Part One — “Whom Shall I Send?”
Broadcast from the little station on Commercial Street in Atchison, Kansas.
Good morning, friends.
The lamps are glowing softly here at the little station on Commercial Street. Outside, the streets are still quiet. Somewhere a screen door closes. A robin begins the day’s first song. Before the world asks us to hurry, before headlines compete for our attention and calendars begin to fill, we stop together in the presence of God.
Welcome to Chesterton Radio Morning Prayer.
Today the Church remembers St. Benedict, father of Western monasticism, whose simple rule—pray and work—helped preserve both Christian civilization and ordinary human sanity through centuries of upheaval. His life reminds us that history is often changed not first by kings or armies, but by quiet souls who faithfully keep the hours of prayer, welcome the stranger, cultivate the land, copy good books, and refuse to despair.
That witness harmonizes beautifully with today’s Scriptures.
The prophet Isaiah is granted a terrifying vision of God’s holiness. The Temple is filled with smoke. Seraphim cry out:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.”
Isaiah immediately becomes aware—not of everyone else’s faults—but of his own.
“I am a man of unclean lips.”
Only after the burning coal touches his lips does he hear the Lord’s question:
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
And Isaiah answers with one of the bravest sentences in Scripture:
“Here I am. Send me.”
The Gospel continues that same theme.
Jesus tells His disciples not to fear the opinions of the world. Servants are not above their Master. They may be misunderstood, mocked, or rejected—but they must never hide the truth entrusted to them.
“What I say to you in the darkness, tell in the light.”
“What you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.”
And then comes one of the most comforting promises in all the Gospels:
“Do not be afraid.”
Even the hairs of your head are counted.
Not one sparrow falls without the Father’s knowledge.
You are worth more than many sparrows.
These readings belong together.
Isaiah teaches us that courage begins with humility.
Jesus teaches us that humility becomes courage when we trust the Father’s care.
St. Benedict teaches us that courage is usually lived one ordinary day at a time.
Most of us will never stand before kings.
We may never preach to thousands.
Few of us will write books that survive centuries.
But every one of us will answer the same question Isaiah heard.
“Whom shall I send?”
The answer is rarely dramatic.
It is spoken in kitchens.
In workshops.
In hospitals.
In classrooms.
In engineering offices.
In retirement homes.
In parish committees.
In conversations with grandchildren.
In patient forgiveness.
In work honestly completed.
In prayers quietly offered when no one else knows.
God usually changes the world through people who simply keep saying “yes” to the next faithful thing.
G. K. Chesterton once observed that the extraordinary thing is not that saints perform extraordinary acts, but that they discover the wonder hidden within ordinary duties. They see every breakfast, every conversation, every task, every interruption as another opportunity to love God.
That is Benedict’s wisdom.
That is Isaiah’s courage.
That is Christ’s invitation.
Before we ask what great mission God has planned for our lives, perhaps we should ask whether we are faithfully living the mission He has already placed in front of us this very Saturday morning.
Perhaps today’s “Here I am” is simply keeping a promise.
Making the difficult phone call.
Being patient with a family member.
Doing excellent work that no one notices.
Returning to prayer after distraction.
Choosing gratitude over complaint.
Trusting Christ more than our fears.
If we can say yes to those things, we may discover that God has been preparing us all along for larger ones.
So as this Saturday begins, let us quiet our hearts.
Like Isaiah, let us allow God to purify what needs purification.
Like Benedict, let us embrace the holiness of ordinary life.
And like the disciples, let us remember that the Father who watches every sparrow also watches over us.
There is no safer place to begin the day than there.
Part Two — Morning Prayer
O Lord, Open Our Lips
Leader: O Lord, open our lips.
People: And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Leader: O God, make speed to save us.
People: O Lord, make haste to help us.
Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
People: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Leader: Praise the Lord.
People: The Lord’s Name be praised.
The Invitatory
The Earth Is the Lord’s
The earth is the Lord’s, for He made it:
Come, let us adore Him.
Come, let us sing unto the Lord; *
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving *
and show ourselves glad in Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God *
and a great King above all gods.
In His hand are all the depths of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are His also.
The sea is His, for He made it, *
and His hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship and fall down, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God, *
and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
The earth is the Lord’s, for He made it:
Come, let us adore Him.
The Psalm
Today we pray from Psalm 24, one of the great entrance hymns of Scripture. It begins with the sweeping declaration that everything belongs to God and ends with the triumphant arrival of the King of Glory. On this feast of St. Benedict, it reminds us that the Christian life is a continual opening of the heart to Christ, the true King.
Psalm 24
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, *
the world and those who dwell therein.
For it is He who founded it upon the seas *
and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.
Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? *
Or who can stand in His holy place?
Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, *
who have not set their minds upon falsehood, nor sworn to deceive their neighbors.
They shall receive blessing from the Lord *
and righteousness from the God of their salvation.
This is the generation of those who seek Him, *
even of those who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you everlasting doors, *
and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? *
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you everlasting doors, *
and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is He, this King of glory? *
The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
A Reflection on the Psalm
There is a beautiful paradox in Psalm 24.
