Week of Sabbath I, Day Two, Morning

Prayer of hope and healing:

Blessed Lord,
Thank you for this new day. It is an opportunity to change the world. Let me touch the life of just one person today—making one life better by my words or my presence. I offer myself as a blessing to the world this day.
Amen

Reading: From Psalm 113, a song of praise for God, helper of those in need:

Praise the Lord!Praise, O servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and for evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.

The Lord is high above all nations,
and the glory of the Lord above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high, who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
God raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of God’s people.
God gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

Meditation:

God promises, throughout scripture, to care for those who are in need. Many readers of the Bible find there a “preferential option for the poor,” meaning God offers extra concern for those in need.

--How different would our world be if all of our leaders had a “preferential option for the poor?”

The Psalmist praises God for God’s care for the poor and needy. God should be praised from morning to night (in a pair of devotions, perhaps…). Certainly the Psalmist feels that the greatest thing about God is God’s ability to make the lives of God’s people better.

Perhaps the greatest thing about ourselves, as people of faith, is our ability to use our gifts and our faith to make others’ lives better.

Make someone’s life better today, if only by a kind word. Say a word of praise to God when you do it.

Prayer of joy:

God,
I praise you, from morning to evening, from the rising of the sun to its setting! You have created us, and the whole world, and the creation is amazing! Make me a blessing to those I will encounter today, so that I might become a part of your mission of uplifting. Amen