Calls To Worship
Father
Adapted from Psalm 68:4-5, 19 (ESV)
Leader: Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
People: Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
Leader: Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
People: Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.
Adapted from Psalm 103 (NRSVUE)
Leader: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits —”
People: “As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear Him. For He knows how we were made; He remembers that we are dust. As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
Leader: “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.” Let us bless the Lord, with all we have within us, let us bless His holy name.
(Ps 103:1-2, 13-18, NRSVUE, adapted for liturgical use)
A Prayer From Catherine of Siena
O Holy Spirit, come into my heart;
By your power draw it to yourself, God,
And give me charity with fear.
Guard me, Christ, from every evil thought,
And so warm and enflame me again
With your most gentle love
That every suffering may seem light to me.
My holy Father and my gentle Lord,
Help me in my every need.
Christ love! Christ love!