Praying Together 2021

148 Gather Light a candle as a sign of God’s presence and sit quietly. Ring a bell or chime to start the prayer. May the peace of Christ be with you! And with your spirit. COLLECT Let us pray that Christ may be our light. (pause) Lord God, free us from darkness and let us live in Christ, the light of the world. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. SCRIPTURE A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah 42:16 The Lord says this: I will lead the blind on roads they have never seen, and I will guide them on paths they have never travelled. Their road is dark and rough, but I will give light and make the road smooth. This is a promise I will never break. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. RESPONSE When reading this short meditation, please give a significant pause at the end of each sentence. Take a moment now to close your eyes. Maybe you’d like to cover your eyes with your hands as well. Imagine you are in a completely dark room. It’s freezing cold, you can hear strange noises and you can see nothing. You are afraid. You need to find your way out of this room. You stand up slowly and start to move around. Every time you take a few steps, you bump into something. Ouch! Frustrated and disappointed, you sit down again. Then, all of a sudden, a glimmer of light seems to be coming in from a small window above you. It is just a small gleam of light at first, but slowly it becomes brighter and the room starts to feel warmer. The room becomes clear and you can now easily make your way past the furniture in the room to the door on the other side. Imagine the sense of relief to see that light and feel that warmth. Spend a few moments in prayer thanking Jesus for bringing light to your life. DISMISSAL May Christ the Lord walk beside us. Amen. May God bless us in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Ring the bell or chime to signal the end of the prayer. Extinguish the candle. Monday Week 21 Ordinary Time 23 August 2021 “Their road is dark and rough, but I will give light.”