Embracing a Common Future

 

 

Edmund Rice Christian Brothers

North America

Thursday, 09 August 2007

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DEEPENING THE SPIRITUALITY

OF THE HEART OF BEING BROTHER

 

[New!]Mary as Witness

INTRODUCTORY REFLECTION

Reader 1

At the beginning of this day, we remember the life and witness of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who gave flesh to the incarnate Word of God in her heart and in her womb. Called like Mary to give flesh to the presence of Christ in our life, we pray that we may be faithful witnesses of the gift of salvation in our every word and deed.

 

Praise (ALL)

Be praised above the heavens, O gracious God, for the dawning of your sun of justice upon a people who walked in darkness. Each day we set our face toward the fullness of your peace. We rejoice for the memory and witness of the Mother whom you consecrated from the first moment of her life to give birth to the Word as the dawn of our salvation.

 

Opening Hymn: Ave Maria, Ave (Liam Lawton)

 

Reader 2

The Mother of Jesus is the image of your church and the leaven of our discipleship. She who bore the Promise of the Ages is the living reminder that all who profess Jesus as the Christ must bring to birth the Gospel to all the nations of the earth for all time. Let us hear the names of those of God’s disciples that we know, his people who need the peace of God this very day. By saying these names out loud, we ask God to bless them, to hold them, and to grant them peace.

 

(Pause to allow names to be called aloud.)

 

All Let us thank the Lord . . .The upright see and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth. Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

 

Leader: As we begin this new day let us give one another a sign of peace. (Pause.)

 

Leader: Now, filled with the spirit of peace, we are ready to begin our listening to the WORD,

 

Romans 8 That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

 

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

 

SHARING AND REFLECTION             A Scripture Search for Mary

We honor Mary with so many titles. Some of them are: Mother of Our Savior, Immaculate Conception, and the Blessed Virgin. Is there a title for Mary that no one has ever used to honor her? What do the words of scripture tell me about Mary? Create your own title for Mary, and pray it as a prayer of intercession.

 

INTERCESSIONS

 

CLOSING PRAYER

O God, in the incarnation of the Word, you have wrought a wonderful exchange: as he humbled himself to share in our humanity, so did he enable us to have a share in his divinity. Transform us, O God, according to your word, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.