Birthday prayer service 1

Birthday Prayer Service

The Lord has been infinitely good to us and brought us to the dawn of this day. Let us offer our praises to him as we listen to the invitatory psalm.

Hymn from The Cassette

Introduction

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget none of His benefits.”

“Because Thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips will praise Thee”

“I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Thy name forever.”

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!”

This medley of Psalms stirs the reverent mind. Their words prompt us first to identify God’s many blessings, and then to treasure them. Surely God is worthy of intelligent praise. When we bless God, we are doing more than praising Him. To “Bless” is to praise with affection and gratitude.

It is always appropriate to give thanks to God, but especially so on the occasion of a birthday. The birthday celebration provides an opportunity for acknowledging and giving thanks to God as the author and giver of life.

Each year as we celebrate another birthday we recall the gift of life which we have received from God. This day we give thanks for our parents and all those who have loved, nourished, and taught us of God’s Love.

Each child that is born is a gift from God who created every person in His own image and likeness breathing His own life into us. Thus, we share God’s own life. Everyone is born for a purpose. God has a plan for each one of us and every one of us to play a definite role in His plan of love. This morning is a joyful one because it has a message to give and recall the mystery of life that came into this world. We thank our gracious Father in a very special way for Sr…. who celebrates her birthday today.

Hymn: C 77

Now let us meditate on the parable of a pencil, which invites us to make a pact of confidence and a bond of intimacy with the creator.

The Pencil Parable

Things to Always Remember and One Thing to Never Forget

Dear Sr…. your presence is a present to the world.

You’re unique and one of a kind.

Your life can be what you want it to be.

Take the days just one at a time.

Count your blessings, not your troubles.

You’ll make it through whatever comes along.

Within you are so many answers.

Understand, have courage, be strong.

Don’t put limits on yourself.

So many dreams are waiting to be realized.

Decisions are too important to leave to chance.

Reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.

Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.

Remember that a lot… goes forever.

Remember that friendship is a wise investment.

Life’s treasures are people… together

Realize that it’s never too late.

Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

Have health and hope and happiness.

Take the time to wish upon a star.

And don’t ever forget…

For even a day…

How very special you are…  

Hymn:​C56

Reading

Let us listen to the quotations from the Bible through which the Lord wants to tell Sr….that He loves her and cares for her.

Isaiah 43:4 You are precious in my sight, and have honoured you and loved you.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not; for I am with you: do not be dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; Yes, I will help you. Yes. I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  

Romans 12:12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble and prayerful always.

Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Isaiah 49:1 – 5 See I will not forget you I have carved you on the palm of my hand.

Hymn D 113

Dear Sr…. each day, life offers you a blank page in the book of your existence. Your past is already written and you can’t change that, in its page you can find your history, some pages have soft colours, others darker shades. Beautiful remembrance of happy times.

Today you have the opportunity to write another page. It’s up to you to choose the colours it will have, for even in adversity, you can ass soft pastels of serenity to turn it into a beautiful experience.

It all depends on you will and optimism to transform today’s page in the book of your life into a page that you will treasure as a beautiful remembrance in the future.

St Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis is called the little poor man of Assisi. He was born in the year 1182 in the town of Assisi in Italy. His father's name was Bernadone. Bernadone was a very wealthy merchant of Assisi. Francis was a very good-looking boy. He was merry and soft-hearted. So he had many friends. All the noble men's sons were his companions.

Francis was brought up in luxury and gaiety. He spent a considerable portion of his wealth in extravagant pleasures. He used to drink with the young princes of the land.

One day Francis was joking and laughing with his friends. A beggar came along crying for alms. Francis, who was soft-hearted, gave whatever he had in his pocket to the beggar. His companions mocked at him for his charitable act. Dispassion dawned in his heart. The sight of the beggar set him thinking about the poverty and misery of mundane life. He gave much money to the poor. His father thought that Francis was wasting his money and rebuked him.

Sometime after this, Francis was laid up in bed for many months on account of some serious disease. He was about to die. But the Lord saved him as he had to carry out a definite mission in his life. The nature of Francis was entirely changed. Francis prayed to the Lord for light and guidance as to his future. He had a vision of Lord Jesus. He made a strong determination to renounce his old way of living to tread a life of purity and to dedicate his life to the service of humanity.

