Here is Our Worship Service yesterday in solidarity with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious meeting this week in discernment for their response to the Vatican. Thanks for Deb Carroll for leading it, and blending it with some of our weekly communion liturgy.
Communion Service for the Leadership Conference
of Women Religious Meeting in St. Louis
August 7-12
Call to Worship
Prayer Leader: We gather together in the Spirit of
Jesus
All: In his Spirit of wisdom, love, and
courage.
Prayer Leader: We gather, from places near and far,
All: uniting our own spirits with the women
of LCWR.
Prayer Leader: We pray as one body, the Body of
Christ
All: That
the Spirit of Jesus may be abundantly poured out upon the women of LCWR, to
lead and guide them, to comfort and strengthen them for the good of our beloved
world. Amen
Opening Hymn
“Gather Us In” text by Marty Haugen, tune is GATHER US
IN, © 1982, GIA Publications, Inc.
Verse 1
Here in
this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away.
See in this
space our fears and our dreamings, brought here to you in the light of this
day.
Gather us
in- the lost and forsaken, gather us in- the blind and the lame;
Call to us
now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.
Verse 2
We are the
young- our lives are a myst’ry, we are the old- who yearn for your face,
We have
been sung throughout all of hist’ry, called to be light to the whole human
race.
Gather us
in- the rich and the haughty, gather us in- the proud and the strong;
Give us a
heart so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.
Verse 3
Here we
will take the wine and the water, here we will take the bread of new birth,
Here you
shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth.
Give us to
drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you,
Nourish us
well, and teach us to fashion
Lives that
are holy and hearts that are true
Verse 4
Not in the
dark of buildings confining, not in some heaven, light years away,
But here in
this place the new light is shining, now is the kingdom, now is the day.
Gather us
in and hold us forever, gather us in and make us your own;
Gather us
in- all peoples together, fire of love in our flesh and our bone.
Prayer Leader: Let us pray. God of light and life,
You are the source of all that is good in our lives. We give you thanks for
Jesus our Savior and brother, Who sent women to proclaim the Gospel: St. Mary
of Magdala, Martha, Mary, the Samaritan woman and so many others. We give you
thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit, That bold Wisdom-Spirit who impels us
today to proclaim your good news of peace and justice in our homes, communities
and our world. We ask your blessings on our gathering here. In Jesus’ name we
pray.
All: Amen
Leader
A: For the women of the Hebrew Scriptures, the women of
the Christian Scriptures, for martyrs, mystics and saints, leaders, theologians,
and pastoral ministers, for our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, children and
friends, for all the holy women and men who have gone before us.
All:
Thanks be to God.
Leader
B: For all those women and men who have taught us and
called us to strength and faith.
All:
Thanks be to God.
Leader
A: For the holy women and men gathered here, especially
the women who have answer the call to religious life.
All:
Thanks be to God.
Leader
B: Let us join together to learn from and to celebrate
women – especially St. Mary of Magdala, the Apostle to the Apostles, and the
women religious of today. May they give us wisdom and courage to be who God
calls us to be.
ALL:
Jesus, may your Spirit, present in the lives of these
women leaders, enlighten us today.
The Word
A proclamation of Luke 15:1-3, 8-10
Introduction by the leader:
Many
Sisters have been like the woman with the lost coin- or some might say, the
pushy woman with the broom - sweeping and searching the houses of their
Orders, since the Second Vatican Council
To discover and recover their
founding mission…
- To read the “signs of the times”…
- And to bear their gifts in
service of those most in need, of those often on the margins of life
today.
In doing
this, it is essential to recall that Jesus intends
to present this woman as an image of God.
For in Luke’s Gospel, she is sandwiched in between two other prominent
images of God - the Good Shepherd and
the forgiving (or prodigally loving) father.
Her story follows the same pattern as theirs. Therefore, she, like they, truly point to the
seeking, restoring, joyfully celebrating nature of our God.
So remembering
the woman with the broom, let us take a few moments to also remember religious
women who have touched our lives, and let us share those stories now, stories
of other women who have searched carefully until they find the lost coins …
women near and dear to our hearts …
Leader: And now we lift up our voices
in prayer at this time…
Please respond: “God of Love and Compassion,
hear our prayer…”
·
For
Sr. Pat Farrell, Sr Janet Mock, CSJ, and the
Leadership Team of LCWR, as during this week, they prayerfully discern
their response to the Vatican mandate, we pray…
·
For
all 57,000 Sisters who fall under the umbrella of LCWR, that they continue on
their discipleship path of courage and integrity, we pray…
·
For
our beloved Church, the People of God, that we will continually grow in
fidelity to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we pray…
·
For
all prophets today, who… out of love for the world… non-violently challenge the
abuses of power stemming from any and all places, we pray…
·
For
what else, for whom else, shall we pray?
Leader: Spirit of the Living God, we pray
You guide us all- Sisters and Brothers of one another- toward the creation of
lives that bring joy, hope, and healing for the broken corners of our world,
thereby giving You glory and praise.
Amen.
Communion Prayer:
We prayerfully ask this day that God would fulfill in
us all, that divine promise of a hundredfold harvest given to all those who
would dedicate themselves, body and soul, to the work of the kingdom of God. We give thanks for
the witness of those whose lives are guided by Spirit’s call to be possessed by
the Divine Presence and dedicate themselves, body and soul, to the work of the
reign of God.
We remember
all those who have given Love the ultimate trust and the last word and who have
worked to create the beloved community of renewed and abundant life. Help us to remember with this meal especially
all those who are hungry, and may we treat all our meals as sacred and to be
shared.
Here is the
bread of life, food for the spirit. Let
all who hunger come and eat. Here is the
fruit of the vine pressed and poured out for us. Let all who thirst now come and drink.
All:
All are worthy. All are welcome.
Sharing the Bread of Life and the
Cup of Hope
Song:
Eat This Bread, Drink This Cup
Leader: As
we close, let us remember the Leadership Conference of Religious Women and all
of us gathered here.
All:
May we go
forth with the Spirit of God within us, not a spirit of cowardice and fear, but
rather, a Spirit of power, a Spirit of love, and a Spirit of self-discipline.
Leader:
Also as we go forth, we pray that the Sisters of the Leadership
Conference of Religious Women will listen deeply to the Spirit of Truth over
the next few days
All:
So that all will emerge, fully prepared to go forth to serve God and
God’s People with all our treasured gifts, as God sees fit. Amen
Closing Song:
We Are Called (David Haas © 1988 GIA Publications # 518 in Gather)
Verse 1: Come! Live in the light! Shine
with the joy and the love of the Lord! We are called to be light for the kingdom
to live in the freedom of the city of God! Refrain
Refrain: We are called to act with justice,
we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another; to walk
humbly with God!
Verse 2: Come! Open your heart! Show your
mercy to all those in fear! We are called to be hope for the hopeless so all
hatred and blindness will be no more! Refrain
Verse 3: Sing! Sing a new song! Sing of
that great day when all will be one! God will reign, and we'll walk with each
other as sisters and brothers united in love! Refrain
No comments:
Post a Comment