Cantica Gaudia

Ordinary Time, Early Summer: Thursday Noonday Prayer

Opening: God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and in truth.

Psalm: People will proclaim memorials to your goodness
They will sing full-throated of your rightness

For you are gracious and compassionate
Long-suffering and overflowing with kindness
Good to all, and your tender mercies wash the world clean
So that everything is drenched in gratefulness
And those who love you bless you with every breath
And converse always of the brightness of your presence
Speak only of your power and pervasiveness
To make clear to the onrushing generations
That your acts are decisive
Your presence is bright
Your rule is timeless
And your pattern weaves through all that is

Reading: A fish cannot drown in water,
A bird does not fall in air.
In the fire of its making,
Gold doesn’t vanish:
The fire brightens.
Each creature God made
Must live in its own nature;
How could I resist my nature,
That lives for oneness with God?

The Lord’s Prayer: Creator of all,
Alive in all things and greater than all things,
Your naming be held holy.
Your vision of our goodness be made manifest throughout the universe,
And your desires for us brought to fulfillment.
Give us that which is essential for our growth and work.
Offer forgiveness and healing to us as we forgive and heal those around us.
Protect us from unnecessary suffering and wasteful pain.
For all that is beautiful, strong and glorious has its roots in you
and expresses your will and your nature, which we share in, unendingly.  Amen.

Prayer: O God who gave us life to cherish and enjoy,
And made us capable, in its service,
Of costly love and powerful commitment:
Help us choose life in all its abundance,
Not only for ourselves and our children,
But for all our struggling world,
For whom you were content to lay down your life
In Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Going Forth: Live without fear: your Creator has made you holy, has always protected you and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow the good road, and may God's blessing be with you always. Amen