As soon as Francis got well, he informed his parents of his determination. They were disappointed. They became angry with Francis. Francis gave up his old ways and habits and set up to serve God. He distributed clothes, goods and money to the poor. His father was very much annoyed towards his son. He said, "Is this the gratitude you show to me ? I laboured hard and amassed wealth. You are lavishly wasting it on these miserable wretches".

Francis' friends mocked at him and teased him. His father turned him out of the house. Francis lived like a beggar. His old friends even pelted him with stones and mud. He bore everything with patience. He wore a coarse dress and ate simple food.

Francis lived in a cave in the mountains of Assisi and spent his time in prayer and meditation for two years. Some kind people gave him food, but very often he had to starve.

Francis called the body 'brother ass'. He kept this brother ass under perfect discipline and control. Sometimes he kept this brother ass without food and water and denied it some special food that it liked very much.

Francis was humble. He loved God's creatures. He loved birds and beasts. He loved the depressed and the outcastes. He treated the birds, the beasts and all beings as brothers and sisters.

Francis went from village to village preaching the love of God. He invited people to join him in his life of service if they were willing. Bernard, a rich man of Assisi, was very much attracted by the saintliness of Francis. He joined Francis. He was the first follower of Francis. He placed all his wealth at the altar of God. Eleven others also joined Francis. They distributed all their wealth to the poor. Francis and his followers went all over Italy preaching, teaching, healing and blessing wherever they went.

The gospel of kindness and love of Francis soon spread all over Europe and earned for him the name of St. Francis. People called him the little poor man of Assisi. He lived for ever in the hearts of all men.

St. Francis collected many followers and founded the Order of Mendicant Friars or Franciscans. The members of this Order have to take a vow of poverty, chastity, love and obedience.

St. Francis gave up his mortal coil in 1228.

The followers of St. Francis built a beautiful church round him on the hill of Assisi, the hill he so dearly loved. The influence of St. Francis and the sweet aroma of the life he lived will last for ever.

Glory to St. Francis, the little poor man of Assisi, but an illustrious saint !

The Prayer of Saint Francis

"O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sorrow, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand; to be loved
as to love; for it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life."

"The simple prayer of St. Francis of Assisi provides for us a mold in which to cast our own life's conduct and character. It provides a blueprint upon which to pattern our living in our thoughts, speech and actions within our day to day relationships with our fellow beings and with all life around us. Therefore, the prayer of St. Francis is a precious document for us, an indispensable, invaluable frame of reference by which to judge our own lives, and referring to which we can do the necessary to bring about the needed alterations and modifications for the upliftment and purification of our own daily life."

