THE SHEPHERDESS A Continuation of the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd(ess) Sunday Source of the image:  [https://miro.medium.com/max/700/1*wqCd8qe3QYVyzvNF_pXbZA.jpeg] Another story about a Shepherd, a Shepherdess in fact. The story is fiction but real in its message. The narrative contains explicit language, language that makes the story more real. What is it like to be the Shepherdess? What is it like to be the woman portrayed in the psalm? It needs to be read. It needs to be read in its entirety. It needs to be read and thoroughly contemplated until life comes to all, not just some. It needs to be repeated as a rite of reconciliation and an owning of responsibility by those who oppress others, especially men in their misogynistic systems of greed, injustice, racism, xenophobia, sexual assault, and violence. Read the story of the Shepherdess HERE. Source:  Milena Carbone— Second Life fiction, I’m the character of an anonymous writer and photographer in the cloud. I live in the age of those who will be sacrificed. Prayer Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, you are the Shepherdess that cares for all we truly need. The pastures might not always be green, especially on the other side of the fence. The waters may not always be placid, there are storms, there are deluges, there are waters of poison. Yet, you are the one who provides for us our due portion for each day.  You renew our life-breath that our lungs and soul can breathe the essence of your presence and life-giving love. You provide a pathway that is through the justice and peace of your will, on earth, here and now, as it is in heaven. In the truth of your Name, we are a pilgrim people being, yet becoming, what your creation and redemption shall be in the end. Even when our steps take us through thick shadows of burden, suffering, and the reality of our mortality, we need not be in anxiety or despair, for you are there. You are here, in the everything. O Transcending-One, your Immanence is the Mystery we live and share. Comfort is found in your protecting reach and your rescuing embrace. Your arms and hands are never inept as to hold us all, everyone, and to seek the one that is lost and needs to be found. For your flock is us all, without exception, in the community that knows no bias or discrimination. To each, your will is nothing less than equality and equity, where access to all blessings is never narrowed or hidden. Like a meal in the wilderness, manna from heaven, you feed us the bread of life, 'til we want no more. Your table extends to the north and south, to the east and the west, from sun up through sundown, spread with the choicest wine that is exceeded only by your infinite compassion and mercy. We lift the cup of life and drink deeply of your Spirit. It is our calling upon your Name in praise and thanksgiving. Your balm drips gently, anointing us as your people. For once we were not a people, but now we are your people. Once we were individuals, consuming and trading in what we thought was a bargain. Now we are a people, when one of us is hurting, we all hurt together. And, the greatest gift is love. As broken as we are, your healing is poured out like oil upon us. Dripping across even our feet.  Surely goodness and kindness shall kiss and reign supreme within our humbleness, and our abode will be in you—always, all ways, and forever. Blessed are you and blessed is your Kin-Dom forevermore. _________________ I stumbled upon the story and graphic noted above in my research for last Sunday's Good Shepherd Day. It has continued within me all week, bringing tears to my eyes and fire to my heart. It will not let me let it go. So, after much consideration and wrestling with the message, I decided needed to be shared. I searched diligently for both the source of the image and of the story. I found no copyright, but I give full credit to the source as named above, with the link to the website where it was found.

Easter 4B/Good Shepherd Sunday

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY
A PREPARED DEVOTIONAL USING A BEAD AND A PRAYER FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Opening Song For Meditation (Click Here To Listen) I am the good shepherd, alleluia; I know my sheep and my own know me, alleluia, alleluia. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me; he revives my soul. I am the good shepherd, alleluia; I know my sheep and my own know me, alleluia, alleluia. John 20, Psalm 23
		CROSS	Matthew 9.35-38 Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
		INVITATORY	O Sovereign and Almighty Lord, look down from heaven on your Church, on all your people, and on all your flock. Save us all, your unworthy servants, the sheep of your fold. Give us your peace, your help, and your love,  and send to us the gift of your Holy Spirit, that with a pure heart and a good conscience we may gather around your Word and sing your praises, without hypocrisy, and with no hostile purpose, but guileless and pure in one spirit, in the bond of peace and love, one body and one spirit, in one faith, even as we have been called in one hope of our calling, that we may all meet in the divine and boundless love, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom you are blessed.
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 1	Ezekiel 34 Thus, says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.  As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.  I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.  I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. They shall know that I, their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says God Most High. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 2	Psalm 80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth! Stir up your might, and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved. O God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. The boar from the forest ravages it,  and all that move in the field feeds on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 3	Revelation 7 After this, I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 4	John 10  “The truth of the matter is, whoever doesn’t enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep, the one for whom the keeper opens the gate. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice; the shepherd calls them by name and leads them out. Having led them all out of the fold, the shepherd walks in front of them and they follow because they recognize the shepherd’s voice. They simply won’t follow strangers—they’ll flee from them because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.” Even though Jesus used this metaphor with them, they didn’t grasp what he was trying to tell them. He, therefore, said to them again: “The truth of the matter is, I am the sheep gate. All who came before me were thieves and marauders whom the sheep didn’t heed.  I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be safe—you’ll go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy. I came that you might have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd would die for the sheep. The hired hand, who is neither shepherd nor owner of the sheep, catches sight of the wolf coming and runs away, leaving the sheep to be scattered or snatched by the wolf. That’s because the hired hand works only for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, in the same way, Abba God knows me and I know God—and for these sheep, I will lay down my life. I have other sheep that don’t belong to this fold—I must lead them too, and they will hear my voice. And then there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why Abba God loves me—because I lay down my life, only to take it up again. No one takes my life from me; I lay it down freely. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This command I received from my Abba.”
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		INVITATORY	O God, whose way is of compassion and mercy; good Shepherd of the sheep, you came to seek the lost and gather them to your fold. Have compassion on those who have wandered from you. Feed those who hunger, make the weary lie down in your pastures, bind up those who are broken in heart, and strengthen those who are weak, that we rely on your care, find comfort in your love, and abide in your guidance to our lives’ end; for your name’s sake. Amen.
		CROSS	Hebrews 13.20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

