Daily Primer — June 8, Olympia — Greece
Each day you will be given:
A Florilegium entry
A Daily Prayer
and a Night Prayer.
A Florilegium entry
A Daily Prayer
and a Night Prayer.
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold
future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our
capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a
sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It
may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the
way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do
the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not
messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold
future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our
capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a
sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It
may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the
way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do
the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not
messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Words of Cardinal John Dearden as included in an Address of His Holiness Pope Francis — Clementine Hall, Monday, 21 December 2015. These words are often, erroneously, attributed to saint and martyr Oscar Romero - but His Holiness clarifies that they are from John Dearden.
Florilegium is the Medieval Latin word for bouquet, or more literally flowers (flos, flor-) which are gathered (legere). The word florilegium was used to refer to a compilation of writings, often religious or philosophical. These florilegium are literary flowers—beautiful words/prayers/thoughts I have gathered. During my sabbatical they will give me something to ponder each day. — PHL.
Gentle Lord: you lead us and teach us in mercy. From your example we have come to understand that — though we might be tempted to make demands as apostles of Christ — we should be gentle, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. Lead us by way of your gentleness to be gentle with ourselves and with others; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Liturgy of the Hours - PHL.
Into your hands, O Lord,
I commend my spirit.
Keep me, O Lord, as the apple of your eye,
and hide me beneath the shadow of your wings.
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 the glory of your love’s sake. Amen.
I commend my spirit.
Keep me, O Lord, as the apple of your eye,
and hide me beneath the shadow of your wings.
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 the glory of your love’s sake. Amen.
Psalm 31:5, Psalm 17:8, Adapted from The Book of Common Prayer — Compline, p. 134.
