Upper Room Inclusive Catholic Community - Moments of Oneness - Terri Kersch

MOMENT OF ONENESS,  June 10 and 11

photo by Julian Wan on Unsplash

The Upper Room Community Weekly Online Prayer

OPENING PRAYER: 

Our God, and God of all people:
God of the rich and God of the poor;
God of the healthy, and God of the afflicted;
God of those with healthcare, and God of the uninsured;
God of the hoarder, and God of the helper;
God of those who have no God.

We are acutely aware of the gnawing unease that has been inspired by a global pandemic. Everywhere we look, we see apprehension and uncertainty unleashed all around us. The impact of this illness is very real. Its presence is felt every time we wash our hands, clear our throats or flinch in response to someone coughing behind us.

A virus cannot be seen by the human eye – and yet it makes its presence known in the empty classrooms and cancelled events that increasingly are becoming the norm around our city, state, nation and throughout the world.

But along with these challenges, we also have seen simple beauty:

·       Outpourings of caring and concern. 

·       Communities coming together to ensure that the frailest among us will be safe and secure. 

·       Doctors, nurses and healthcare workers who have labored in dangerous conditions in order to care for their patients. 

·       Researchers and students who valiantly search for cures and vaccines to stem the tide of infection.

And let us say: Amen

Adapted from A Prayer in a Time of Coronavirus  

by Rabbi Joseph Black

SILENT REFLECTION

PRAYERS OF PETITION

1.    O God our Healer, show your compassion for the whole human family that is in turmoil and burdened with illness and with fear. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope.

2.    Come to our aid as the coronavirus spreads globally, give us the courage to stand with those who are afflicted. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope

3.    Grant us your spirit of love and self-discipline so that we may come together, working to control and eliminate the coronavirus. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope,

4.    Strengthen and encourage those in public health services and in the medical profession: caregivers, nurses, attendants, doctors, and researchers, all who commit themselves to caring for the sick and their families. RESPONSE: We pray with hope

5.    Sustain all workers and business owners who suffer loss of livelihood due to shut-downs, quarantines, closed borders, and other restrictions… protect and guard all those who must travel. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope

6.    Guide the leaders of the nations that they speak the truth, halt the spread of misinformation and act with justice so that all your family may know healing. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope

7.    We hold in honored memory those who have died.  Comfort their loved ones as they grieve. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope.

8.    Remember all your family, the entire human race, and all your creation, in your love. RESPONSE:  We pray with hope.

CLOSING PRAYER 

photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Out of an abundance of caution, I’m staying home.

Out of an abundance of caution, I’m washing my hands for at least 20 seconds, sometimes singing the ABCs, sometimes singing the itsy-bitsy spider, and sometimes saying a prayer.

Out of an abundance of caution, I am telling people how much I love them every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I can get annoying.

Out of an abundance of caution, I am waving frantically to the stranger across the street while I am out for my walk, making eye-contact, smiling and saying hello.

Out of an abundance of caution, I am not using the expression “social distancing.” Physical distancing, yes; social distancing, no way.

Out of an abundance of caution, I have subscribed to a joke a day.

Out of abundance of caution, I am looking out for people who might be stressed and hungry for food and love and giving more than I have before.

Out of an abundance of caution I am paying attention more than ever to the words of my prayers.

Out of an abundance of caution, I have faith that love and kindness are contagious, too.

Out of an abundance of caution, I am telling you I am here for you, I care about us, I need you, and I want everyone to know we are all in this together.

We pray that, as we wash our hands (for 20 seconds – no less…) we also might strive to find You, O God – in our hearts our hopes and our homes.

Out of Abundance of Caution A Prayer Amid a Pandemic by Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler

Amen

Terri Kersch