Month: March 2018

Holy Saturday: Mark 16:1-8 – A new hope

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

During Holy Saturday, Readings and Responses will be posted on the hour from  7 am to 6 pm

MARK 16:1-8

1When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Oh, this day of grief.  Can there really be joy?
  • How do you hold grief and joy together at the end of this Holy Saturday?
  • Is this a dream?  Or a vision?
  • Will I wake up tomorrow with the same good news?
  • It is a day to remember there is always hope.
  • Listen for hope today.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Saturday, March 31, 2018 the Great Vigil of Easter (Year B)

Mark 16:1-8


If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2018 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD

Holy Saturday: Romans 6:3-11 – A new baptism

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

During Holy Saturday, Readings and Responses will be posted on the hour from  7 am to 6 pm

Romans 6:3-11

3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Respond with Psalm 114:1-8

    1   When Israel went out from Egypt,
    the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
    2   Judah became God’s sanctuary,
    Israel his dominion.

    3   The sea looked and fled;
    Jordan turned back.
    4   The mountains skipped like rams,
    the hills like lambs.

    5   Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
    O Jordan, that you turn back?
    6   O mountains, that you skip like rams?
    O hills, like lambs?

    7   Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
    8   who turns the rock into a pool of water,
    the flint into a spring of water.

  • It is a day to remember there is always hope.
  • Listen for hope today.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Saturday, March 31, 2018, the Great Vigil of Easter (Year B)

Romans 6:3-11
Psalm 114:1-8


If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2018 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD

Holy Saturday: Zephaniah 3:14-20 – A new king

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

During Holy Saturday, Readings and Responses will be posted on the hour from  7 am to 6 pm

Zephaniah 3:14-20

14  Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
15  The LORD has taken away the judgments against you,
he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more.
16  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands grow weak.
17  The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing
18       as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
so that you will not bear reproach for it.
19  I will deal with all your oppressors
at that time.
And I will save the lame
and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
and renown in all the earth.
20  At that time I will bring you home,
at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
before your eyes, says the LORD.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Respond with Psalm 98:1-9

    1   O sing to the LORD a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things.
    His right hand and his holy arm
    have gained him victory.
    2   The LORD has made known his victory;
    he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
    3   He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
    All the ends of the earth have seen
    the victory of our God.

    4   Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
    5   Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody.
    6   With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

    7   Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who live in it.
    8   Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing together for joy
    9   at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming
    to judge the earth.
    He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

  • It is a day to remember there is always hope.
  • Listen for hope today.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Saturday, March 31, 2018, the Great Vigil of Easter (Year B)

Zephaniah 3:14-20
Psalm 98:1-9

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2018 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD

Holy Saturday: Ezekiel 37:1-14 – A new breath

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

During Holy Saturday, Readings and Responses will be posted on the hour from  7 am to 6 pm

Ezekiel 37:1-14

1The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

7So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

11Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act,” says the LORD.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Respond with Psalm 143:1-12

    1   Hear my prayer, O LORD;
    give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness;
    answer me in your righteousness.
    2   Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
    for no one living is righteous before you.

    3   For the enemy has pursued me,
    crushing my life to the ground,
    making me sit in darkness like those long dead.
    sup>4   Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.

    5   I remember the days of old,
    I think about all your deeds,
    I meditate on the works of your hands.
    6   I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.                    Selah

    7   Answer me quickly, O LORD;
    my spirit fails.
    Do not hide your face from me,
    or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
    8   Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
    for in you I put my trust.
    Teach me the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.

    9   Save me, O LORD, from my enemies;
    I have fled to you for refuge.
    10  Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God.
    Let your good spirit lead me
    on a level path.

