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Peace Prayer
Welcome and Theme
Mary Theresa: Each year from September 1 to October 4 the Christian family unites for a worldwide celebration of prayer and action to protect our common home. It is a special season where we celebrate the Holy One as Creator and acknowledge creation as the divine continuing act that summons us as collaborators to love and care for the gift of all that is created. As followers of Jesus from around the globe, we share a common call to care for creation. Our well-being is interwoven with the well-being of the Earth. We rejoice in this opportunity to safeguard our common home and all beings who share it with us. This year, the theme for the Season is “Living Water.” (from Season of Creation 2026 Guide)
The theme for this liturgy focuses on us as “Becoming Living Water.” We gather not only to pray for the waters of Earth but to become people through whom God's compassion, justice, healing, and hope flow freely.
Opening Prayer
Dave: Holy One, teach us to remember that we are not separate from the waters of Earth. We are water. We are Earth. We are Spirit-breathed beings within one sacred, living community. May this gathering awaken us to the truth that your love is always flowing—through creation, through our relationships, through our acts of justice, and through our willingness to become Living Water.
We pray in the name of Jesus, who came that all might have life, and have it abundantly. Amen.
Opening Song: For Her Speak – song by MaMuse and video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/Ms2Ar-yrMjA?si=oNsebllm5MLHf3Ig
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: A Reading on Water and Justice
(created by AI based on the Season of Creation 2026 theme of Living Water)
Water is the Holy One's gift, meant to sustain every living being. Yet across our world, access to clean, life-giving water is too often shaped by wealth, power, race, and politics rather than by justice and compassion.
Communities from Flint, Michigan, to Bangladesh, from Nigeria to Palestine, have experienced poisoned water, drought, floods, pollution, and unequal access to this sacred resource. Indigenous lands have been scarred by extraction industries. Rivers have been diverted, aquifers depleted, and clean water transformed into a commodity for profit while many struggle simply to survive.
Climate change deepens these injustices. Rising seas, prolonged droughts, and devastating floods displace millions of people and threaten the future of countless communities. Those who have contributed least to the climate crisis often bear its greatest burdens.
As people of faith, we are called to see water not as a privilege for the few, but as a sacred trust entrusted to all. The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor flow together, reminding us that care for creation and the pursuit of justice are inseparable.
May we become Living Water, faithful stewards of Earth's waters, protectors of every community's right to clean and abundant water, and bearers of hope as we work for a world where justice flows like a river and life is shared by all.
The Community responds to these words with, Amen.
Second Reading: Water: The Hope and the Sorrow
Adapted by Dave Debonis into this form from the writings of Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr. (why-god-and-water-are-inextricably-linked/) and Tudor Alexander (14 Ways Water Reveals the Glory of God)
The Divine, hovering over the waters for creation
Noah and Moses, finding safety
John the Baptist, renewal in the Jordan River
Jesus, calming the storm,
Sharing living water with the woman at the well
Washing their feet.
Water
Falling from the sky
Nourishing, cleansing,
Sustaining life.
Splash it on my face-revival
Children splashing in the pool
Throwing water balloons
Pure joy
Calming me as the ocean lulls
Sitting mesmerized in the middle of the lake
Water
Ordinary, humble, life-giving, like Jesus.
But also…..
Water
The floods and storms
The fear
Running to the rooftop
Nature disrupted
Shouting for help
Praying it will recede
Destruction, despair, the sliding hillside
A sudden burial
Water
Its absence, drought, poverty
Thirst, illness, despair
Water
Life-giving and life-taking
nurturing and destroying
soft and hard,
the light and the darkness
our hope and our sorrow
our divinity and our humanness
The Community responds to these words with, Amen.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia Misa Delgado Book1
Gospel: A reading from the Book of Genesis
Gen. 2:4-7
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Holy One made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Holy One had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. Then the Holy One formed humans from the dust of the ground and breathed into their nostrils the breath of life, and the humans became living beings.
We affirm the words of our ancestors with, Amen.
Homily Starter:
Dave: I love the beautiful imagery of the Gospel reading, which paints a vivid picture of streams of water emerging from the earth, even before the rain and before the creation of men and women. And as illustrated in the second reading, water has continued to play a significant role in scripture as a life-sustaining spiritual force. This important role of water is present not only in Christianity but also in Islam and Hinduism. Some indigenous cultures view water as a spiritual medicine connecting humanity to the earth.
In the second reading, adapted from the writings of Kahn and Alexander, water again is celebrated as a powerful symbol and a source of life and renewal. This renewal can take forms that are spiritual and abstract or everyday-- as simple as children laughing in a pool.
We remember that Jesus assumed his life-giving role in various ways. He was an enlightened teacher who challenged religious leaders’ understanding of the Hebrew bible, a rebel who turned over tables and resisted the power structures of the time and a gentle presence who healed the sick and blessed the little children. Life-sustaining actions come in very different forms and invite us to choose the role that best allows us to participate in co-creation of the earth.
