"Bread for Our Journey" is an online approach to faith development you can do as an individual, in informal small groups, or as a family.
This weekly collection is curated and written by Saint John's staff.
These reflections are intended to deepen our understanding
of scripture, to open our awareness of different voices and wisdom,
and to broaden our spiritual practices that bring creativity and justice to our world.
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August 22nd, 2021
This is the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost.
We continue our worship series called "Sacred Spaces" as we look at sacred spaces both in our own lives and at Bible stories of holy places. Throughout out this series we will be answering these questions: What are the sacred spaces in your life? and what makes certain places sacred?
Read the scripture below and choose how you journey through this week's reflection questions, poetry, activities, and more.
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READ
Our scripture for today is taken from the worship reading for this Sunday.
Luke 2:39-52
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.
When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents[a] saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this?
Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
NRSV Translation
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REFLECT ON THE TEXT
Use these questions as prompts to journal
on your own or to reflect in discussion
with family or friends.
We only have one story in the Bible of young Jesus; the story where he is a student in the temple. Reflect upon attributes of Jesus the Christ that we all admire, i.e., the ways he teaches in parables or the ways he stands up for the outsiders. The ways he is brave to reveal God’s love. Imagine Jesus growing in this wisdom as the passage says.
How might we grow in this wisdom?
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ACT
These activities can be spiritual practices for your mind, body, and heart, they are ways to help bring love and hope.
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Living in Wonder
Each week through this season, we will wonder at a different sacred space from somewhere around the world.
Just as the Temple was a place of both worship and education for Jesus, Christ Church in Oxford was a place for both worship and education for Methodist Church father, John Wesley.
Click on the video for a summarized virtual tour of this sacred space.
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Loving in Beloved Community
Join us in praying for our world, our community, and our families - however big or small our worlds feel today.
With news headlines abroad, with our children going back to school, with local hospitals treating many, with anxiety and fear in our minds, God calls us to come in prayer and respond in love.
We invite you to pray with us. Click here to sign up for a 20-minute time slot during our 24-hour vigil starting Sunday, August 22nd at 12:00 noon and concluding Monday, August 23rd at 12:00 noon.
Click Here for resources for praying and spiritual practices
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Resting in God
As we explore sacred spaces we will highlight the holy practice of walking a labyrinth. Each week we will share a new labyrinth in our area to explore.
Click on the video to learn about the labyrinth at Butler Park near the Long Center in downtown Austin.
Labyrinths are ancient tools for spiritual practice and can be found all over the world. To find a labyrinth wherever you are, click here to use a labyrinth locator. Put in your zip code, country, and radius of how far you would like to search.
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Saint John's labyrinth
The floor of our Saint John's chapel is a beautiful labyrinth patterned in different shades of wood. Next time you attend worship, enjoy this holy space found right inside our church building.
Finger Labyrinth
Use your finger to trace this labyrinth slowly into the middle of the labyrinth – into the heart of God’s love – and then back out again. Relax, quiet your mind, and listen deep within your heart.
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PRAY
This week's prayer is by Jan L. Richardson, Circle of Grace, Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light.
Blessed are you
who bear the light in unbearable times,
who testify to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness to its persistence
when everything seems in shadow and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom the light lives,
in whom the brightness blazes—
your heart a chapel, an altar where
in the deepest night can be seen
the fire that shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope, in love that illumines
every broken thing it finds.
Amen
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