We begin with the sign of our faith:

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit

Loving heavenly Father,

we come to you today asking for your blessing as we are gathered here

together. God you have initiated adoption. You love us

unconditionally and give to us a love for you. You have bonded with

us and you give us the gift of loving and bonding with you. We ask

that this same miraculous love flow between adoptive parents and

their children. Give mothers and fathers an unexplainable bond.

And give the children, many of them wounded by deep rejection, a

supernatural capacity to receive love. Bond them close. Create

family ties where those ties seem impossible. God, for those families

seeking now to adopt, give them courage to persevere. For those

governments that make adoption difficult, break through and ease

the process. With millions of orphans in the world, Lord, release a

wave of new adoptions. Create and expand many families with the

capacity to give and receive love. We ask this in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

A reading from the book of James: Religion

that God our Father accepts as pure and

faultless is this: to look after orphans and

widows in their distress and to keep oneself

from being polluted by the world. (James

1:27) The Word of the Lord

Response: Thanks be to God

A reading from the Holy Gospel according

to Mark: Whoever welcomes one of these

little children in my name welcomes me;

and whoever welcomes me does not

welcome me but the one who sent me.

(Mark 9:37) The Word of the Lord

Response: Thanks be to God

We pray for all the children waiting to be adopted by a loving, compassionate and caring family We pray to the Lord

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

We pray for God to provide all the couples wanting to adopt a child the strength, courage and patience needed We pray to the Lord

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

We pray for the kids adopted to find

peace and love within their new family

The Word of the Lord

Response: Lord, hear our prayer

By Steven Curtis Chapman

I know you’ve heard the stories

But they all sound too good to be trueYou’ve heard about a place called home

But there doesn’t seem to be one for you

So one more night you cry yourself to sleep

And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes

you in and

everything changes

A miracle starts with

the beat of a heart

When love takes

you home and says

you belong here

The loneliness ends

and a new life

begins

When love takes

you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping Someone else is dreaming tooCounting down the days untilThey hold you close and say I love youAnd like the rain that falls into the seaIn a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changesA miracle starts with the beat of a heart

And this love will never let you goThere is nothing that could ever cause this love to lose its hold

` When love takes you in

everything changes

A miracle starts with the beat of a heart

When love takes you home and says you

belong here

The loneliness ends and a new life begins

When love takes you in

it takes you in for good

When love takes you in

Loving Heavenly Father, We wish peace for every single one of your childrenAnd to be able to see Your features In every one of them children.May we learn that there are many paths But all lead to You.Help us to know that you have created us For family, togetherness, For peace, for gentleness, For compassion, for caring,

for sharing. May we know that You want us To care for one another as those who know That they are sisters and brothers, members of the same family, Your family, The human family. Help us so that we may be able to live in peace and harmony, Wiping away the tears from the eyes of those Who are less fortunate

than ourselves.

And may we know war no more, As we strive to be What You want us to be: Your children. Amen.

We conclude this service with the sign of

our faith:

In the name of the Father, the Son and of

the Holy Spirit

Amen