Week of Proper 24, Year Two
[Go to Mission St Clare for an online version of the Daily Office including today’s scripture readings.]
Today’s Readings for the Daily Office:
Psalms 31 (morning) // 35 (evening)
Ecclesiasticus 11:2-20
Revelation 9:13-21
Luke 10:38-42
I usually associate Psalm 31 with night time, since it’s a staple of Compline (night prayer). Today, though, Psalm 31 is appointed for the morning. If we pray both right when we rise and right before bed, we could end up using this psalm twice. The words are definitely worth repeating and the beginning and end of the day.
The first verse of the psalm had special resonance for me one night several years ago after I’d taken a big risk earlier in the day. The verse says, “In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.” It was a blessed relief that night to ask God to protect me from shame, no matter what the outcome of my risk.
Many of us could use this prayer both morning and night, because shame constantly threatens to constrain and damage us. But God has always longed to protect us from shame, whether by gifting us with innocence in the Garden of Eden or by stitching clothes for us upon our exile. Morning and night, may we take refuge in the God who wraps himself around us in accepting love.
Lora Walsh blogs about the Daily Office readings at A Daily Scandal. She serves as Priest Associate of Grace Episcopal Church in Siloam Springs and assists with adult formation and campus ministry at St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas.