Prayer Hour – Birthday – 7

In the name of the Father………..

Short introduction:

“Sing my soul to the Lord of the universe. Lift your heart in song. Bring out all the love you can. Praise the Lord, yes sing his name. Praise him for his marvelous deeds. Oh sing my soul to the Lord.

Yes Lord, whole of the universe has awakened with a whisper of joy, peace and happiness. Our hearts are thrilled with your marvelous love for the wonders you work in our life. At this beautiful dawn we raise our hearts and minds in gratitude and praise for the gift of life that you have endowed to each one of us. Today is the day of rejoicing for all the members of cfmss community as our dear Sr… celebrates her birthday. Dear Sr. …we wish you a very happy birthday.

The theme of our prayer is “You are the reflection of God’s love.” Let us begin our morning worship by invoking the Holy Spirit as we listen to this song.

  [Come Holy Spirit …….]

Life is a journey in this pilgrim land. Some moments in it are very rare and very special. Such a moment has dawned today in the life of our sister….. All through the years the Lord has been with you. All through the years He has guided you and has enabled you to experience and to express His immense love. John Powell in his book “Through the seasons of the heart” writes : ‘God sends each person into this world with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing, with a special act of love to bestow’. Indeed, God has chosen you for a purpose with a special message to deliver – a message of love and compassion, a special song to sing – a song of thanksgiving to the Lord for the numerous blessings.

God’s love is being reflected through various ways in particular through His creation. Today as we celebrate the gift of life of Sr…., how can we say that she is a reflection of God’s love for us at cfmss.Here we have the Tech Supporter and the Customer. Let us listen to them to understand how Sr. …is a reflection of God’s love.

Installing love: [Sr. Asunta – Tech supporter and Sr. Presilla – Customer]

Yes, a person who has experienced the love of Abba Father knows how to communicate. We have experienced your accompaniment in our process of growth. Your patience and listening capacity has helped us to come to you at any time to seek your guidance. For the love that you show we sing….. God is love…..

Introduction to the flower:

We just heard that how a supporter helps a customer. How gently and caringly the supporter was guiding the customer. Dear sisters, it symbolizes the very life of our dear Sr. … who accompanies and supports those whom she has been entrusted. Lord, we wonder at your marvelous work - the life of our dear sister. Yes Lord, you have created a lovely flower with sweet fragrance and soft petals. She bloomed and blossomed with goodness and virtues. As she remains, as reflection of God’s love, let us have a view on a flower which depicts different ways of being the reflection God’s love in her day today life.

A reading for the holy Gospel according to St. Jn:15,1-16

FAITH:  Verse 4: “Abide in me as I abide in you”

Dear Sr. .….we appreciate in you the quality of deep faith in God. Your very life itself reveals the depth of your faith that which rooted in the Word of God. Whatever may be the life situations that you come across, we see in you the unshaken faith that is reflected in your actions. We thank God for this grace.

CHARITY:

Verse 5: “I am the wine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

This reflects the beautiful gift of charity that Sr….. is adorned with. Charity begins at home. A person to be charitable is something great and to be appreciated and that person is you dear Sr…... Lord, we are grateful to you for such a lovely person that you have given to us.

PRAYER:

Verse  “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine.”

Prayer is the deep experience of God. God our loving Father we praise and thank you for the gift of Sr. ….who is the person of prayer. Lord, you are the source of life and goodness. You created her in your own image and likeness to be with you and proclaim your good news to all. We thank our God for you as the person of prayer.

LOVE:

Verse 9 :  “As the Father has loved me so I have loved you”

Love makes the life worth living and it inspires others to live. Love no longer remains selfish and self centered but it finds ways to bring happiness and life for others. Dear sister, the good Lord has placed a very large measure of his love in you. Through your life you are radiating this love to all and bring happiness. We thank Lord, for enabling you to reach out his great love to many by being the reflection of his love.

JOY:

Verse 11 : “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Joy is an unique gift and is acquired by those who have positive outlook towards one’s own life and life around. This gift we see in you and experience from you dear Sr…... Through this gift you radiate the joyful presence of Jesus Christ deep within you. We thank our God, for your joyful person.

SACRIFICE:

Verse 13: No one has greater love than this to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Sacrifice is a gift possessed by a person who is other centered. Dear Sr….., we pray for the Almighty God that the pain you undergo in order to sacrifice your time and energy for the growth of others and your congregation and to each one of us, may crown you with glory and happiness. For this we thank our God for you.

APPROACHABLE

Verse: 15 “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my father.”

There is no difficulty for anyone to approach sister at any time for anything. It is something great to have this beautiful quality of being an approachable person. Lord, we thank you for adorning our sister with this special quality.

OPTIMIST:

Verse16: “You did not choose me but I chose you and I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”

Yes, dear Sr. ….God has chosen you to bear fruit that which lasts. We see in you the beautiful fruit that is an optimistic outlook in everything. We see you, as simple in thoughts and actions as a result you bear the fruit that which reflects God’s love through your optimistic approach. For this we praise and thank God.

COMPASSION:

Verse17 : “I am giving you this command so that you may love one another.”

A compassionate person takes note of others needs, and eager to help. The very quality of compassion makes to think the best for others. Dear Lord, we thank you for instilling your compassion in the heart of our sister and making her a channel of your compassion.

DEDICATION:

 Verse18: “My father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit.”

Lord, you have blessed Sr.. .….with a heart of a mother, a sign of total dedication. Thank you dear Lord for making her bear much fruit in the course of her life. We thank you for the wonderful gift that she is.

Now we request Sr……to place the flower on the alter as the symbol of God’s love. Let us pray along with her

(Hymn- Keep me in the hollow…………)

Ps103:

This is a hymn of thanksgiving for the greatness of God’s love. The psalmist urges the people to praise God for all the graces that they received. They experience God as one who is slow to anger abounding in steadfast love and mercy. Today this psalm calls us to sing praises to God for the gift of Sr….. for the selfless service, dedication, availability, guidance, sacrifice and encouragement to each and every one of us.

Ps by Sr. Asunta

Conclusion

“O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever.” God our loving Father, we are indeed blessed by your miraculous gift - Sr….. to her congregation, family, community and very specially to each one of us. Thank you Lord for your lovely and lively presence we experience every day through our dear sister. Lord, we also thank you for the innumerable blessings you have showered upon each one of us during this hour of prayer. Today our only prayer for you Sister is :

“May God keep you day by day. Guide you all the way ; Never let you stray. May He keep you in the depths of His divine heart. We pray for this grace as we sing the concluding hymn.”

Kahatha hai dil mera………