Saturday the 24th of August is the feast day of St. Bartholomew. I hear you asking, ‘Who?’ Exactly. That’s more or less the point of this liturgy. Jesus selected Bartholomew to form a part of ‘The Twelve’, that microcosmic representation of the elders of Israel and the corporate brains trust of the early Christian church.

We know virtually nothing about him outside of that. In the Synoptic gospels, he doesn’t even get a speaking line! Peter sucks up most of the oxygen in that department. Maybe he and Nathanael in John’s gospel constitute one and the same person. Maybe not. Whoever he was, I honour his very muted persona – and suggest that, perhaps, we would do well to cultivate more of the same in ourselves.

Morning Prayers

Matchless is the Lord in glory:
Father, Son and Spirit.
So it has always been,
And so it will remain,
From the dawning of this age,
To the rising of the next,
And to all ages to come.

Prayer for Contentment

Father, Son and Spirit,
Show us the truths that lie beyond an elevated name.
Let us turn from the trappings of prestige.
Teach us to shun power and dreams of influence.

Instead, let our glory be found
In what we do for others,
For those in want,
For those in pain,
For those in distress.

Give us contentment
With what you have birthed in us,
That we may find peace
As unheralded saints,
Walking the paths we see before us
As lights to those in search of light.

Personal requests for today

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Readings:

As many of these scripture readings as you like can be read throughout the week. Since you won’t be tested on them, feel free to skip any if you prefer to read just a few or even one passage slowly and contemplatively.

Old Testament: Genesis 11:1-9; 11:27–12:9
Psalms: Psalms 14 and 15
Gospel: Mark 4:21-34
Epistle: Galatians 1:11–2:10

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Prayer for Binding

Jesus, anointed one,
Who summoned the Twelve to journey with you,
Who taught and fed multitudes,
Who invited women and children and men to join the Way,
Whose spirit fell upon hundreds:

Bind us to each other,
That we might look beyond what is good for ourselves,
And toward the good of the other;
That we might forego our own rights,
And embrace our responsibilities to the other;
That we might descend the ladder of personal gain,
To give support to the other. 

Personal prayers for others

Our Father

Our Father in the heavens,
May your name be hallowed.
Let your kingdom come to the earth,
So that your will is done as it is in heaven.
Give to us today's bread,
And forgive us our wrongs,
As we forgive those who wrong us,
And do not bring us not into the test,
But rescue us from evil.

Evening Prayers

Matchless is the Lord in glory:
Father, Son and Spirit.
So it has always been,
And so it will remain,
From the dawning of this age,
To the rising of the next,
And to all ages to come.

Prayer of the Unseen

To the One who sees:
We have traversed our world unnoticed by the world.
We have pursued endeavours, unlauded and unsung.
We have walked by unlit roads
As mere sojourners and wayfarers,
In places where fame and money and might are kings. 

If we have sought glory today, forgive us.
If we have craved notoriety, have mercy.
If we have longed to rise above our station, grant us grace
And rescue us from our own desires.

May we greet tomorrow with a humble stance.
May we find joy in the sun's rising
And find gratitude in your simple gifts as it sets.

Personal prayers for tomorrow 

Prayer at the Closing

As the doors and windows shut,
As the handles turn,
And the hinges cry,
And the latches click,
As the keys lift the tumblers,
And bolts twist into place,
We thank you for what the day has given.

Tomorrow, may the locks turn back,
And the windows unlatched,
And the doors be thrown wide once again,
That family and friend and neighbour,
And yes, even adversary,
Might find them open –
Doors of home and mind and heart.

Personal prayers for others

Our Father

Our Father in the heavens,
May your name be hallowed.
Let your kingdom come to the earth,
So that your will is done as it is in heaven.
Give to us today's bread,
And forgive us our wrongs,
As we forgive those who wrong us,
And do not bring us not into the test,
But rescue us from evil.

Benediction

May you find God in simple things,
Beauty in life's banalities,
And hear the Spirit calling in the mundane. 

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