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Sisters of Mercy, Mid-Atlantic Community PRAYER SERVICE FOR YEAR-END RETREAT

“WOMEN OF MERCY, WOMEN OF HOPE” in our Church today December 31, 2012

 

Invitation to Prayer: As we enter into prayer on this last day of the year, we Sisters of Mercy are being called to reflect on how, as Women of Mercy, Women of Hope, we are actively listening and respectfully dialoguing with God and one another about our struggles and joys related to Church. As part of the universal Church, we are especially mindful of the gift of the Second Vatican Council and how that event has enriched our lives as consecrated women. May this prayer ritual and these reflective readings deepen our understanding and reverence for who we are as Women of Mercy, Women of Hope in our Church today. Opening Hymn: Sing a New Church

Summoned by the God who made us Rich in our diversity, Gathered in the name of Jesus, Richer still in unity; Refrain: Let us bring the gifts that differ, And, in splendid, varied ways,

Sing a new church into being, One in faith and love and praise. Radiant risen from the water, Robed in holiness and light, Male and female in God’s image, Male and female, God’s delight: Refrain Draw together at one table, All the human family; Shape a circle ever wider, And a people ever free. Refrain

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Psalm 133 Antiphon: When women and men dwell in harmony, the star of Truth appears! Left: See how good, how pleasant it is for God’s people to live together as one! Right: It is like precious oil on Aaron’s head running down on his beard, running down to the collar of his robes.

Left: It is like the dew of Mount Hermon, falling down the hills of Zion Right: For that is where our God bestows the blessing – life that never ends. All: Glory to You, three in one. Your mercy endures forever. Amen

Antiphon: When women and men dwell in harmony, the star of Truth appears! Constitutions, Introduction

Responsive in faith to God’s mercy Catherine McAuley heeded the call of Jesus to reach out with courage and love to the needy of her time. She founded the institute of the Sisters of Mercy, to involve women as religious in the mission of the church in the world. Her vision continues to animate the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, a religious institute of pontifical right dedicated to the works of the apostolate.

Pause The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, #44

…The evangelical counsels which lead to charity join their followers to the Church and its mystery in a special way. Since this is so, the spiritual life of these people should then be devoted to the welfare of the whole Church. From this arises their duty of working to implant and strengthen the Kingdom of Christ in souls and to extend that Kingdom to every clime.

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John 17: 13, 17-21, 26 Now, O God, I am coming to You; I say all this while I am still in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves… Consecrate them – make them holy through the truth – for your word is truth. As You have sent me into the world, so I send them into the world; I consecrate myself now for their sakes, that they may be made holy in truth. I do not pray for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all may be one, as You are in me and I in You. To them I have revealed Your Name, and I will continue to reveal it so that the love You have for me may live in them, just as I have lived in them.

Pause

As you reflect on these readings, to what do you sense God is inviting you as

a Woman of Mercy, a Woman of Hope in the Chuch?

Time for Personal Prayer/Reflection (Suggestion: 10 minutes) Henri Nouwen:

Our faith in God who sent his Son to become God-with-us and who, with his Son, sent his Spirit to become God-within-us cannot be real without our faith in the church. The Church is that unlikely body of people through whom God chooses to reveal God’s love for us. Just as it seems unlikely to us that God chose to become human in a young girl living in a small, not very respected town in the Middle East nearly two thousand years ago, it seems unlikely that God chose to continue his work of salvation in a community of people constantly torn apart by arguments, prejudices, authority conflicts, and power games. Still, believing in Jesus and believing in the Church are two sides of one faith. It is unlikely but divine!

©Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, 1997, Harper Collins

Pause

How does this passage from Henri Nouwen challenge you beyond your current thinking and understanding

about your membership in and relationship to the Church?

Time for Personal Prayer/Reflection (Suggestion: 10 minutes) Time for Sharing (Optional)

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Concluding Reflective Music: Thankful by Josh Groban

Somedays we forget To look around us Somedays we can't see The joy that surrounds us So caught up inside ourselves We take when we should give. So for tonight we pray for What we know can be. And on this day we hope for What we still can't see. It's up to us to be the change And even though we all can still do more There's so much to be thankful for. Look beyond ourselves There's so much sorrow It's way too late to say I'll cry tomorrow Each of us must find our truth It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for What we know can be And every day we hope for What we still can't see It's up to us to be the change And even though we all can still do more There's so much to be thankful for. Even with our differences There is a place we're all connected Each of us can find each other's light So for tonight we pray for What we know can be And on this day we hope for What we still can't see It's up to us to be the change And even though this world needs so much more There's so much to be thankful for