“… that there is one innate and trusty wealth: to use one’s substance on God and on the poor, especially the impoverished kin.” – St. Gregory Nanianzen the Younger
True wealth.
Much is made of the stock market and unemployment rates and the closing of name brand stores. But God’s economy has different calculators of wealth. In God’s economy, true wealth comes down to caring for the poor and hurting and showing deep love for God.
In the grand scheme of this time, how have your relational investments been? Stingy or abundant?
—————————-
Morning or midday prayer is a practice of pausing to connect with God through quiet reflection, daily readings and prayers. You can use the following for your own time of prayer today or as a family prayer time today.
Wednesday, Aug. 5th, 2020
O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.
Psalm 119:145-152
I call with all my heart; Lord, answer me.
I will observe your statutes.
I call upon you; save me,
and I will keep your decrees.
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I have hoped in your word.
My eyes awaken before dawn,
to ponder your promise.
In your mercy, hear my voice, O Lord;
give me life by your decrees.
Those who pursue me with malice draw near;
they are far from your law.
But you, O Lord, are close;
all your commands are truth.
From of old I have known that your decrees
are established forever.
Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
As ever before, so now and forevermore. Amen.
God, source of our joy, your commands are truth. In hope we pray: O God, receive our prayer.
Strengthen your Church to proclaim the sacredness and enhance the dignity of every human person. O God, receive our prayer.
Help us to contribute to the needs of the poor and exercise hospitality to one another. O God, receive our prayer.
Sensitize us to recognize your care for every human being and to use our speech for the work of peace-building. O God, receive our prayer.
Our Father who art in heaven, …
May God bless us, deliver us from evil, and fill our hearts with peace. Amen.
The Holy Scriptures
A reading from Jeremiah 31:1-7
At that time, says the Lord, / I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, / and they shall be my people. / Thus says the Lord: / The people that escaped the sword / have found favor in the desert. / As Israel comes forward to be given his rest, / the Lord appears to him from afar: / With age-old love I have loved you; / so I have kept my mercy toward you. / Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, / O virgin Israel; / Carrying your festive tambourines, / you shall go forth dancing with the merrymakers. / Again you shall plant vineyards / on the mountains of Samaria; / those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits. / Yes, a day will come when the watchmen / will call out on Mount Ephraim: / “Rise up, let us go to Zion, / to the Lord, our God.”
For thus says the Lord: / Shout with joy for Jacob, / exult at the head of the nations; / proclaim your praise and say: / The Lord has delivered his people, / the remnant of Israel.
The Witness of Others – Nonna
Matron and Deacon (ca. 374)
St. Nonna was born to Christian parents in Cappadocia (in present-day Turkey). She married Gregory, a magistrate in Nazianzus, though he belonged to a non-Christian sect. As one of her sons would later write, “This was something she could not calmly bear, that the one half be conjoined with God, whilst the other part itself should remain apart from God. On the contrary, she wanted that, to the fleshly union, there should also apply a spiritual union.” Her prayers were answered when her husband converted. He went on to be ordained a priest, and then a bishop, later venerated as St. Gregory Nazianzen the Elder. (There was at that time no prohibition against married clergy.) Nonna, for her part, became a deacon.
St. Nonna bore three children, all of them also venerated as saints: St. Gorgonia, who married and had three children; St. Caesarius, who became an illustrious physician; and St. Gregory Nazianzen the Younger, who became archbishop of Constantinople and went on to play a critical role in formulating the doctrine of the Trinity.
Young St. Gregory delivered a moving eulogy at his mother’s funeral, noting, “While some mothers excel in the management of their households and others excel in piety, my mother excelled at both.”
“She knew one thing to be truly noble: to be pious and to know from where we have come and where we are going; and that there is one innate and trusty wealth: to use one’s substance on God and on the poor, especially the impoverished kin.”
—St. Gregory Nazianzen the Younger
Most materials in this Daily Prayer resource are from Give Us This Day, August 2020 – a prayer resource for the Church.
Text “Give” to 765.300.4244
to support this ministry.