    11  For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life.
    In your righteousness bring me out of trouble.
    12  In your steadfast love cut off my enemies,
    and destroy all my adversaries,
    for I am your servant

  • It is a day to remember there is always hope.
  • Listen for hope today.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Saturday, March 31, 2018, the Great Vigil of Easter (Year B)

Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 143:1-12


If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2018 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD

Holy Saturday: Ezekiel 36:24-28 – A new heart

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

During Holy Saturday, Readings and Responses will be posted on the hour from  7 am to 6 pm

Ezekiel 36:24-28

24I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. 25I will sprinkle clean water upon y7ou, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. 28Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.

  • Respond with Psalm 42:1-11 and 43:1-5

    42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
    so my soul longs for you, O God.
    2   My soul thirsts for God,
    for the living God.
    When shall I come and behold
    the face of God?
    3   My tears have been my food
    day and night,
    while people say to me continually,
    “Where is your God?”

    4   These things I remember,
    as I pour out my soul:
    how I went with the throng,
    and led them in procession to the house of God,
    with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
    a multitude keeping festival.
    5   Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
    Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help 6and my God.

    My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I remember you
    from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.

    7   Deep calls to deep
    at the thunder of your cataracts;
    all your waves and your billows
    have gone over me.
    8   By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.

    9   I say to God, my rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
    Why must I walk about mournfully
    because the enemy oppresses me?”
    10  As with a deadly wound in my body,
    my adversaries taunt me,
    while they say to me continually,
    “Where is your God?”

    11  Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
    Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help and my God.

    43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
    against an ungodly people;
    from those who are deceitful and unjust
    deliver me!
    2   For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
    why have you cast me off?
    Why must I walk about mournfully
    because of the oppression of the enemy?

    O send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
    let them bring me to your holy hill
    and to your dwelling.

    4   Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy;
    and I will praise you with the harp,
    O God, my God.

    5   Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you disquieted within me?
    Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my help and my God.

  • It is a day to remember there is always hope.
  • Listen for hope today.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Saturday, March 31, 2018, the Great Vigil of Easter (Year B)

Ezekiel 36:24-28
Psalm 42:1-11 and 43:1-5

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 201* The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD

Holy Saturday: Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21;9:4b-6 – A new wisdom

/ Lil Smith / Leave a comment

During Holy Saturday, Readings and Responses will be posted on the hour from  7 am to 6 pm

Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21;9:4b-6

8:1   Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
2   On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3   beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
4   “To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all that live.
5   O simple ones, learn prudence;
acquire intelligence, you who lack it.
6   Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right;
7   for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8   All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

19  My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
20  I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21  endowing with wealth those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.”

9:4b    To those without sense she says,
5   “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6   Lay aside immaturity, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”

  • Light a candle to remember Christ’s presence with you.
  • Sit five to fifteen minutes in silence bringing your attention to the Breath.
  • Respond with Psalm 19:1-14

    1   The heavens are telling the glory of God;
    and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
    2   Day to day pours forth speech,
    and night to night declares knowledge.
    3   There is no speech, nor are there words;
    their voice is not heard;
    4   yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.

    In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
    5   which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
    and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
    6   Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them;
    and nothing is hidden from its heat.

    7   The law of the LORD is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
    the decrees of the LORD are sure,
    making wise the simple;

    8   the precepts of the LORD are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
    the commandment of the LORD is clear,
    enlightening the eyes;
    9   the fear of the LORD is pure,
    enduring for ever;
    the ordinances of the LORD are true
    and righteous altogether.
    10  More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
    sweeter also than honey,
    and drippings of the honeycomb.

    11  Moreover by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.
    12  But who can detect their errors?
    Clear me from hidden faults.
    13  Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
    do not let them have dominion over me.
    Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

    14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
    be acceptable to you,
    O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

  • It is a day to remember there is always hope.
  • Listen for hope today.
  • What is your message from God?
  • Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
  • Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Saturday, March 31, 2018, the Great Vigil of Easter (Year B)

Proverbs 8:1-8, 19-21; 9:4b-6
Psalm 19:1-14

If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings (c) 2018 The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD