Sixth Sunday after Trinity

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SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Readings:
Lesson: 1 Samuel 18:5-16
Psalm: 17
Epistle: Romans 6:1-14
Gospel: Matthew 5:17-26

ADORATION
Almighty God, I praise You because You listen to my prayer. You visit me at night, You try my heart and test me in order to purge me for any malice within me. You inspire me to keep away from destructive ways and hold close to Your paths. I call upon You when my feet slip, and You answer me with Your marvelous loving-kindness. You keep me as the apple of Your eye, and You hide me under the shadow of Your wings. You save me from the violent and presumptuous, from those who close their hearts off to kindness and compassion, and from those who think only of this world and nothing more. I see Your Presence when I do what is right. I see Your likeness when I open my eyes.

CONFESSION
Lord, in his anger and envy, King Saul hurled a spear twice at young David, who avoided both strikes. I confess that I too hurl spears of thoughts, words, and deeds to those who, for whatever petty reason, I perceive have hurt me. I want to pin them to the wall in order to punish them for what I believe they’ve done to me. I do not follow David’s example, for I pick up the spears thrown at me in order to fight back and wound others, as I myself am wounded. I affirm that anger and retaliation have no place in my life. I acknowledge that it is upon me to extract myself as peacefully as possible from attack and aggression, and turn to the music of creation, played upon nature’s harp.

THANKSGIVING
Holy Spirit, I thank You that I have been baptized into Christ’s death and buried along with Him. If I am immersed in His suffering, then I know that I am also raised into a new awareness of life—right here, right now. I bless You that I am united with Christ in the Ever Present Moment, and I grow into His likeness with each passing day. I thank You for doing away with my old self, my old nature that was a slave to ignorance and destructive patterns of behavior. I am dead to that part of myself and separated from it. But nothing can ever separate me from Christ because He lives and reigns forever. And You show me that living forever means truly being alive to You in this life, in this moment.

SUPPLICATION
Lord Jesus Christ, You teach that anger, malice and resentment lead to the supreme court of conscience, and the hell-fire of regret. For this reason, You elevate reconciliation with a fellow human being above even devotion to You. I ask You to show me the deeper truths of this hard teaching. How can I come to an agreement with my adversary, or come to terms with my opponent? I resolve to forgive and to be reconciled where these are possible. And where these are not possible, then I commit to an agreement of boundaries and to respectful terms that will at least honor dignity even while creating needful separation, so that no one is condemned to the eternal judgement of the mind.

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