Trinity Episcopal Church

Fr Dave’s contact information: (207) 284-4852, or by email at: fatherdavedalzell@gmail.com

Fr. Dave is available by appointment. Please use the contact information above.

A weekly message from Father Dave:

Happy Father’s Day to all of our dads, and to all who are a fatherly presence in the lives of others.

Let’s think about prayer, today.

In our Psalm, Psalm 86, we read this:

Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17

1 Bow down your ear, O Lord, and answer me, *
for I am poor and in misery.
2 Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful; *
save your servant who puts his trust in you.
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God; *
I call upon you all the day long.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant, *
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, *
and great is your love toward all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer, *
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the time of my trouble I will call upon you, *
for you will answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, *
nor anything like your works.
9 All nations you have made will come and worship you, O Lord, *
and glorify your Name.
10 For you are great;
you do wondrous things; *
and you alone are God.
16 Turn to me and have mercy upon me; *
give your strength to your servant;
and save the child of your handmaid.
17 Show me a sign of your favor,
so that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed; *
because you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

In today’s Psalm, perhaps you find your prayers…

In today’s Psalm, perhaps you find prayers that you pray, either out loud or with your soul.

Perhaps you find THE prayer that you find yourself praying, over and over.

Listen to me, Lord…
or
Watch over me, Lord…
or
Be merciful to me, Lord…
or
Gladden my soul, Lord…
or
Forgive me, Lord…
or
Help me to call out to you, Lord…
or
Give me strength, Lord…
or
Save me, Lord…
or
Show me a sign, Lord…

There are lots of ways to pray. And lots to pray about. Through our prayers we pray for our world globally, nationally, and locally. We pray for the sick, for those in need, for people we know, for people we don’t know, for our leaders, for our neighbors, for our friends, for our families. We pray for current situations, and for events and people we learn about from the news. We pray our communities. We pray for our church family.

And we pray for ourselves.

And in this Psalm we find some of the prayers we pray for ourselves.

Perhaps you find your prayer, the prayer in your soul, right now, in one of those petitions. Or in a couple of those petitions. Perhaps you find the prayer you pray over and over for yourself.

Or maybe you find your prayer in some other scripture that you find meaningful.

Maybe there are times when you don’t know how to pray. Or what to pray. Maybe there have been times when you have been so weighed down that words don’t seem to come.

Later on this summer, we will hear one of my favorite scriptures in all of the Bible: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26)

I love that scripture. And that when we don’t have the words to pray about what burdens our hearts or our souls, the Holy Spirit sighs those prayers for us.

What are you praying about, these days? Who are you praying for? What prayers do you pray about your own life? What prayers do you pray for others?

When we worship together we use the prayer forms from the Book of Common Prayer. The Prayers of the People are found starting on page 383 in the Book of Common Prayer. There are six different prayer forms in the Prayer Book. Do you use any those prayer forms in your prayer life?

In the BCP there are also prayers for all kinds of different situations or occasions we may experience in life. Those prayers can be found in the Prayer Book starting on page 814 through page 841.

What about the Psalms? Do you use the Psalms as prayers? In addition to being in the Bible, the Psalms are also in the BCP, starting with an introduction on page 582, and going all the way up to page 808. That the BCP devotes over 200 pages to the Psalms speaks to the importance the Psalms can have for us.

In today’s Psalm, did you find the words of a prayer you pray, these days? You might not have. One part of one Psalm might not speak to where you are at in life, right now. But today’s Psalm might have.

I found some of my prayers. Watch over me. Gladden my heart. Give me strength. Those are all things I pray regularly, as we continue to live through these pandemic times.

Another prayer I have prayed regularly, during this time, has been: Guide me. That has also been a regular prayer, for me, all through this pandemic time, as I listen, and learn, and struggle through the ifs and hows about how to safely gather for outdoor worship, and how to pastor a congregation during a pandemic.

Today’s Psalm points us to prayer, and to the prayers we pray for ourselves. What prayers do you pray for yourself these days? Were they listed in today’s Psalm?

But maybe that’s not what jumped out at you, from today’s Psalm. Perhaps what jumped out at you was this line: “…you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me…”

Perhaps that’s the message from today’s Psalm that echoes and resonates with you, these days.

