Liturgy
Everyone is clergy. Everyone is called to serve,
To create, to communicate,
To participate with our good Creator
In the making and remaking of our good world.
Everyone is clergy. Everyone is called to stand,
To struggle, to suffer, to trust and to love,
And so to join in the unmaking of injustice and
In the liberation of earth from every form of sin.
Everyone is clergy. Everyone is called to holiness,
To faithfulness, to health, to growth,
To serenity and activity,
To the practices of life
In the kingdom of God.
All our daily work is holy. Every act of service,
Every deed of neighborly kindness,
Every smile or sigh, every touch or tear
Can be a sacramental act
Expressing the presence of the living God.
Every drop of sweat that falls in honest labor
For the common good
Joins with every movement toward others
In the daily liturgy of human work.
Some are given special gifts to equip
And inspire others for this daily work of faith
And labor of love.
All are channels of grace, given, received,
Shared in a symphony of many voices and instruments,
So the earth may be filled with the glory of God…
Reflection
Is your faith a dynamic following of Christ or a participation
in religion?
In what ways might you still have bad habits of religiosity?
Do we feel free to confess to others our struggles?
Why or why not?
How can the law create a hunger in us for redemption?
Benediction
…You are clergy. So am I. Together
We are called to learn God’s music of life
In the unique instruments of our bodies,
Our persons, our times, our settings.
Then we are sent out to play it with joy
and sincerity wherever we go.
Together we are part of a truly apostolic succession:
The people of God sent into the world,
generation after generation,
As Jesus was sent by the Father,
In the power of the Holy Spirit,
For the good of the world.
So let us work and rest together,
Let us play and sing together,
Let us by our faithful lives
bring glory to the true and living God.
For we are all clergy
And we are all called.
– Brian McLaren
Go in peace and live the church. See you throughout the week.
[Photo by theapoc @ Flickr]