Our God is perfect....But our roof is not...
St. Philips Episcopal, Uvalde TX
The Collect
O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.




The First Lesson
Acts 16:9-15
During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.




The Psalm
Psalm 67
Deus misereatur
1 May God be merciful to us and bless us, *
show us the light of his countenance and come to us.
2 Let your ways be known upon earth, *
your saving health among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, *
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide all the nations upon earth.
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; *
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has brought forth her increase; *
may God, our own God, give us his blessing.
7 May God give us his blessing, *
and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.





The Epistle
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
In the spirit the angel carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
 
Ascension Andrea di Vanni






John 14:23-29
Jesus said to Judas (not Iscariot), "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, `I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe."


Ascension Andrea di Vanni
Reflections

Shall I Stand Before Thee Face To Face?
Day after day, O Lord of my life,
    shall I stand before thee face to face?
With folded hands, O Lord of all worlds,
    shall I stand before thee face to face?
 under thy great sky in solitude and silence,
 with humble heart
    shall I stand before thee face to face?
In this laborious world of thine,
 tumultuous with toil and struggle,
 among hurrying crowds
    shall I stand before thee face to face?
And when my work shall be done in this world,
O King of kings, alone and speechless
    shall I stand before thee face to face?
-Rabindranath Tagore  1861-1941
Gitanjali


Where Thou Art, There Is Heaven
My Lord God, my All in all, Life of my life, and Spirit of my spirit, look in mercy upon me and so fill me with thy Holy Spirit that my heart shall have no room for love of aught but thee.
I seek from thee no other gift but thyself, who art the giver of life and all its blessings. From thee I ask not for the world or its treasures, nor yet for heaven even make request, but thee alone do I desire and long for, and where thou art, there is heaven. The hunger and the thirst of this heart of mine can be satisfied only with thee who has given birth.
O Creator mine! Thou hast created my heart for thyself alone, and not for another, therefore this my heart can find no rest or ease save in thee; in thee who has both created it and set in it this very longing for rest. Take away then from my heart all that is opposed to thee, and enter and abide and rule for ever. Amen.
-Sadhu Sundar Singh 1889-c1929
quoted from the Oxford Book of Prayer George Appleton, editor




 
Longing For My True Life
I live, but not in myself,
And I have such hope
That I die because I do not die.
I no longer live within myself
And I cannot live without God,
For if I have neither Him nor myself
What will life be?
It will be a thousand deaths,
Longing for my true life
And dying because I do not die.
-John of the Cross 1542-1591
(vs.1) Stanzas of the Soul that Suffers with Longing to See God
verse one, trans. Kavanaugh & Rodriguez
 
 

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