EARTH DAY

A Meditation For Prayer

Song  (Click Here For Music)

For the beauty of the earth,

for the glory of the skies,

for the love which from our birth

over and around us lies.

Refrain:

Creating God, to you we raise

this, our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour

of the day and of the night,

hill and vale and tree and flower,

sun and moon and stars of light, [Refrain ]

For the joy of human love,

brother, sister, parent, child,

friends on earth, and friends above,

for all gentle thoughts and mild, [Refrain]

For yourself, best gift divine,

to the world so freely given,

agent of God's grand design:

peace on earth and joy in heaven. [Refrain]

Isaiah 65

For I, God the Creator, am about to create new heavens and a new earth!

The things of the past will not be remembered or come to mind! 

Be glad and rejoice forever and ever in what I create,

because I now create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight! 

I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people;

no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it or the cry of distress. 

No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,

or old people who do not live out their days.

They die as mere youths who reach but a hundred years,

and those who fall short of a hundred will be thought accursed. 

At last, they will live in the houses they build,

and eat the fruit of the vineyard they plant. 

They will not build for another to inhabit;

they will not plant for another to eat.

For the days of my people will be like the days of a tree,

and my chosen ones will enjoy the fruit of their labors. 

They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to die;

for they and their descendants are a people blessed by God.

Even before they call upon me, I will answer;

and while they speak, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed side by side;

the lion will eat straw like an ox.

Serpents will be content to crawl on the ground;

They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain,

says the God of all Creation.

Collect For the Day

O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the

needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for

your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering

the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards

of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with

you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, forever

and ever. Amen.

 

Psalm 8

 

O God, our Sovereign,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and infants

you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,

to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars that you have established;

what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals, that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than your Divine-Self,

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under their feet,

all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O God, our Sovereign,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Prayer of Intercession

For those who are suffering from environmental injustice...

Creating God, hear our prayer. 

For those who do not have access to clean water… 

Creating God, hear our prayer. 

For those who suffer health impacts from air pollution… 

Creating God, hear our prayer. 

For the environmental racism that endangers and harms BIPOC people... 

Creating God, hear our prayer. 

For our oceans that are overwhelmed by plastic pollution… 

Creating God, hear our prayer. 

For young people and future generations facing the fear of climate catastrophe… 

Creating God, hear our prayer.

Colossians 1:15-20

Christ is the image of the unseen God and the firstborn of all creation, 

for in Christ were created all things in heaven and on earth:

everything visible and invisible,

Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers—

all things were created through Christ and for Christ. 

Before anything was created, Christ existed, and all things hold together in Christ. The church is the body; Christ is its head. 

Christ is the Beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and so Christ is first in every way. 

God wanted all perfection to be found in Christ, 

and all things to be reconciled to God through Christ—

everything in heaven and everything on earth—

when Christ made peace by dying on the cross.

Prayer For the Day

Creator God, have mercy on our wayward world, tottering on the brink of self-destruction. Have mercy on the rulers and statesmen who bear the ultimate burden of government. Have mercy on our nation as we face our share of responsibility. We recognize that we have allowed the values of consumerism to override the permanence of your Creation, and cause us to act in ways that damage your Creation and wrap your children in the cycle of poverty. Have mercy on us all and grant us your forgiveness. Amen.

Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.

God will dwell with them;

they will be God's peoples,

and God will be with them;

God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away.”

Song  (Click Here For Music)

I see trees so green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies so blue and clouds so white.

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by.

I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do.

They're really saying I love you.

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow.

They'll learn much more than I'll ever know.

And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

Genesis 1:27-31

God created humankind, in God's own image, God created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.

				CROSS		1111
				INVITATORY		2222
				CRUCIFORM		3333
				WEEK 1		4444
				CRUCIFORM		5555
				WEEK 2		6666
				CRUCIFORM		7777
				WEEK 3		8888
				CRUCIFORM		9999
				WEEK 4		0000
				CRUCIFORM		1111
				INVITATORY		1212
				CROSS		1313