Amen.

PLEASE NOTE:

The Bishop has suspended access to all the church buildings in the Diocese. The letter from the Bishop is available on the Diocesan website and facebook page. During this time, no one should be stopping by the church for any reason.  Questions can be directed to Father Dave Dalzell.

ADDITIONAL SUNDAY RESOURCES:

The Book of Common Prayer is available as a downloadable resource:
BCP

Today’s Readings:
Sunday, May 24 Readings

Today’s musical reflection from our Music Director, Mr. Kevin Smith:
There is a Balm in Gilead

This week, for worship, I want to point us to a service the New England Synod Lutherans have put together for Sunday, May 24th, the 7th Sunday of Easter:

The service can be streamed here at any time:
New England Lutherans May 24th service

OR…

I also want to point us to a special Sunday Evening Memorial Service:

The Episcopal Church announced earlier this week that on Sunday, May 24th, at 6:00 pm, the Presiding Bishop will be preaching the sermon for The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) online memorial service:

The National Council of Churches USA (NCC) will hold a public online memorial service on Sunday, May 24, 2020 at 6:00 pm ET to mourn the more than 300,000 people worldwide who have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 90,000 of whom were in the United States. The NCC is comprised of 38 member communions ranging from mainline Protestant to historic African American and Orthodox churches (And includes the Episcopal Church, and the ELCA). This service, A Time to Mourn: An Ecumenical Memorial Service for Lives Lost to COVID19, will be broadcast on YouTube and Facebook Live.

Click this link for information about the service:
Sunday Evening Ecumenical Memorial Worship Service

Did you watch last weeks Diocesan service? Next week the Diocese will be offering another Diocese Wide Worship Service for Pentecost. You are invited to wear red as we worship together as a Diocese and as the people of Maine.

Additionally, for people who are interested, the Diocese has offered this invitation:

Pentecost is almost here! The Episcopal Diocese of Maine is planning a diocese-wide online worship service and would love to include your Pentecost celebration video. If you’d like to participate, please record a video of you and your family wearing the color red, and celebrating or cheering. Please send your video to Director of Communications Katie Clark at episcopalmainesocialmedia@gmail.com by Tuesday, May 26 at 3pm.

The National Cathedral’s worship service begins at 11:15am on their website and on facebook:
National Cathedral website
National Cathedral facebook page

The Diocese of Maine has compiled a on-line worship directory if you’d like to find a mid-week service during the week ahead:
Diocesan Worship Resources

Prayers:

A Prayer For Those in the Armed Forces of Our Country:

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the women and men of our Armed Forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer When Regular Services Have Been Canceled:

Almighty God of the Cross and Loving God of Community, we are not in a church building today but Church is never canceled. We are not wise, and not very often kind. But we are the Body of Christ in your suffering world. We know that our vocation is to be the Light of this Christ whose Body we are. Give us courage to be the Church and to keep our minds on what matters—which is to keep loving the world which you have called good. Buildings crumble; the Church Year passes; but your Church endures from generation to generation. Make this for us a Feast Day of your Protection, your Plenty, your Purpose, your Plan and your Peace. All this we ask, as we pray apart, and yet still together, with all the Saints, and with each other. Amen.

A Prayer for Our Nation and the World during this Pandemic:

Ever-creating God, be with us as the pall of this COVID-19 pandemic falls upon this “fragile earth” which is our “island home.” We hold in our hearts and prayers all who are suffering in our nation from “sea to shining sea.” We pray for the whole world. Our common anxiety is making us one, undivided human family. We pray for world leaders as they chart these unknown waters. Strengthen them to walk into the Light of a new, healing day for the whole planet. Help us to cross our broken lands and be for each other bridges back to heaven. Lift the cares to which we cling. Descend, O God, on us all to be our Guest. Show us how to find in everything blessing and rest. May this be our prayer while we do not know how to pray and until the last light lingers in the west. Amen, in the name of our creating, redeeming and sustaining God.

The Episcopal Church has put together a printable prayer resource for us to use:
Prayers for Self, Church, Community, and World, Amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic