Awake’s Prayer in the Park Celebrates Light and Hope
Members of the Awake community gathered by Zoom and in person at Estabrook Park in Milwaukee for our annual summer prayer service.
Last week the Awake community gathered in person and virtually by Zoom for our annual Prayer in the Park service, which featured “song, scripture, poetry, and conversation.” The event centered on the story of the Transfiguration, in which Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to the top of a holy mountain. Jesus’s face and clothes become dazzlingly white and the apostles see him in conversation with the prophets Moses and Elijah. A recording of the virtual prayer service is available below for anyone interested in praying along.
At the opening of the service, prayer leaders noted that the gathering was consciously designed to focus on light, goodness, and hope. “We recognize that many of Awake’s programs and offerings are solemn and heavy in nature,” said Awake Executive Director Sara Larson as she welcomed people to the in-person service, held in a grassy clearing at Estabrook Park in Milwaukee. “So tonight, we have designed our prayer to be a lighter service.”
The service included music and scripture and poetry.
Attendees listened to the Transfiguration story from the Gospel of Luke, which describes how the three apostles on the mountain have fallen asleep, but are suddenly fully awake and aware of Jesus’s glorious, transfigured state. After a few minutes of quiet reflection on the reading, attendees then heard A Sonnet for the Feast of the Transfiguration by poet Malcolm Guite, which includes these lines:
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Attendees had a chance to share thoughts with the group after reflecting on the readings.
Attendees took a few minutes of silence to consider these words, and then had a chance to talk together about aspects of these readings that they found meaningful.
Cathy Melesky-Dante and Michael Dante were present at the Milwaukee event and enjoyed the chance to pray outdoors with others. “We found Prayer in the Park to be a restful and calming experience,” Cathy said afterward. “The park was a beautiful place to reflect on the Transfiguration and how it might relate to abuse in the Catholic Church and how we might respond.”
Awake’s Prayer Team is planning another opportunity to pray together in October. Please watch our website for further details, coming soon.
Awake extends a special thanks to photographer LaTasha Lux of LaLuxPhotography for taking photos of Prayer in the Park.
A video recording of the Awake community’s virtual gathering for Prayer in the Park is available on our YouTube channel.
