A Contemplative Service for November 12, 2023

A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taizé. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
This week's music includes:
"Within Our Darkest Night"; "Kristus Din Ande"; "Your Word, O Lord is a Light"; "Il Signore Ti Ristira" - Taizé songs, Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé
"Kyrie for November 12, 2023"
Text and music by Kester Limner, 2022, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
Permission to podcast and stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756.
Service readings:
Matthew 25:1-13
Opening words from a Spiritual "Keep your lamps, trimmed and burning"
Quotes after Scripture:
"Face to face with our limits,
Blinking before the frightful
Stare of our frailty,
Promise rises
Like a posse of clever maids
Who do not fear the dark
Because their readiness
Lights the search.
Their oil
Becomes the measure of their love,
Their ability to wait ?
An indication of their
Capacity to trust and take a chance.
Without the caution or predictability
Of knowing day or hour,
They fall back on that only
Of which they can be sure:
Love precedes them;
Before it
No door will ever close."
-T.J. O'Gorman
quoted from An Advent Sourcebook
Liturgy Training Publications
Thomas J. O'Gorman, editor
"Having a house fit for the king is not the issue, just as running out of oil is not the problem. Even if you are not ready, even if you are empty-handed, your home impoverished and your heart bereft of anything at all, don’t hide, don’t run off, scurrying about to make amends. You are loved just as you are. When the king comes, just open the door as you are right now, and stand there, face to face. Give what you have, offer your simple presence, your empty hands, your expectant heart. That’s enough. Let the king have a seat in your humble home; let the bridegroom dance with all ten young women; let the feasting begin, ready or not." -- Francis X. Clooney S.J. Homily, Nov 2020
Thank you for praying with us!