Interview of Mother Theresa

Time: What did you do this morning?Mother Teresa: Pray.
Time: When did you start?Mother Teresa: Half-past four
Time: And after prayerMother Teresa: We try to pray through our work by doing it with Jesus, for Jesus, to Jesus. That helps us to put our whole heart and soul into doing it. The dying, the cripple, the mental, the unwanted, the unloved they are Jesus in disguise.
Time: People know you as a sort of religious social worker. Do they understand the spiritual basis of your work?Mother Teresa: I don't know. But I give them a chance to come and touch the poor. Everybody has to experience that. So many young people give up everything to do just that. This is something so completely unbelievable in the world, no? And yet it is wonderful. Our volunteers go back different people.
Time: Does the fact that you are a woman make your message more understandable?Mother Teresa: I never think like that.
Time: But don't you think the world responds better to a mother?Mother Teresa:: People are responding not because of me, but because of what we're doing. Before, people were speaking much about the poor, but now more and more people are speaking to the poor. That's the great difference. The work has created this. The presence of the poor is known now, especially the poorest of the poor, the unwanted, the loved, the uncared-for. Before, nobody bothered about the people in the street. We have picked up from the streets of Calcutta 54,000 people, and 23,000 something have died in that one room [at Kalighat]. 
Time: Why have you been so successful?Mother Teresa: Jesus made Himself the bread of life to give us life. That's where we begin the day, with Mass. And we end the day with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I don't think that I could do this work for even one week if I didn't have four hours of prayer every day.
Time: Humble as you are, it must be an extraordinary thing to be a vehicle of God's grace in the world.Mother Teresa: But it is His work. I think God wants to show His greatness by using nothingness.
Time: You are nothingness?Mother Teresa: I'm very sure of that.
Time: You feel you have no special qualities?Mother Teresa: I don't think so. I don't claim anything of the work. It's His work. I'm like a little pencil in His hand. That's all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used. In human terms, the success of our work should not have happened, no? That is a sign that it's His work, and that He is using others as instruments - all our Sisters. None of us could produce this. Yet see what He has done.
Time: What is God's greatest gift to you?Mother Teresa: The poor people.
Time: How are they a gift?Mother Teresa:I have an opportunity to be with Jesus 24 hours a day.
Time: Here in Calcutta, have you created a real change?Mother Teresa: I think so. People are aware of the presence and also many, many, many Hindu people share with us. They come and feed the people and they serve the people. Now we never see a person lying there in the street dying. It has created a worldwide awareness of the poor. 
Time: Beyond showing the poor to the world, have you conveyed any message about how to work with the poor?Mother Teresa:You must make them feel loved and wanted. They are Jesus for me. I believe in that much more than doing big things for them.
Time: What's your greatest hope here in India?Mother Teresa: To give Jesus to all.
Time: But you do not evangelize in the conventional sense of the term.Mother Teresa: I'm evangelizing by my works of love.
Time: Is that the best way?Mother Teresa: For us, yes. For somebody else, something else. I'm evangelizing the way God wants me to. Jesus said go and preach to all the nations. We are now in so many nations preaching the Gospel by our works of love. "By the love that you have for one another will they know you are my disciples." That's the preaching that we are doing, and I think that is more real.
Time: Friends of yours say that you are disappointed that your work has not brought more conversions in this great Hindu nation.Mother Teresa: Missionaries don't think of that. They only want to proclaim the Word of God. Numbers have nothing to do with it. But the people are putting prayer into action by coming and serving the people. Continually people are coming to feed and serve, so many, you go and see. Everywhere people are helping. We don't know the future. But the door is already open to Christ. There may not be a big conversion like that, but we don't know what is happening in the soul.
Time: What do you think of Hinduism?Mother Teresa: I love all religions, but I am in love with my own. No discussion. That's what we have to prove to them. Seeing what I do, they realize that I am in love with Jesus. 
Time: And they should love Jesus too?Mother Teresa: Naturally, if they want peace, if they want joy, let them find Jesus. If people become better Hindus, better Moslems, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there. They come closer and closer to God. When they come closer, they have to choose.
Time: You and John Paul II, among other Church leaders, have spoken out against certain lifestyles in the West, against materialism and abortion. How alarmed are you?Mother Teresa: I always say one thing: If a mother can kill her own child, then what is left of the West to be destroyed? It is difficult to explain , but it is just that.
Time: When you spoke at Harvard University a few years ago, you said abortion was a great evil and people booed. What did you think when people booed you?Mother Teresa: I offered it to our Lord. It's all for Him, no? I let Him say what He wants.
Time: But these people who booed you would say that they also only want the best for women?Mother Teresa: That may be. But we must tell the truth.
Time: And that is?Mother Teresa: We have no right to kill. Thou shalt not kill, a commandment of God. And still should we kill the helpless one, the little one? You see we get so excited because people are throwing bombs and so many are being killed. For the grown ups, there is so much excitement in the world. But that little one in the womb, not even a sound? He cannot even escape. That child is the poorest of the poor.
Time: Is materialism in the West an equally serious problem?Mother Teresa: I don't know. I have so many things to think about. I pray lots about that, but I am not occupied by that. Take our congregation for example, we have very little, so we have nothing to be preoccupied with. The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not a mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. This is the only fan in the whole house. It doesn't matter how hot it is, and it is for the guests. But we are perfectly happy. 
Time: How do you find rich people then?Mother Teresa: I find the rich much poorer. Sometimes they are more lonely inside. They are never satisfied. They always need something more. I don't say all of them are like that. Everybody is not the same. I find that poverty hard to remove. The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
Time: What is the saddest place you've ever visited?Mother Teresa: I don't know. I can't remember. It's a sad thing to see people suffer., especially the broken family, unloved, uncared for. It's a big sadness; it's always the children who suffer most when there is no love in the family. That's a terrible suffering. Very difficult because you can do nothing. That is the great poverty. You feel helpless. But if you pick up a person dying of hunger, you give him food and it is finished.
