Section:
prayers
CREATIVE PRAYER FOR A BIRTHDAY
Hymn Suggestions:
I Have Loved You (Joncas)
Give Thanks to the Lord (Schutte)
Sing a New Song (Schutte)
The God of All Grace (Manalo)
We Are Called (Haas)
Introduction
Leader: We gather to celebrate the birthday of _____, joining together in thanksgiving, rejoicing in song, in scripture, in prayer, and in poetry and thanking God for the gift she/he has been to all of us.
Hymn
Reader 1: Philippians 1: 3-11
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Response:
I bless you in my life and after my death as much as I can and more than I can with all the blessings with which the Father of mercies has and will have blessed his sons and daughters in heaven and on earth.
— I bless you in my life and after my death as much as I can and more than I can with all the blessings with which the Father of mercies has and will have blessed his sons and daughters in heaven and on earth.
I bless you in my life and after my death as much as I can and more than I can
— with all the blessings with which the Father of mercies has and will have blessed his sons and daughters in heaven and on earth.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
— I bless you in my life and after my death as much as I can and more than I can with all the blessings with which the Father of mercies has and will have blessed his sons and daughters in heaven and on earth.
From “Blessing of Clare,” page 234, #10-11 in Francis and Clare: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Civilization series), translation and introduction by Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap, and Ignatius C. Brady, OFM. Preface by John Vaughn, OFM. Copyright © 1982 by Paulist Press. Used with permission of Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ.
Leader: Loving God, God of all life, we thank you for the many ways in which you have gifted ____ and we rejoice in the many ways she/he has shared those gifts with us. We pray that as ____ continue her/his dance of life, she/he may always know the graced rhythm of your love and presence.
Reader 2: “Dancing God” This may be read by the celebrant.
Direct my steps, my dancing God,
In rhythms slow or fast,
To dance life’s varied melodies,
Moving in clear-cut syncopated time
Or swaying slowly to the haunting music
Only hearts can hear.
Direct my steps, my dancing God,
To join the dance of time,
Stretching,
Reaching,
Touching hand to hand
All those who join the dance,
All those whose inner music
Sings your name.
Direct my steps, my dancing God,
In solo steps
Across the stage of time,
Swirling,
Leaping,
Drawn by mystic music only I can hear,
Dancing life
As only I can do.
Direct my steps, my dancing God,
Moving to the rhythm of your heart,
Twirling,
Spinning,
Leaping unafraid,
Trusting in the sureness of your love
That lifts me high
And whispers softly in my heart
The music of the dance
I am.
Ann Marie Slavin, OSF
Ann Marie Slavin, OSF
Intercessions:
All are invited to share prayers/wishes/blessings for the birthday celebrant.
Final Blessing: All pray together.
What you hold, may you always hold.
What you do, may you always do and never abandon.
But with swift pace, light step, and unswerving feet
so that even your steps stir up no dust,
go forward
securely, joyfully, and swiftly,
on the path of prudent happiness,
believing nothing,
agreeing with nothing
which would dissuade you from this resolution
or which would place a stumbling block on the way
so that you may offer your vows to the Most High
in the pursuit of that perfection
to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you.
From “Second Letter of Clare to Agnes,” page 196, #11-14 in Francis and Clare: The Complete Works (Classics of Western Civilization series), translation and introduction by Regis J. Armstrong, OFM Cap, and Ignatius C. Brady, OFM. Preface by John Vaughn, OFM. Copyright © 1982 by Paulist Press. Used with permission of Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
