"Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5, (NRSV)
I pray daily for this community; for the national Episcopal community and international church; and for our neighbors and civil leadership. I imagine many of you have daily or weekly prayer practices as well. Prayer is grounding, powerful, and necessary. Along with honoring both my prayer practices and yours, I am called to lift up our communal prayer as well. Here at Ascension, we have a long tradition of praying for each other. We pray during the “Prayers of the People” every time we celebrate the Eucharist. The variety of small group gatherings that meet during the week and on Sunday mornings also take time to gather prayer requests. There is also a weekly email that I send out to a faithful group of folks (that I learned was a prayer team in action before my arrival last September). We also pray with our hands and feet when we support our food pantry or Austin Street and when we visit one of our own in the hospital or at their home - to name a small portion of the ministries we have here. Our prayers are continuous and are an integral part of the pastoral care we provide for each other, and an integral part of how we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us. For all of this and so much more - I am grateful!! I invite you to continue to pray in all of the ways you are currently praying and if you want to talk about new ways to pray or new ways to be an intentional part of our prayer team or our pastoral care team - please let me know!! “Praying for another is a wonderful ministry in which we can all share. It is a sign of our dignity as children of God, called to share in the intercessory work of Christ. It is a prayer which can change others, and change ourselves. If we abide in Christ, he will accept the offering of our prayers and use them to bless and uphold the world.”
-Br. Geoffrey Tristram Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Yours in Christ, Mtr. Teresa+