Section:
prayers
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [men] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness….”
The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription .U.S. National Archives and Records Administration 8601, Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001.
Song: “America, the Beautiful” (MATERNA, Bates)
Psalm 67
God, show kindness and bless us,
and make your face smile on us!
For then the earth will acknowledge your ways
and all the nations will know of your power to save.
Let the nations praise you, O God.
let all the nations praise you!
Let the nations shout and sing for joy,
since you dispense true justice to the world
you dispense strict justice to the peoples,
on earth you rule the nations.
Let the nations praise you, God,
let all the nations praise you!
The soil has given its harvest,
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God bless us, and let god be feared
to the very ends of the earth.
Glory . . .
Psalm is reprinted from Psalms Anew by Nancy Schreck, OSF and Maureen Leach, OSF, © 1984 The Sisters of St. Francis, Dubuque, Iowa. Used with permission.
Prayer:
God, you have blessed our country and our land with abundant gifts. But gifts given are meant to be shared. Help us, as a nation, to be generous in our concern for others and to live gratefully for all the blessings we have to share. This we ask you, Most High, in the unity of the Holy Spirit and in Jesus’ name. Amen.
