Hosted by the Faith To Go team in the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, David Tremaine and Charlette Preslar, and joined the each week by a special guest, the Faith To Go Podcast highlights themes from the Sunday Gospel reading for you to take into your faith discussions and reflections throughout the week.
from NPR
Questions:
1) Where you surprised by any of the facts or data in the story?
2) What are some of the factors contributing to the disproportionate effect of the coronavirus on this community?
3) What are some of the barriers this community faces when trying to access the resources they need?
4) What are the resources that the community still needs in order to respond to the coronavirus in the future?
5) What emotions or questions came up for you while reading this story? What changes need to take place in order for this community to have the resources they need?
Views and Qs: How To Know Yourself
Watch this video together and then use the discussion questions below to reflect as a family.
Discussion Questions:
1) Who are the people in your life that have helped you know yourself better? 2) Why do you think it is important to know yourself?
3) What are some things that get in the way of us knowing the truth of our own identity? 4) How can knowing ourselves make us more resilient throughout our lives? 5) How have you responded to failures or praises in your life? How have those experiences informed your identity?
Feast and Faith: Binding and Loosing
For this week's dinner discussion we will focus on Peter's confession of Jesus as the messiah from this week's gospel.
Prayer -
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart and especially the hearts of the
people of this land, that barriers which divide us may
crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our
divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Discussion -
This week we are reflecting on the story of Peter naming Jesus as the "messiah," and Jesus' response that whatever the disciples "bind on earth will be bound in heaven" and whatever they "loose on earth will be loosed in heaven":
Questions -
1) What do you think it means to "bind" or "loose" something or someone?
2) What do you think Jesus means when he says that whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven?
3) Have you ever felt "bound" by a person or a situation? What helped you be "loosed" from that feeling?
4) What people or communities do you see being "bound" in some way in our world right now?
5) How might we work to "loose" these people or groups from this reality of being bound today?
Final Nugget -
Jesus seems to be highlighting a real connection between the two realities he names as "heaven" and "earth," and how our actions have real consequences in both realities. What do you think is the relationship between these realities that Jesus names as "heaven" and "earth?" How does this relationship effect how we think about our responsibilities to one another and the importance of our actions?
Stay and Pray: A Devotion for Families at the Close of the Day Each week we feature a way for your family to reflect and pray together. For families with older children this is an at home liturgy for your family to participate in together. It is a daily devotion for families adapted from The Book of Common Prayer.
Before you begin, take a few moments to decide who will read the scripture reading and who will read the collect and closing.
Read the Psalm and Lord's Prayer in unison.
After a moment of silence, begin with the Psalm.
Psalm 124
(read in unison)
1 If the Lord had not been on our side, *
let Israel now say;
2 If the Lord had not been on our side, *
when enemies rose up against us;
3 Then would they have swallowed us up alive *
in their fierce anger toward us;
4 Then would the waters have overwhelmed us *
and the torrent gone over us;
5 Then would the raging waters *
have gone right over us.
6 Blessed be the Lord! *
he has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; *
the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the Name of the Lord, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
Reading
(read by assigned person)
Matthew 16:13-20
When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Prayers for Ourselves and For Others (take this time to each offer one person/event that you would like to hold in prayer as well as one thing you are thankful for)
Dear God, tonight I ask your prayers for.......
and I give you thanks for ..........
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
(read in unison)
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen
The Collect
(read by assigned person)
Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Share some of your conversations in the comments below: