared than all gods.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea thunder and all that is in it : let the field be joyful and all that is therein.
Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord when he comes : when he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteous-ness : and the -peoples with his truth.
Alabare! Alabare! Alabare a mi Senor : Praise to the Lord! Praise to the Lord! Sing praises now, forevermore.
Exodus 34:1 – 17 1 Thes-salo-nians 5:1 – 11
Alabare! Alabare! Alabare a mi Senor : Praise to the Lord! Praise to the Lord! Sing praises now, forevermore.
An aboriginal activist sister said, “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us walk together.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord of the captive and Lord of the free, fill our voices with songs that proclaim hope, joy, and justice for all creation. Guide us this day to walk alongside the oppressed as fellow sojourners. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Liturgy Is Magical, but Not Magic
As we pray to and worship the God of the universe, there is something that remains at some level incomprehensible. It gives us a taste of something dazzling and transcendent. Historians say the phrase hocus pocus originated from liturgical worship ser-vices, in which the priest held up the bread and proclaimed, Hoc est corpus Christi. There were lots of folks on the fringes of the church who looked through the doors and windows, marveling at the mystery and magic of the moment. Many of them were unfamiliar with liturgy and had little education, so all they picked up was hocus pocus, and it seemed quite magical.
Although the liturgy is not magic or illusion or sorcery, it captures our imagination — this idea that God came to earth and died and now lives in us. It is a mystery. So while there is nothing of a magical formula in the liturgy, there is plenty that points us toward a world beyond this one. Perhaps one of the sure signs that we have worshiped God is that we walk away saying, “I didn’t understand everything that happened there. It must be bigger than my comprehension.” Too much of our worship has boxed God in as if we were going to see a play on Broadway. But in worship we become a part of the play. Though we can’t understand it all, we can come onstage and participate in the divine drama.
