We can receive all of them, asking God to give us the gift that we need at that time, knowing that what we need will change from moment to moment. O Spirit who enters our every grief, Intercede now for this hurting people, in this broken land. O Christ who binds our wounds, Be our great healer. Later I reflected how wonderful it is that we don’t actually have to pick just one gift. Excerpt from Every Moment Holy: Volume II Leader: O God who gathers what has been scattered, People: Shelter us now in the shadow of your wings. I wanted wisdom, and offered a heartfelt prayer right then and there that God would give me a little of this gift that feels so elusive. I am too tiny in this world, and not tiny enough just to lie before you like a thing, shrewd and secretive. We had a brief chat about what each of these gifts mean, and then we talked about which gift of the Spirit we would ask him to give us. I shared with them that the Holy Spirit brings seven gifts (listed here traditionally and as they are translated in the Rite of Confirmation): I was talking about all this with my kids as we approached this feast. The holy feast of Pentecost reminds me that his fire is still burning, still kindling Christ’s eternal light in my soul. We are living in that future, and the power of the Spirit surrounds us. The Pentecost of the first Christians was a witnessing of the power of the Spirit for the future. Pentecost is a celebration of possibilities, both for individual believers and for the Church. A Liturgy for Those Flooded by Too Much Information By The Rabbit Room MaFaith In a world so wired and interconnected, our anxious hearts are pummeled by an endless barrage of troubling news. Now that I have written this much about Every Moment Holy, I want to pray.That’s why Brother Silas Henderson, SDS, writes: When I read the liturgy “For Those Flooded by Too Much Information,” McKelvey’s thoughtful words help enlarge my vocabulary so that my spontaneous prayers can be more meaningful.Įvery Moment Holy is graced throughout with Ned Bustard’s prints, turning a useful book into a work of art. Every Moment Holy Practicing Presence with the God Who’s Always Present The Art of Suffering Well: The Power of Proximity Where are you God’s voice beckoned throughout the land- drawing, seeking, longing for the return of who had always been His. But they also enrich it by broadening my language in prayer. They enrich it, obviously, by providing prayers on occasions I have run out of words. The thing I love about Every Moment Holy (and the two other resources I’ve mentioned) is how they enrich my prayer life. Lament Upon the Finishing of a Beloved Book Īnd that is only a small fraction of what is included. Nothing and no one is outside its gracious bounds.)įor Those Facing the Slow Loss of Memory įor Those Who Have Not Done Great Things for God The Lord taught us in Matthew 6 that all of life is to be enveloped by prayer. I suspect the first thought many believers will have when they first look through Every Moment Holy will be, “I never thought of praying about that.” McKelvey provides prayers, simple liturgies…įor Those Who Feel Awkward in Social Gatherings Written by Douglas McKelvey and illustrated with linocut prints by Ned Bustard, the book is beautifully crafted, a creative resource for prayer deeply rooted in Christian grace, beautiful art and the truth of scripture. The Book of Common Prayer and The Valley of Vision are two I dearly love, and use often.Īnd now there is one more: Every Moment Holy. Thankfully, too, collections of prayers composed over the centuries since Christ’s ascension come to my aid. So often I am unable to find the right words until I find the right psalm.

The proof of that, of course, is the existence of the Psalms, a sacred collection of prayers for the people of God. Spontaneous prayer, it turns out, is both essential and insufficient. What do I ask for a friend whose suffering seems interminable? Or for the yard sale I am holding while my friend is being wheeled into an operating room? I pray but feel heart sick at stringing together tired Christian clichés-bless her bless him bless them bless everyone-how can something that is so true seem so lame? Sometimes I think that “bless”-such a glorious idea-has been reduced to the request of the mindlessly spontaneous. Mostly its because I have no idea what to say. More accurately, I find myself unable to find the right words to capture the reality I want and need to express.

Written to encourage awareness of Gods blessings in all of our experiences, the book presents 100 liturgical prayers and reflections, to be used individually or with a leader, fitting for a wide variety of everyday life 'moments. Still, I often run out of them at just the wrong moment. Every Moment Holy provides reflections in liturgy form for both the momentous and not-so-momentous events in life.

Every moment holy