Both the first and second readings also acknowledge the darkness associated with water. Consistent with this community’s strong concern about justice for all our brothers and sisters, the first reading provides a stark reminder that due to greed, politics and prejudice water is not equally available to all. Further, failure to take steps to protect our climate from destructive changes finds increasing numbers of people impacted by floods, fires and droughts, with many losing their homes, their life-long possessions and even their lives.
The gifts of the Divine are many. It is our call to work for justice so that these gifts flow freely to all of God’s people, regardless of identity, status or dogma.
Mary Theresa: There is something wonderfully ordinary about water and we take it for granted. We turn on a faucet, and water flows. We drink it without thinking. We bathe in it. We cook with it. We water our gardens. And yet, without water, none of us would be here.
There is something about water that speaks to us at a level deeper than words.
We can live for a time without many things, but we cannot live without water. Water gives life. It nourishes, cleanses, refreshes, restores, and connects. It moves through clouds and rivers, through oceans and soil, through plants, animals, and human bodies. And, as the opening of our liturgy reminds us, we are not separate from the waters of Earth. We are water. We are Earth. We are Spirit-breathed beings within one sacred, living community.
That is a profound theological statement. It means that creation is not something "out there" that we have been given permission to use. Creation is the community of which we are a part. The river is our relative. The tree is our relative. The ocean is our relative. The person on the other side of the world who is searching for clean water is our relative.
And perhaps this is what it means to say that we are called to be Living Water. We are not simply being asked to conserve water, although that matters. We are not simply being asked to protect rivers and oceans, although that matters. We are being invited to become people through whom the life of Holy One can flow—people through whom compassion, justice, healing, generosity, and hope flow freely.
What did you hear in today’s liturgy? What speaks to you?
Statement of Faith
Mary Theresa: Let us together pray our statement of faith
We believe in God, who creates all things,
who embraces all things, who celebrates all things,
who is present in every part of the fabric of creation.
We believe in God as the source of all life,
who baptizes this planet with living water.
We believe in Jesus Christ, seen in the suffering one,
the poor one, the malnourished one,
the climate refugee - who loves and cares for this world
and suffers with it.
And we believe in Jesus Christ, the seed of life,
who came to reconcile and renew this world
and everything in it.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God,
who moves with God
and who moves among and with us today.
We believe in everlasting life in God.
And we believe in the hope that one day God will put an end to
death and all destructive forces.
(Lutheran Theological College, South India, adapted)
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Prayers of the Community
Dave: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we voice our intentions beginning with the words, “We bring to the table…..”
Dave: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Eucharistic Prayer
Mary Theresa: With open hands and open hearts, let us pray together:
All: Holy Mystery, before there were mountains, before rivers carved valleys, before rain nourished forests, your Spirit danced upon the waters. From your love emerged stars, oceans, whales, birds, trees, and all living creatures—woven together in one sacred community. Therefore, with rivers and rain, with salmon and herons, with clouds and oceans, with saints and ancestors, and with all creation we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy by Peter Mayer
Dave: Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: Spirit of Living Water, flow upon these gifts of bread and wine and flow within us. May this bread become courage. May this wine become compassion. May this meal strengthen us to become living water for a thirsty world.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, who as Living Water crossed boundaries, welcomed strangers, restored dignity. washed dusty feet, stilled storms, and taught us that abundant life belongs to everyone.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at the supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plate and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the Passover bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread, and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
All lift their cup and pray the following:
He then raised high the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives; as we share communion, we will become communion, both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Dave: Please share Communion with the words: I am / We are Living Water.
Communion Song: Mother Earth By Karliene
https://youtu.be/caIo1UGSDgw?si=Hfhd-nzR0GMpeuW6
Prayer After Communion
Mary Theresa: Let us pray our prayer after Communion.
All: Loving Source of All, we remember today those without clean water, those displaced by flood, those suffering drought, defending rivers, protecting oceans, those whose voices have been silenced, and all who long for peace. May our lives become Living Water and the answer to our prayers.
Like Jesus, in all openness, we will be filled with your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
For it is through learning to live as he lived,
And why he lived,
And for whom he lived,
That we awaken to your Spirit within,
Moving us to worship you truly,
O Holy One,
At this time and all time and in all ways.
And we say yes to You!
Dave: Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
O Holy One, who is within, around and among us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your Wisdom come.
Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,
Each day you give us all we need;
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, now and forever. Amen
(Miriam Therese Winter)
Blessing
Mary Theresa: Please join in praying our blessing:
May the Holy One whose Spirit hovered over the waters, bless you and become within you a spring that never runs dry—refreshing the weary, welcoming the stranger, healing creation, and bringing hope wherever you go. May your name be a blessing in our time. Amen.
Closing Song: Somos el Barco
https://youtu.be/gjyjRNGYdUA?si=bO8bR5vMPaoQEPRy
