INTRODUCTION:

               One morning the angels realized that God is going to perform a great work. They anxiously waited to see what is going to happen. They even had an argument among them on this issue. Some said, he is going to create a new star, some said, no, He is going to build a nation, some had the opinion that He is going to perform a great miracle, that was to create a human being, who will be called …., the daughter, of Mr.& Mrs.                    Yes, dear sisters, today we are here this morning to celebrate the great miracle, which God had performed many years ago.

                 We thank God too, for the gift of life to Sr. .. who also celebrates her birthday today. For all that she is to her family, Congregation and to this community ...... We thank and praise you Lord.

We invite sisters .. and … to light the lamp.

 Life is a gift of God out of His abundant love. This gift is to be celebrated. Life is to be celebrated. To celebrate life is to appreciate God who gave this precious gift. To appreciate God is to be with Him with songs of love and thanksgiving. To praise Him in gratitude is true prayer. This prayer springs up from the depth of one’s heart and leads to total surrender. Today we join with Sr…..in her prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift of her life.

Lord, giver of life, in to the immensity of your love and mercy, we let ourselves disappear as we praise you for the life you have gifted to our dear Sr….You created her in your beauty and filled her with your tenderness and love. You constantly renewed her as you guided her through the journey of her life. You touched her with your wisdom and enlightened her as you set her apart only for you. We thank you for all that you do in her life as we sing this hymn of praise.

Story:

Narrator: Years back there bloomed a beautiful rose in a garden. All admired its beauty. One day …..

 Passer By: what a beautiful rose, I feel I am lost in it’s beauty and fragrance.

Narr: Rose began to think…….music

Rose: if I am so beautiful..  Then how beautiful will be my creator? I want to see my creator

Narr: Here she starts her journey in search of the creator and there on the way she meets a young girl.

Young Girl: this is a beautiful rose. Let me pluck it to put it on my hair.( she reaches her hand to the rose)

Rose: please don’t pluck me, I am in search of my creator but please show me the way.

Y. G.: what will you give me if I show you the way?

R:  I have nothing else to offer you except the beautiful and soft petal.

N: with a pain in the heart yet with joy the rose offers its petal and continues its journey.

Small child: this is a wonderful flower, which I can give to my Mama on her Birthday.

N: hearing this the rose cried out..

Rose: please darling don’t cut me I am on my way to see the creator, please do help me in my search.

Ch: what will you give me if I help you?

R: I have nothing else to give you other than my petals.

N: again the rose with a deep pain in the heart but with a great desire of meeting the Lord offers its petal to the child.

Woman: this rose will look beautiful in my vase let me cut it

R: have compassion on me and do not cut me because I want to see my creator.

W: what’s that to me? I want you.

R: I will give you my petal but do not cut me.

N: the rose offering it’s one more beautiful petal to the woman continues it’s journey. But then stops for a while with a deep pain in heart and says….

R:If I continue to give myself I will be disfigured and will I be able to reach my creator? [Sobbing]

God: My beloved you are the reflection of my beauty and you added beauty to yourself. You fulfilled my plan for you when you gave yourself generously and selflessly without counting the cost of it even though it was painful. Go ahead on your life’s journey with conviction and determination. Never lose heart. I your creator am with you in all that you dream and hope for. Continue to be what you are to the people around you. Yes dear Sr. … Today this is the message of God gives for you that you may continue to be that beautiful rose to spread the fragrance wherever you move and add beauty in the lives of the people you encounter and live with.

Psalm    105

How great is my God,

And how I love to sing His praises!

Whereas I am often frightened when I think about the future,

And confused and disturbed

By the rapidly changing events about me,

My heart is secured and made glad

When I remember how He has cared for me

Throughout the past.

When I was brought forth from my mother’s womb,

God’s hand was upon me.

Through parents and people, who cared, He loved and sheltered me

And set me upon His course for my life.

Through illness and accident my God has sustained me.

Around pitfalls and precipices He has safely led me.

When I became rebellious and struck out on my own,

He waited patiently for me to return.

When I fell on my face in weakness and failure,

He gently set me upon my feet again.

He did not always prevent me from Hurting myself,

But He took me back to heal my wounds.

Even out of the broken pieces of my defeats

He created a vessel of beauty and usefulness.

Through trials and errors, failures and success.

Through trails and errors, failures and successes,

My God has cared for me.

From infancy to adulthood He has never let me go.

His love has led me- or followed me-

Through the valleys of sorrow

And the highlands of joy,

Through times of want and years of abundance.

He has bridged impassable rivers

And moved impossible mountains.

Sometimes through me, Sometimes in spite of me,

He seeks to accomplish His purposes in my life.

He has kept me through the stormy past;

He will secure and guide me

Through the perilous future.

I need never be afraid,

No matter how and uncertain the months or years ahead of me.

How great is my God,

And how I love to sing His praises!

Concluding:

Dear Sr. … as you look back into the shore of your life’s journey you see the foot prints of God. A God who has walked with you side by side all along the way  and listened to your cares and  helped you to carry  your burden and shared  your joys and sorrows. Following the footprints of God you have been filled with hope, freedom and wholeness in your life.

* On this special day we pray that all that is you, may proclaim god’s greatness and love.

* May the living and eternal God present within you be the destiny of your life and guide along the way.

* May you be free from anxieties and fears.

* May you always be enveloped in the great love of the Lord.

* May your life spread the fragrance of joy and goodness as you bloom  in the Lord’s garden.