God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Creator God, Mother of All, we thank you for all that you have made. We raise to you, in this Season of Creation, grateful praise for the countless gifts that you have bestowed upon us, especially for this good earth which you have given us to steward on your behalf. For its rich variety and unfolding complexity, for all in it which leads us to awe and wonder, we adore you and we bless you. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.

God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. God of Moses, Miriam and Aaron, you spoke to our ancestors in faith and you speak to your people today calling us as you called them to walk in your ways. Help your beloved Church on our pilgrimage to strive to see your presence in our lives, hallowing all we find there with our attention, that we might understand your summons to us and be faithful to what you would have us see and do and become. We pray to you today, in a pa

God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Our Way and Truth and Life, we thank you for the gift of the Church - for the sacred Scriptures which reveal your work in ages past, for the holy sacraments which bring you to us today, for this gathered community of prayer which makes real your love and fellowship. You teach us, assembled together week by week, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Lead us into the fullness of your wisdom, Holy One, and out o

God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. O Divine Artist, you shaped formless chaos and empty darkness into a harmony of order and beauty at the sound of your almighty Word. You have written your symphony of love and holiness into the very fabric of all things and you call us to join our lives with Yours in the performance of that eternal Music. Hear the faithful hymns of your Church gathered here and around the world. We pray to you today, in a particular way, fo

God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Holy One of Might and Mercy, you stilled the storms on the Sea of Galilee and you endeavor to calm our tempestuous hearts and world today. We pray to you this morning for those who take counsel for the nations of the world that they govern and lead from a place of inner stillness and peace and not from the raging fears and selfish ambitions which so often consume the deliberations of the powerful. God in your mercy, hear our p

God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. Christ of Great Compassion, Hope of the World, we bring to you today in our prayers the nations of your earth rent by fearful conflict and afflicted with suffering. We pray for all those lost in and affected by natural disasters: wildfires in Canada and in Europe, earthquakes in Japan, monsoon in Pakistan. We pray also for those working to effect a just and lasting peace in Iran and in Ukraine. Have compassion on those who s

“(S)peaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” -Ephesians 4:15-16 This imagery from the New Testament letter to the Ephesians presumes that the Christian life entails growth. Faith is not a static or a resolved or finished thing - not for

O God, Creator of all things, these five confirmands for whom we pray to you are all fearfully and wonderfully made by your loving power. You have blessed them, each in a particular way, with imagination and curiosity, with gifts and abilities, with passions and dreams. You have crafted no others like them in all of your realms of existence. Continue to work powerfully in their lives, strengthening them, uplifting them, rooting and grounding them in your unshakeable Being

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, we pray to you this day for a world at war. Descend into the wills and the imaginations of those who lead the warring nations, and of those striving after reconciliation. Lead them all to the deep serenity and mutual understanding of your peaceable Kingdom. Divine Advocate, we pray to you today for those who fight one another in the Middle East, in Congo and Rwanda, in Ukraine and Russia. Lead all

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Eternal ruler of the ceaseless round, of circling planets on their way - you faithfully, persistently seek to guide the nations from the depths of their profound night of selfishness, violence and fear into the dawning light of your kingdom of mercy, peace and joy. Shape us and our leaders into a people who hate wrongdoing and injustice and who love all things sweet and fair. Fill with your heavenly inspiration the hearts of

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Maker of All Things, Lord of Heaven and Earth, in you we live and move and have our being. You give life and breath to all things, you paint the wayside flower, you light the evening star. Make us grateful for all of your good gifts, for your wondrous, fragile, precious Creation. Guide us and our leaders in business and in government to be careful stewards of that which you have made - the shimmering seas and running rivers,

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Come Our Way, Our Truth, Our Life. Counsel us and our leaders in the pathways of peace that by embodying your reconciling purposes all strife might be ended here in these United States and around the world. Reveal your Wisdom to all those in authority - to our President, Congress and Courts, to all public officials in the state of Illinois, in Cook County, here in the village of Glencoe and in all surrounding cities, towns a

“Confirmation is the rite in which we express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop.” -- The Book of Common Prayer, pg. 860 This past year, I have been helping to prepare a group of St. Elisabeth’s young people for Confirmation. We have worked our way through a common text - “My Faith, My Life” by Jennifer Gamber - exploring theology, Scripture, sacraments, prayer, and the history and or

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. O Lord, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, enable your children to hear your voice and follow your leading beyond our wants and fears, from death into life. Fill the hearts and minds of the leaders of the nations with a willingness to follow the urgings of their consciences to act for the benefit of all, particularly the most vulnerable in their communities. We implore your Holy Spirit to guide all par

God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. O Love that made the distant stars, we thank you today for the wonders of your Creation glimpsed these past weeks through the eyes of the Artemis astronauts and witnessed by our own eyes as spring blossoms gloriously all around us here in Glencoe. This is your world, Eternal God. You ground all being, teach open hearts, and judge your people impartially according to their deeds. We implore you to guide all parties to a ju

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Out of the depths we call to you, O Lord - let your ears consider well the voice of our supplication. You are Creation’s birth and breath, the Resurrection and the Life. You restore the dead to life - dead bodies, dead ideals, dead hopes, dead worlds. Send your revitalizing Spirit into all of our dying - breathe resurrection into the lungs of a polluted Creation, into societies choked with division and violence, into momen

The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say… -JRR Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring” Holy Week is a lot. Here at St. Elisabeth’s, during this most sacred week of the Christian year, we have services on Palm Sunday and on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then,

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. Shepherd of Souls, you ever provide for the spiritual needs of your Church. Guide those who seek to follow you along right pathways for your Name’s sake. Though at times we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death, beset by evil and temptation, despair and doubt; we know that you are ever with us - our comfort and our strength. We pray to you today for your church here in the Evanston Deanery, particularly for the

God be with you, And also with you. Let us pray. We come before your presence, O Strong Rock of Our Salvation with thanksgiving. You offer us in the course of our days an ever-flowing spring of living water, gushing up to life eternal. And you feed us in your Church with the work you call us to do following your will, living out your Good News of mercy, reconciliation and peace in the world around us. We pray to you today for your church in the Evanston Deanery, particular

My native part of the world when I was growing up - Southwest of Cleveland, Ohio - was significantly Roman Catholic territory. Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Slovenian, Slovakian, Romanian, Hungarian…all these Catholic kids whose families had settled in the suburbs after leaving the old ethnic neighborhoods in Cleveland proper. Lots of them went to parochial school but many went to public school too. And so a common public school lunchroom conversation in my childhood a