Time: Why has your order grown so quickly?Mother Teresa: When I ask young people why they want to join us, they say they want the life of prayer, the life of poverty and the life of service to the poorest of the poor. One very rich girl wrote to me and said for a very long time she had been longing to become a nun. When she met us, she said I won't have to give up anything even if I give up everything. You see, that is the mentality of the young today. We have many vocations.
Time: There's been some criticism of the very severe regimen under which you and your Sisters live.Mother Teresa: We chose that. That is the difference between us and the poor. Because what will bring us closer to our poor people? How can we be truthful to them if we lead a different life? If we have everything possible that money can give, that the world can give, then what is our connection to the poor? What language will I speak to them? Now if the people tell me it is so hot, I can say you come and see my room. 
Time: Just as hot?Mother Teresa: Much hotter even, because there is a kitchen underneath. A man came and stayed here as a cook at the children's home. He was rich before and became very poor. Lost everything. He came and said, "Mother Teresa, I cannot eat that food." I said, "I am eating it every day." He looked at me and said, "You eat it too? All right, I will eat it also." And he left perfectly happy. Now if I could not tell him the truth, that man would have remained bitter. He would never have accepted his poverty. He would never have accepted to have that food when he was used to other kinds of food. That helped him to forgive, to forget.
Time: What's the most joyful place that you have ever visited?Mother Teresa: Kalighat. When the people die in peace, in the love of God, it is a wonderful thing. To see our poor people happy together with their families, these are beautiful things. The real poor know what is joy.
Time: There are people who would say that it's an illusion to think of the poor as joyous, that they must be given housing, raised up.Mother Teresa: The material is not the only thing that gives joy. Something greater than that, the deep sense of peace in the heart. They are content. That is the great difference between rich and poor.
Time: But what about those people who are oppressed? Who are taken advantage of?Mother Teresa: There will always be people like that. That is why we must come and share the joy of loving with them.
Time: Should the Church's role be just to make the poor as joyous in Christ as they can be made?Mother Teresa: You and I, we are the Church, no? We have to share with our people. Suffering today is because people are hoarding, not giving, not sharing. Jesus made it very clear. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me. Give a glass of water, you give it to me. Receive a little child, you receive me. Clear. 
Time: If you speak to a political leader who could do more for his people, do you tell him that he must do better?
Mother Teresa: I don't say it like that. I say share the joy of loving with your people. Because a politician maybe cannot do the feeding as I do. But he should be clear in his mind to give proper rules and proper regulations to help his people.
Time: It is my job to keep politicians honest, and your job to share joy with the poor.Mother Teresa: Exactly. And it is to be for the good of the people and the glory of God. This will be really fruitful. Like a man says to me that you are spoiling the people by giving them fish to eat. You have to give them a rod to catch the fish. And I said my people cannot even stand, still less hold a rod. But I will give them the fish to eat, and when they are strong enough, I will hand them over to you. And you give them the rod to catch the fish. That is a beautiful combination, no?
Time: Feminist Catholic nuns sometimes say that you should pour your energy into getting the Vatican to ordain women.
MoMother Teresa: That does not touch me.
Time: What do you think of the feminist movement among nuns in the West?Mother Teresa: I think we should be more busy with our Lord than with all that, more busy with Jesus and proclaiming His Word. What a woman can give, no man can give. That is why God has created them separately. Nuns, women, any woman. Woman is created to be the heart of the family, the heart of love. If we miss that, we miss everything. They give that love in the family or they give it in service, that is what their creation is for.
Time: The world wants to know more about you.Mother Teresa: No, no. Let them come to know the poor. I want them to love the poor. I want them to try to find the poor in their own families first, to bring peace and joy and love in the family first. 
Time: Malcolm Muggeridge once said that if you had not become a Sister and not found Christ's love, you would be a very hard woman. Do you think that is true?Mother Teresa: I don't know. I have no time to think about these things.
Time: People who work with you say that you are unstoppable. You always get what you want.Mother Teresa: That's right. All for Jesus.
Time: And if they have a problem with that?Mother Teresa: For example, I went to a person recently who would not give me what I needed. I said God bless you, and I went on. He called me back and said what would you say if I give you that thing. I said I will give you a "God bless you" and a big smile. That is all. So he said then come, I will give it to you. We must live the simplicity of the Gospel.
Time: You once met Haile Mariam Mengistu, the much feared communist leader of Ethiopia and an avowed atheist. You asked him if he said his prayers. Why did you risk that?Mother Teresa: He is one more child of God. When I went to China, one of the top officials asked me, "What is a communist to you?" I said, "A child of God." Then the next morning the newspapers reported that Mother Teresa said communists are children of God. I was happy because after a long, long time the name God was printed in the papers in China. Beautiful.
Time: Are you ever been afraid?Mother Teresa: No, I am only afraid of offending God. We are all human beings, that is our weakness, no? The devil would do anything to destroy us, to take us away from Jesus.
Time: Where do you see the devil at work?Mother Teresa: Everywhere. When a person is longing to come closer to God he puts temptation in the way to destroy the desire. Sin comes everywhere, in the best of places.
Time: What is your greatest fear?Mother Teresa: I have Jesus, I have no fear.
Time: What is your greatest disappointment?Mother Teresa: I do the will of God, no? In doing the will of God there is no disappointment.
Time: Do your work and spiritual life become easier with time?Mother Teresa: Yes, the closer we come to Jesus, the more we become the work. Because you know to whom you are doing it, with whom you are doing it and for whom you are doing it. That is very clear. That is why we need a clean heart to see God.
Time: What are your plans for the future?Mother Teresa: I just take one day. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not come. We have only today to love Jesus.
Time: And the future of the order?Mother Teresa: It is His concern.

