Epiphany 6 (Year C, 2022): Litany for the Blessing of God

February 10, 2022 Fran Pratt

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This litany is based primarily in this week’s Lectionary Gospel reading from Luke 6, but I’m also exploring some of the ways God’s reputation has been besmirched and misinterpreted by the global church; and how we might come to the Divine freshly, using the lens of Luke’s beatitudes to get a better picture.

If this particular litany isn’t finding resonance for your Sunday plans, see also (search in Patreon) “Litany for Loving Kinship” from 2019.

I want to offer a reminder: when we pray these prayers aloud together, yes, we are doing congregational liturgy. But we are also doing a form of interactive sacred art. We are embodying a poem with our voices. So read with heart and gusto! We aren’t robots who speak in a monotone - we are artists making the work of the people!

God, we have heard about the goodness you extend to all humanity.
The rumor is: you are Love.
But a lot of what we’ve heard from other humans has been unclear on that,
Instead ascribing human ego to you.
So we are searching for the Real You,
And getting real about ourselves in the process.

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Epiphany 4 (Year C, 2022): Litany for Conduits of Love

January 27, 2022 Fran Pratt

In this week’s gospel reading from Luke 4, Jesus is speaking some hard truths that his audience doesn’t like to hear and it nearly gets him thrown off a cliff. And what is this message that is so offends the tender ears of his listeners? Simply put: you. aren’t. special.

Mmm, they do not want to hear that Israel isn’t the primary (read: only) beneficiary of God’s love. They don’t want to hear that God healed a Syrian and fed a Sidonite while Israelites ailed and hungered. God is supposed to be their very own pet god, working solely on their behalf.

And Jesus, as ever, points out instead the boundlessness of God’s love and regard, for humans of all nationalities. Not just Israelite Jews. And not just American Christians, either.

Jesus is breathing fire here, and it is the fire of unconditional love. May we learn how to channel it too! Even though it might make the gatekeepers mad.

(I’ve included elements from the other readings in this week’s Lectionary selection in this litany as well.)

God, we are working on knowing that you’re within us.
We’re getting better at working with the power you share with us.
Your power and energy are unlimited,
But our humanity is a finite container;
So instead of being containers,
We’re learning to be like pipes - conduits of love.

Epiphany 3 (Year C, 2022): Litany for How Not to Quit

January 20, 2022 Fran Pratt

I chuckled at Jesus’ lil mic drop moment in this week’s gospel of Luke 4. He stands up, reads a brief passage from Isaiah, hands the scroll back, sits down and says “this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” I’m it, y’all. It’s me and it’s happening here and now. I feel a little sass from him here and I like it.

He’s “proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free… the year of the Lord's favor." A big deal. A strong statement - a MANIFESTO! - and one that threatens to topple all the power systems of his day.

And I’m thinking, if we were to proclaim these things with as much confidence here in our own time and place, what systems would topple? The prison-industrial complex? The medical-industrial complex? Capitalism’s hierarchy of haves and have-nots?...

My thinking is: they killed Jesus because they knew he was serious. He was working for a large-scale power shift and toppling of hierarchies. They thought killing the head would stop the beast, but SURPRISE WE’RE STILL HERE. Of course, lots of people interpret this differently than I do.

So I wonder, how do we go all in for this liberation manifesto as imagined by Isaiah and embraced by the Christ? How can we put our money and time and action where our mouth is? And, knowing that the powers that be won’t like it… that even our own religious systems and hierarchies won’t like it, that we will face ongoing resistance and a long, uphill battle?

Further, how can we partner with and serve people of faith who have already been doing this long uphill, resistance-laden work for centuries? Like the Rev. Dr. King whom we celebrated in the US this week, and so many other civil rights activists and other advocates doing long work?

I hope in 2022 we are not just thinking about this but actually doing it.

God, we are waking up to ways we have been complacent with Christ’s vision.
When he said, “I’m here to free captives,
Heal broken systems and wake up oblivious people,
Dismantle oppression in all forms,”
We believe he meant it.
And we hear the invitation to participate.

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Epiphany 1 (First Sunday after Epiphany, Year C, 2022): Litany for God in the World

January 5, 2022 Fran Pratt

Baptism of the Lord. This litany draws from the texts for the first Sunday after Epiphany. It is, for me, a prayer of completion and gratitude. God-with-us is never far off.

God, as we celebrate Epiphany -
The revealing of God-with-us,
God lovingly entered into the earth-realm,
God in human form,
God affirmed by heaven’s voice (1),
God sought and found by wisdom-seekers (2),
God companionable with creation,
God revealed as Love,
God participating in human life and ritual (3),
God’s Spirit present among us (4)...

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Epiphany (Year C 2022): Litany for the Light of Love

January 3, 2022 Fran Pratt

In the texts for Epiphany Year C, the epistle mentions “the wisdom of God in its rich variety” (Ephesians 3:10). Paul seems to grasp the winsome invitation of God’s welcome to humans of all kinds. The most unexpected people show up at the door - astrologers from far away who glimpsed the story in the stars; gentiles whom Jews like Paul would have avoided any religious sharing with; peasants with nothing to recommend them. “Nations shall come,” says the prophet Isaiah, drawn by the light of Love (60:3). You just never know when a king, or a beggar, might come knocking.

Where we thought we needed to be gate-keepers, we find we get to be greeters. Where once we saw foreigners, now we perceive fellow travelers. Let this expansive light (Arise, shine, for your light has come! - Isaiah 60:1) be our guidance here in this new year.

God, wise people the world over have sought and found you,
And experienced the Love that undergirds the universe,
That is the hallmark of your presence
And the stuff of your being.

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