Mary holds the lifeless body
As tears flow from her eyes
Does she also know that
Soon her son must rise?
Mary holds her baby's hand
So little and so frail
Does she also understand
That they would be pierced by a nail?
Mary holds her son close to her chest
When they find him teaching
Does she feel so blessed that
Even to death He is reaching?
Mary holds her son to wish him a good day
As he works with Joseph at his trade
Mary holds our hand as we walk the way
God says: see the work my hands have made!

He is with us in our hearts and in our lives;
He is not so far away.
Reach out to him in your very breath,
Reach out and hold him in your hands.
He is with us always
To the end of the age and beyond.
He is with us always
We are never truly alone.
He has a place in my heart,
He is here in my soul,
He is the music around me,
He is the spirit that moves me.
He came down from Heaven to live as man;
He came as a human so we might understand
How much he loves us loves you and me.
He is with us at home, at work, at play,
He is beside us each and every day.

Beyond

Look beyond the surface to see the deeper beauty
Look beyond the act to find a sense of duty
Look beyond the words to see the message they contain
Look beyond the fear and see that I still remain
Look beyond the weakness to see the strength within
Look beyond the death to see where life begins
Look beyond the sound to feel the timeless melody
Look beyond the healing to know the one true remedy
Look beyond the noise to the inmost quiet prayer
Look beyond your helping to find out why you care
Look beyond what you see with your eyes
Look with your mind and soul and heart
Look outside and see the morning sun rise
Look and see what was there from the start
Look beyond blind hate and rage to see the time for love
Look beyond yourself and fix your eyes on things above
Look beyond the cross to see the bridge it made
Look beyond the suffering to see the cost was paid
Look beyond the body and blood to the redeeming sacrifice
Look beyond the anger and do something nice
Look beyond your own little world to find a bigger place
Look beyond apology to see forgiveness and grace

Love Was Greater

Love was Greater
Love was greater than our sin and hate
Love is necessary in order to create
Love was greater than suffering and pain
Love bore the weight of all our shame
Love was greater than the power of death
Love gave life with it’s breath
Love was greater than all our dreams
Love is so much more than it first seems
Love was greater than all our fear
Love is something I hold most dear
Love is patient love is kind
Love is gentle love is not blind
Love is slow to anger and quick to forgive
Love is not jealous love loves to give
Love does not boast but acts humbly
Love is what can set a prisoner free
Love never quits when things get hairy
Love will not waste nor will it tarry
Love is what flowed from Jesus’ side
Love was shown when He spread his arms and died
Love was greater than what we deserve
Love has covered over all the earth
Love is greater than all treasure is worth
Love is our heritage love is our legacy
Love is a mystery love is our history
Love is greater than words can say
Love is the message we try to convey
Love is a peace beyond compare
Love is a presence that is everywhere
Love is opening the eyes of my heart
Love has painted us works of art
Love is a secret that needs to be shared
Love was so great that our lives were spared
Love was greater than death on a cross
Love said we’re worth any cost
Love Is Greater

Lord, on this holy day in which we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday, we reflect on your love and guidance for your people as the Good Shepherd. You call us each by name and your sheep know your voice and follow you. There is so much noise in this world that distracts us and pulls our attention away from you and your loving word. Lead and guide us and keep us safe from harm. When we are lost and we stray, you bring us back to be with you again. We are a community; a living body united by you. There is strength and safety in numbers. On Good Shepherd Sunday, we pray for our clergy and especially our priests that they would be good leaders, protectors, and providers for their flocks. We pray that you give them strength, courage, and wisdom to do what is necessary. We pray for their safety and peace for, without their good guidance and council, we would be lost. Thank you Lord for giving us our Shepherds and I pray that we thank and recognize them for their leadership. Help each of us look to you, Lord Jesus, as the model and example as we try to follow what it means to be Good Shepherds for those around us. In this regard, we pray also for those in positions of authority and power that you would put good influences in their lives to help them choose the best good. Jesus, you are the Shepherd of our minds, hearts, souls and lives. Thank you!

Amen

What is more precious, more fleeting than time? So much of the world and our lives revolve around it. We have a set amount of it and all too quickly it is gone. What do we do with the time that we have? How do we spend it and what do we spend it on? Many of us try to do too much or do too little and regret our spending. We wish we spent more time with our families, our children, our friends: on the things that truly matter. This is all well and good, but how much of our time do we invest in our relationship with God, our time in prayer, worship and fellowship? How important is it and how important is it to us? Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in doing things that we forget to just be. We forget to stop, pause, or even slow down. We are always racing somewhere and we miss the beauty and the blessings that are all around. Let us take a little bit of our ever precious time and spend it with God, the one who gives us this gift in the first place. Did God ever feel lonely and want someone to talk to him? Is there someone in our lives that we haven’t talked to or spent time with in a while? Giving someone part of your time is one of the greatest and most meaningful gifts you can give someone. You give them the gift of your presence and it lets them know how special and loved they are because it’s not something that most of us give away freely.

You look at me with eyes of love
There is no condemnation or reproach
You see me from your throne above
At your feet I humbly approach

You hear my cries of longing
Cries of passion and of sorrow
You hear me when I sing
And you wake me in the 'morrow

You feel my pain and heartache
As if they were your own
And when I feel it's more than I can take
This too, you have known

You reach out to me from the wooden cross
And as you finally breathe your last
I feel a sense of overwhelming loss
And, equally, mercy and grace so vast

My heart beats because of you
My heart beats for love of you
As long as my heart beats I'll live for you
Help me Lord to give it back to you

Amen

I looked up to the cross and down deep inside
I saw redemption and the shame I can't hide
I looked up to the heavens and down on the city streets
Now and then I glimpsed where hurt and healing meets
I looked from the four ends of the earth
And there I experienced a kind of rebirth
I looked from the richest to the poorest of there
Where I stood there was more to wealth than what I see
I saw that they were joyful, so warm and real
They lived with such enthusiasm; such zeal!
I looked up from my little world to see what awaited
I saw there a great big place so wonderfully created
I looked back and saw that things had shifted
I began to see how I was gifted
I looked to God and saw his Merciful Heart
And in my inmost being a change would start
I looked to God and saw his Precious Blood
And I was washed clean in that Holy Flood
I looked to God and saw his Body Broken
And I saw him with arms Held Open
I looked to God and felt a kind of Power
That remains every day until my Final Hour