(Edward W. Desmond in 1989 for Time magazine

Are we losing the spirit of Mother Theresa

With the birth centenary of Mother Teresa approaching ,  a political argument over the possession of her body has begun. The question is whether her remains should be with India, her place of choice, or Albania, her place of origin .

Since 1950, for nearly 45 years, Mother Teresa served the poor, the sick, orphans and the dying though her Missionaries of Charity. A work-famous Indian ambassador, her work spread across from Kolkata to many countries, garnering her much praise as well as some criticism.

Various organisation and individuals objected to her belief in the spiritual goodness of poverty, a strong stance on abortion, and alleged baptism of the dying. It was also said that her work must meet the standards set by the Human Rights Commission before it could be worthy of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mother Teresa's work has been widely recognised and appreciated, and she has been the

recipient of several awards of international acclaim, the Nobel Peace Prize; the Magsaysay award; the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize; the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in India; and the Nehru peace prize, to name a few.  

She was also awarded honorary citizenship by the US, and was beatified by the pope on her death and given the title of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Beatification if a step in the process of attaining sainthood, of the pope, the supreme authority of the Catholic Church, allowing public veneration or worship of a person as a saint.

There has been much public debate about whether Mother Teresa or Lady Diana should be beatified, since if we speak about outstanding women who determined the character of humankind in the past century, the names of these two remarkable women crop up. They even died almost at the same time, within a span of six days. One died tragically in a car crash, the other followed her peacefully.

Mother Teresa's life, work and death have been in public gaze. Now, her birth centenary is raising a fresh wave of debate with Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha asking for her remains to be repatriated to Albania before the 100th anniversary of her birth. There is a further complication, that Macedonia may also be a claimant. Born to Albanian parents, Mother Teresa's place of birth is Skopje, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, but is now the capital of Macedonia. From the age of 18, when she joined the community of Irish Nuns, she had chosen to teach and work in India.

The Indian government's stand is quite clear: "Mother Teresa is an Indian citizen and is resting in her own country." As Mother Teresa once said, "By blood I am Albanian, by citizenship an Indian, by faith I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world."

Despite the controversy building up over claims on the remains of this gentle saint, as Indians all of us say, she came to India by choice, she chose India as her karmabhoomi, it is her work in India that attained her beatification, she died on Indian soil, it is only rightful that in respect to her memory that her remains should be allowed to remain here.

