Compassion

Now 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.

Christ Handing the Keys to Saint Peter

PERUGINA, Pietro

Fresco

1481-1482

Sistine Chapel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Perugino

 

Painting Analyzed:

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/christ-handing-keys-to-saint-peter.htm

 

For there is nothing heavier than compassion.

Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy

as the pain one feels with someone, for someone,

pain intensified by the imagination

and prolonged by a hundred echoes.

~ Milan Kundera

 

 

 

 

Rest assured that, generally speaking,

others are acting in exactly the same manner

that you would under exactly the same circumstances.

Hence, be kind, understanding, empathetic, compassionate, and loving.

~ Gary W. Fenchuk

 

Pastor Susan with her husband and their kids (and their guinea pig)

during the zoom coffee hour last Sunday.

 

 

Rowdy Rotarians

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Marshdale Park

Adrian Stone, President-Elect Marianne Temple

 

Annette Bradley, Todd Bastian, Bob Bradley

 

Sue and Doug Brown

 

Brunch at Dandelions

Friday, August 21, 2020

Bev Haney, my former facilitator/partner in Memories in the Making

at Life Care, had our annual get-together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

Exodus 1:8-2:10 with Psalm 124 or
Isaiah 51:1-6 with Psalm 138
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20

 

 

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land." Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live." But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them." So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live."

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. "This must be one of the Hebrews' children," she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes." So the girl went and called the child's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."

with

Psalm 124

If it had not been God
   who was on our side
--let Israel now say--

if it had not been God
   who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,

then they would have
   swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled
   against us;

then the flood would have swept
   us away,
the torrent would have gone
   over us;
then over us would have gone
   the raging waters.

Blessed be the Sovereign,
   our God,
who has not given us
   as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird
   from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare is broken,
   and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of God,
   who made heaven and earth.

or

Isaiah 51:1-6

Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness,
   you that seek the Lord.
Look to the rock from which you were hewn,
   and to the quarry from which you were dug.
Look to Abraham your father
   and to Sarah who bore you;
for he was but one when I called him,
   but I blessed him and made him many.
For the Lord will comfort Zion;
   he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
   her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
   thanksgiving and the voice of song.

Listen to me, my people,
   and give heed to me, my nation;
for a teaching will go out from me,
   and my justice for a light to the peoples.
I will bring near my deliverance swiftly,
   my salvation has gone out
and my arms will rule the peoples;
   the coastlands wait for me,
   and for my arm they hope.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
   and look at the earth beneath;
for the heavens will vanish like smoke,
   the earth will wear out like a garment,
and those who live on it will die like gnats;
   but my salvation will be for ever,
and my deliverance will never be ended.

with

Psalm 138

I give you thanks, O God,
   with my whole heart;
before the gods
   I sing your praise;
I bow down
   towards your holy temple
and give thanks
   to your name
for your steadfast love
   and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name
   and your word above everything.

On the day I called,
   you answered me,
you increased my strength
   of soul.

All the rulers of the earth
   shall praise you, O God,
for they have heard the words
   of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways
   of God,
for great is the glory
   of God.

For though God is high,
   God regards the lowly;
but the haughty,
   God perceives from far away.

Though I walk in the midst
   of trouble,
you preserve me against the wrath
   of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me.

God will fulfill God's purpose
   for me;
your steadfast love, O God,
   endures forever.
Do not forsake the work
   of your hands.

Romans 12:1-8

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Matthew 16:13-20

Now 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.