The One who owns the universe asks permission to enter our hearts.
The King of Glory does not batter down the gates.
He waits for them to be opened.
The psalm imagines ancient city gates swinging wide as the victorious king returns from battle. Christians have long heard in these words something even greater: Christ entering Jerusalem, Christ rising from the tomb, Christ ascending into heaven, and Christ seeking entrance into every human soul.
St. Benedict understood this well.
His monasteries were built around a rhythm of opening the gates—to prayer, to work, to hospitality, to strangers, to the poor, and above all to Christ Himself.
One of the most famous lines in the Rule of St. Benedict instructs monks to receive every guest as though receiving Christ.
Imagine how different our homes, our churches, our workplaces—even our ordinary Saturdays—would become if we practiced that single sentence.
Every interruption might become an appointment with grace.
Every conversation could become an opportunity for charity.
Every unexpected visitor might carry a blessing disguised as inconvenience.
This does not mean life suddenly becomes easy.
Isaiah still felt unworthy.
The disciples still faced opposition.
Benedict himself endured misunderstanding, danger, and disappointment.
But they had learned the secret.
The King of Glory was with them.
And if He is with us, then no ordinary day is truly ordinary.
The question is not whether Christ desires to enter.
The question is whether we will open the gates.
Perhaps there is one gate today that has remained closed.
A gate of forgiveness.
A gate of trust.
A gate of generosity.
A gate of courage.
A gate of prayer that has been neglected for far too long.
The Lord does not force these gates open.
He simply stands before them, patient and faithful, waiting for our answer.
May today’s answer be the same as Isaiah’s:
“Here I am.”
Come in, Lord Jesus.
The First Lesson
Isaiah 6:1–8
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’ “
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Part Three — The Gospel, Prayers, and Sending Forth
The Holy Gospel
Matthew 10:24–33
Jesus said, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master... So have no fear of them... What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops... Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, Lord Christ.
The Benedictus
The Song of Zechariah
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
He has come to His people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, *
born of the house of His servant David.
Through His holy prophets He promised of old
that He would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember His holy covenant.
This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham: *
to set us free to worship Him without fear,
Holy and righteous in His sight *
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way,
To give His people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Prayers
The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Suffrages
Show us Your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us Your salvation.
Clothe Your ministers with righteousness;
And let Your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in You can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under Your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let Your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us by Your Holy Spirit.
The Collect for the Feast of St. Benedict
Gracious Father, whose servant Benedict sought You in prayer, found You in faithful labor, and taught generations to seek Christ above all things: grant that we, following his example, may faithfully perform the duties You have entrusted to us, welcome Christ in every person we meet, and persevere with joyful hearts until we share in Your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A Prayer for This Saturday
Lord Jesus Christ,
As this new day unfolds before us, keep us faithful in the ordinary places where You have planted us.
Help us to do today’s work with integrity, today’s conversations with kindness, today’s decisions with wisdom, and today’s interruptions with patience.
When we are tempted to seek recognition, teach us the quiet joy of hidden faithfulness.
When we grow anxious about tomorrow, remind us that You know every sparrow and number every hair upon our heads.
Give us the courage of Isaiah to answer Your call.
Give us the steadiness of Benedict to persevere in daily obedience.
Give us the hope of the saints who trusted that no act of love offered in Your name is ever wasted.
May our homes become places of hospitality.
May our work become an offering.
May our words bring peace.
May our lives quietly point others toward Christ.
For You are the King of Glory, and to You belong all honor and praise, now and forever.
Amen.
A Chesterton Reflection
G. K. Chesterton delighted in pointing out that the greatest adventures are often hidden inside the most ordinary days.
A child discovers the world by opening a door.
A monk discovers heaven by ringing a bell for prayer.
A carpenter discovers holiness by making an honest table.
A mother discovers sainthood by comforting a frightened child.
A grandfather discovers wisdom by telling the old stories one more time.
God rarely asks us first to become extraordinary.
He asks us to become faithful.
The world is constantly urging us to chase bigger things.
The Gospel quietly asks us to become better people.
Perhaps the greatest mission field you will enter today is not across an ocean but across the breakfast table.
Perhaps the greatest sermon you will preach is your patience.
Perhaps the greatest miracle God wishes to perform is not around you, but within you.
So wherever this Saturday leads—whether to work or rest, errands or family, solitude or celebration—walk with confidence.
The Lord who called Isaiah still calls His people.
The Christ who counted the sparrows still watches over His children.
The King of Glory still stands at the gates of every heart.
Open them gladly.
And wherever you go today, remember that you never walk alone.
The Blessing
May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us and give us peace.
And may Almighty God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—be with us this day and remain with us always.
Amen.
Thank you for joining us for Chesterton Radio Morning Prayer.
From the little station on Commercial Street in Atchison, Kansas, may your Saturday be filled with grace, honest work, joyful rest, and the quiet confidence that comes from walking with Christ.
Go in peace—and wherever your path leads today, keep your eyes open for the holy hidden within the ordinary.