Daily Devotions and Podcasts
Prayer: Lord, help me to see You in every part of my day, even in the places I least expect. Open my eyes to Your presence in the ordinary and the extraordinary moments of life. Amen.
The Cathedral of Hope Devotion Ministry began as an answer to Progressive Christians who wanted to start their days with a little insight, observation, or wisdom about the Christian faith from their own point of view. Conservative internet devotions were abundant, but there was not much out there for liberal thinkers. The need was clear.
Being a large church, we had a generous amount of writing talent available and also a large number of congregants with theological training who were not on the pulpit. In the early days of the ministry, most of the writing was done by the clergy, but gradually the majority of the writers emerged from those lay volunteers.
That dynamic is still in place as new authors are always joining in to keep the ideas fresh. It’s a fitting structure for any center of progressive thought. This particular Body of Christ has many voices and each one has a unique and important story to tell.
Today, October 03, is the 800 th Anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis In his remembrance: The Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention Your name. Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of You, Most High One. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong. Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs. … Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.
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Words of Hope Podcast
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Today, October 03, is the 800 th Anniversary of the Transitus of St. Francis In his remembrance: The Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no human is worthy to mention Your name. Praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, Who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of You, Most High One. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather, through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong. Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs. … Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks and serve Him with great humility.
SCRIPTURE Romans 10:15b How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. WORDS OF HOPE The spouse who sits bed side in the emergency room, staring into the eyes of their beloved, holding them in love to ease their discomfort and uncertainty. The cafeteria worker who puts a little extra pudding on the tray of a child whose school lunch debt was paid off and the anonymous donor who gave up his prison earnings so that a kid could eat. The older sibling picking up their younger sister from the couch, half asleep and droopy, and putting them in their own bed and then returning to the couch to sleep a few hours before their mother comes home from her third shift. The aid worker who holds the frightened, screaming mother in their arms as the first responders dig through the rubble looking for survivors in the bombed-out house in Ukraine, or Gaza, or Iran. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. The night shift worker who tells a joke about a priest, a rabbi, and a bartender in the break room to lift the spirits of their weary co-workers, providing a moment of levity and laughter before returning to sweep and mop. The Meals on Wheels volunteer who brings not only a warm tray of chicken and rice, but also a button-up sweater they spotted at a thrift store for the elderly shut-in living alone in a little house off the main road, mostly unseen by the world passing by. The kind stranger who pulls off the road to help a single mother change a flat tire, using his own jack and tire iron. He offers to take the damaged tire to be repaired and promises to bring it back. Before leaving, he slips a $50 bill onto the front seat and gives a wink to the two kids watching from the back. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. The highly paid first-world surgeon who spends a month every year in the rural areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dispensing HIV-medicine, delivering babies, and teaching hygiene to the poorest of the poor on the outskirts of the city. The classroom of Texas third graders and their amazing teacher, who hold a walk-a-thon and a bake sale and a book reading contest to raise money for another classroom of third graders and their amazing teacher in Honduras. The young man who, on his daily jog through the park, finds a shivering, whimpering dog abandoned in the bushes. He takes her home, feeds her, and holds her until she finally relaxes and falls asleep among blankets and pillows. Best of all, he gives her a name—and a home to call her own. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Behind the scenes, without social media hype, and with insufficient funds, beautiful feet are bringing good news. Jesus bids us to walk with our feet to places where light, life, love, hope and peace are needed. PRAYER From the Service of Compline in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer: Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. DEVOTION AUTHOR ļ»æ Thomas Riggs
SCRIPTURE Colossians 2.16-17 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. WORDS OF HOPE I’ve heard it said (by an irreverent friend) that the first thing Jesus would do on his return would be to eliminate religion, especially regarding all the random rituals, rules of do’s and don’t’s, and especially lists of people to hate or fear in what some denominations define as today’s Christianity. The Bible reading of the day indicates that the Apostle Paul would not endorse their judgments. Paul wrote his letters to the Colossians while imprisoned in Rome, a political prisoner of people who considered his teachings both blasphemous to their religion and a threat to the oppressive State. While following his calling to spread the substance of the Love message taught by Jesus, the Apostle spent most of his time contending with the corruption of the Temple authorities at home coupled with the authoritarianism of the Roman religion which declared Caesar was God. Religion condemned Paul to a lot of jail time. ļ»æ The Letters to new converts like the Colossians make it obvious to us that Paul was often engaged in damage control as he answered questions that we will never read, clarifying false notions about religious practices that pre-dated the love-centered teachings of the Christ. His readers just couldn’t comprehend that Jesus’ love had no conditions. He was offering them freedom from old rules, not presenting them with a collection of new ones. Freedom from religion was a concept people of the first century had great difficulty grasping. Some were gentiles who lived under the rule of Rome’s State Religion based on the statutes of multiple deities who required countless religious rituals and duties. Others were Paul’s Jewish brethren who still lived under the Hebrew Scripture’s list of not just 10, but 613 Commandments. Then along came Jesus who simply stated: “Love one another,” saying, “I have not come to abolish the [Commandments] but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17). -In other words, Freedom from Religion. It’s not difficult to understand why the corrupt leaders of both church and state hated Jesus. He made their oppressive control systems obsolete and awarded the people they ruled with the gift of individual freedom. That doesn’t mean that people like Paul would be exempt from persecution, but that he would be assured wherever he was in the physical world, his spirit would be forever free. He knew that it was the power brokers and false prophets who would never know freedom, imprisoning themselves in a narrow belief system that promoted what they wanted to be true for their own benefit. They would spend their lives passing judgment, demanding rituals, forcing their exclusive beliefs on others, promoting hatred for anyone outside their own closed system. And, sad to say, their descendants are still among us. They were truly shadows of the things to come, never knowing the substance belongs to Christ. PRAYER Thank you for the plain teachings of Jesus, whose message of universal love needs no clarifications or amendments, only practice and the privilege to serve others as he would serve them. DEVOTION AUTHOR Dan Peeler Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
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