10.1.21 National Cathedral Morning Prayer

[Music] [Music] good morning i'm jan ko provost to the cathedral and it's my joy to welcome you to our service this morning on friday october the first it's the feast day for therese of liju a monastic who died in 1899 let us pray lord god you've brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your mighty power that we may not fall into sin nor be overcome by adversity and in all we do direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose through jesus christ our lord amen the collect for this feast day gracious father who called your servant therese to a life of fervent prayer give to us a spirit of prayer and zeal for the ministry of the gospel that the love of christ may be known throughout all the world through the same jesus christ our lord amen our scripture pointed forward today is taken from the gospel of luke the 21st chapter beginning the first verse jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins he said truly i tell you this poor widow is put in more than all of them for all of them have contributed out of their abundance but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on that scripture seems particularly appropriate for the saint we remember today who literally gave everything she had her life to the proposition that the love of the lord is the most most important thing that we can pursue and promote teresa of liu was called the greatest saint in modern times by pope pius xii canonized by pope pius xi just 28 years after her death and named a doctor of the church by pope john paul ii in the time since she's died she's become really one of the most beloved saints in the roman catholic church she felt an early call to a religious life and experienced a vision of christ that she described as a total conversion at the age of 14. she felt her vocation to be prayer for priests which gives her a special place in my heart and she shot uh sought admittance to the carmelite monastery she entered that order at the age of 17 and she led a simple quiet life of prayer particularly for priests and small acts of charity what she called her little way she's popularly known as the little flower of jesus or simply the little flower there's actually a roman catholic church school in the washington metropolitan area called the little flower and it wasn't until i read about this saint of the church that i knew that she was the person for whom this school was named therese struggled with illness all of her life and suffered greatly from tuberculosis until she died at the very young age of 24. despite that suffering or maybe because of it she felt a special kinship with those who suffer who walk in darkness who perhaps feel separated from god perhaps as some of us have particularly during this coveted time at 22 her prioress instructed her to write her memoirs and the story of a soul as it's come to be called commended a life of great love more so than great deeds toward the end of her life she experienced a profound sense of separation from god yet she never stopped loving god and eventually came to the belief that she experienced that so that she could be in closer relationship with those who are in darkness those who do feel separated from god she had a special relationship and prayerful intention for those whose experiences she felt very personally in reading her story i was reminded of mother teresa who experienced the same sense of separation and darkness in the latter years of her life and mother teresa said that she too never lost that love of god and deep commitment to god and felt that her experience of that was to make her even more effective in her ministry to and with those who experienced such darkness and separation and abandonment i mean think about the faith and commitment and love at the core of one's life that enables one to be in ministry in prayer and in love of god even more profoundly in the face of that it's something in many ways beyond my comprehension so if any of you have been feeling you know darkness or separation from god learn more about this saint we remember today and mother teresa they had their extraordinary struggles too it's reported that this saint therese last words were reported to be my god i love you let me so for you and for me amen and now will you join me in the words our savior christ taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for god is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen glory to god whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine glory to god from generation to generation in the church and through christ jesus forever and ever amen the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you the lord lift up his countents upon you and give you peace this day and always in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen [Music] you

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Length: 10min 36sec (636 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 01 2021