Our prayer this weekend is for healing.  “Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities and stretch forth the hand of your majesty to heal and defend.”  I want to expand “our infirmities” beyond our physical ailments.  One of our infirmities as a nation is that our unity is on infirm ground.  We have built up walls between each other which are costlier than any wall of concrete or steel.  These walls divide us one from another.

In the epistle lesson St. Paul writes repeatedly of one body in Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12-31) How will we hear his words?  We were all baptized in one Spirit into one body.  Filled with same Spirit Jesus went to his home town, Nazareth, to proclaim the good news to the poor and the year of the Lord’s favor.  In the presence of the folks with whom he grew up he spoke gracious words; yet his home town folks ended the day trying to throw him off a cliff.  We are in danger of throwing Jesus off the cliff again when, though we claim to be Christian, we let our political views overshadow and negate the mercy of the One who truly lives and rules.

We pray this weekend that the everlasting and all – powerful King of the universe reach out His royal hand and heal us and defend us against our own inclinations to denigrate others because we are certain we are right.  We pray this, “through Jesus Christ, Your Son OUR LORD, who lives and reigns with You, almighty and everlasting God, and Holy Spirit ONE GOD, now and forever.”