Resources for Worship, Sunday, March 16,
Second Sunday in Lent
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Worship Resources for Sunday, March 16, Second Sunday in Lent
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Stories
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Worship Resources for Sunday, March 16, Second Sunday in Lent
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Prayer for Care
Eternal God, we praise you for giving us life and calling us into community to care for
each other.
We acknowledge that we have failed to care for every member of our human family, and have
not ensured that all may receive the health care they need for the life that you intend.
Forgive us for hearts that have been slow to feel another’s pain, for hands that have
been still when a caring touch was needed, and for voices that have remained silent while
millions suffer for lack of health care.
Strengthen in us a determination to solve the problem of uninsured Americans, so that all
may have the care they need. While we work together, sustain and uphold those who suffer
while they await healing and care. Guide doctors, nurses and all other health care
providers to serve with skill as agents of your love and healing.
For the blessing of life, we give thanks. For the comfort you provide for all who
experience illness and loss, we give you thanks. And for the call to care and the will to
do it, we give you thanks. Amen.
(From Cover the Uninsured Week. Visit “Prayers
and Lessons from Sacred Texts and Teachings About the Call to Care” at www.covertheuninsuredweek.org/plan/interfaith
.)
Prayers of the People
(Episcopal Rubric)
We know God’s desire for our health and wholeness through Jesus Christ, who healed
the sick in mind, body and spirit. Let us pray to the Lord, saying, “Lord, make us
whole.”
For the Universal Church, that in the name of Jesus, who healed the sick and welcomed the
outcasts, we minister to all who suffer in mind, body and spirit and call for care that
excludes none, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
For our nation and our leaders, that we assure health care for everyone and so doing
discover that true strength comes from ensuring justice and compassion for all and not
just for some, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
For people everywhere, in a world where disease knows no borders, suffering is a shared
language, health care is a common need, and good health is a universal hope, we pray to
the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
For ourselves and our local community, that we don’t pass by the problems of others
but work together to solve the problems that afflict our neighbors, offering comfort and
care, support and solidarity, advocacy and action to heal the broken places, we pray to
the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
For all who are uninsured, that they find strength and hope in you and justice and care
from your people, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
For those who suffer, especially the sick, that they are sustained by faith and served
with care by doctors and nurses acting as agents of your love, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
For all who have died in the hope of resurrection, especially those who died for lack of
care, and for the loved ones who grieve their passing, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, make us whole.
(From Cover the Uninsured Week. Visit “Prayers
and Lessons from Sacred Texts and Teachings About the Call to Care” at
www.covertheuninsuredweek.org/plan/interfaith. Lectionary notes for the Second Sunday in
March, Mark 8:31-38, written by the Rev. Dr. Marcia Cox, Pastor, Augustana Lutheran
Church, Washington, DC, are also available on their website.)
On the Lectionary: March 16, 2003, Second
Sunday in Lent
From the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B
From the Micah 6 Prayer and Devotional Guide, Written by the Rev. Noelle Damico
Devotion: The Appeal of Enshrining (Mark 9:2-9)
Peter, delighted that Jesus was with Moses and Elijah, advocates building three tents so
they might stay there forever. The appeal of enshrining can’t be denied. By pushing
the holy outside the realm of ordinary experience, enshrining separates heaven from earth.
It gives us a little space to breathe, a little wiggle room when the demands of the
prophets and religious teachers get to be too much. Enshrining is incredibly helpful, you
see, because it refuses incarnation: it resists the God in the flesh. And it’s
convenient too. It let’s us deal in shimmering visions rather than in the day to day
realities of injustice, illness, and despair that Jesus dealt with. It lets us contemplate
the beauty of white robes, rather than live the radical call to love our enemies. Why the
transfiguration itself almost seems to invite us to adulate Jesus’ person rather than
to follow him. And, to boot, we’ve named this very Sunday, Transfiguration Sunday, in
honor of this wondrous event. The transfiguration encourages us to venerate not imitate.
Or does it?
Just as Peter advocates building three dwellings a voice from heaven resounds, “This
is my Son, the Beloved: listen to him!” This voice cuts through the reverie of
idolization and demands a return to the message of the cross. And it is the cross
we’re talking about, according to Mark. The point is not just to listen to any old
thing, but to listen to what Jesus has been trying to say about the deep cost of following
him. The paradox of the transfiguration is that it points us away from the transfiguring
event itself and back tot eh way of the cross. It does not permit escapism. It demands a
religion that is our life, not our lifestyle. It signals a break, an utter break, with the
values of our society. It invites us to be transformed as Jesus was, not by ascending to
the top of a mountain and feeling mystical, but by conforming our lives to his – even
if that should mean our death.
This week, reflect on whether there are times that your veneration of Jesus has stifled
your imitation of him. In a reverse of the resurrection story where his glorification
follows his death, here Jesus is transfigured and then promises the cross. What in the
transfiguration story gives you the strength to hear Jesus’ ominous words?
Micah 6 for Kids!
Jesus went up on a mountain with a few of his friends. While they were there they met
Moses and Elijah, two very important people who showed God’s love and guided the
Jewish people. When Peter saw Jesus standing with Moses and Elijah he thought it was the
most wonderful thing he had ever seen. He was so excited that he wanted to build three
tents, one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah so that they could all stay there
together forever. Have you ever done something or seen something that you wanted to last
forever because it was so special? What was that thing? While we can’t stop time from
passing, we can remember those things that are wonderful and talk about them with others.
Jesus told Peter that they couldn’t stay there forever, that they would have to go
back down the mountain. While the disciples were sad about this, they were also glad that
they had seen such a wonderful thing.
Sometimes we do things that are really bad, don’t we? What the story of Noah reminds
us, though, is that God has promised to love us no matter what. And God’s love, which
loves us even when we do bad things, can help us become good and loving people ourselves.
Take time today to pray and thank God for loving us into doing good.
© 2000 Noelle Damico Publishing Co., 17 Dyke Rd.,
Setauket, NY 11733
For Micah 6 resources visit www.micah6.org
or call Nancy Theoharis at 1-877-MICAH 6-0.
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