Just a little smile

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden. As they walked Mark discovered the boy's name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history, and that he was having lots of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from junior high school. They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long awaited senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mother's sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life."

“A simple help done is a life saver for the other one. So do help a needy...Its costs nothing.”

BIRTHDAY PRAYER 3

Invitatory: The Lord has been infinitely good to us and brought us to the dawn of this day. Let us offer our praises to him as we listen to the invitatory psalm.

(Music from cassette)

Introduction

It is always appropriate to give thanks to God, but especially so on the occasion of a birthday. The birthday celebration provides an opportunity for acknowledging and giving thanks to God as the author and giver of life.

Each year as we celebrate another birthday we recall the gift of life which we have received from God. This day we give thanks for our parents and all those who have loved, nourished, and taught us of God’s Love.

Each child that is born is a gift from God who created every person in His own image and likeness breathing His own life into us. Thus, we share God’s own life. Everyone is born for a purpose. God has a plan for each one of us and every one of us to play a definite role in His plan of love. This morning is a joyful one because it has a message to give and recall the mystery of life that came into this world. We thank our gracious Father in a very special way for Sr…. who celebrates her birthday today.

HYMN : (Can be any hymn or from Cassette)

Thanksgiving for the gift of life (Can be prayed by birthday Sister)      

Blessed be the name of God Almighty who has created life for his pleasure and glory. Blessed be God who formed me in the womb and knew me before I came into being. Blessed be the great gift of life which I enjoy thanks to the care of my parents who brought me up by God's will.

Lord my God, author and preserver of life: I thank you for allowing me to exist, I thank you for having created me out of nothing and for making me a unique being, full of gifts that reflect your image. I am sorry Lord that I have not lived according to your desires but according to my weak sinful nature. I repent of my past life and I consecrate to you my life anew to thrive in your Presence and in the designs of your Holy Will.

Thank you Lord for the world, this wonderful stage of life which you present to us daily.

I thank you Lord for the lives of all my brothers and sisters both alive and dead. They will be my company in eternity before the vision of your Glory. Thank you Lord for the gift of innocent life which has been wasted because of our negligence, please forgive us Lord for our sins.

Thank Lord you for all the elements that accompany us and permit our existence. Thank you Lord for the air that we breath, for the blood that runs through our veins, thank you Lord for the gift of time and space. Thank you for the wonderful universe that is beyond our comprehension, for the stars, the planets and the constellations.

Thank you for our intelligence, for the gifts that you have bestowed upon every one of us. Thank you Lord because you call us your children even though we do not deserve that title.

Thank you Lord because " I am who I am because You are who you are ".

Prayer of Faithful (spontaneous by Srs.)

Final Prayer

Today we want to thank you, Lord

For your love, mercy, and kindness which sustained our life on earth. He supplies our Physical, Spiritual, and financial needs (Phil 4:19,20)

For your great faithfulness, even though we are faithless sometimes (2 Tim 2:13)

For protecting us from our enemies. For being our refuge (Psalm: 9:9)

For preventing us from killing our enemies due to our anger. (1Samuel 25:33,34)

For making your strength available to us in our suffering times which You turned into growing time.

For giving us good Congregation, Church, church fathers, parents and friends.

You forgave our sins, healed our diseases, redeemed us from death, crowned us with love and compassion, satisfied our desires, and gave righteousness and justice (Ps 103: 1-5)

You  owned us in our trouble. You are with us by the influence of your Holy Spirit both on minds giving comforts and on the minds of those concerned with, giving us favor in their eyes.

You gave us satisfaction in Jesus.

You raised us out of nothing to abundance.

Bless us and help us Lord to live our Lives for you and Bless Sr. … and keep her under your loving protection, we make this prayer …

SAINT FRANCIS AND THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CRÈCHE

As a young man, Francis of Assisi loved material  things, especially beautiful clothes from the shop of  is wealthy merchant father.  One biographer describes the handsome, young, fun loving Francis as “the very king of frolic.” That Changed at the age of about 20, after he went to fight in a skirmish with a rival city. He was taken prisoner, held for over a year, and came home very weak from a serious illness. 
At some point during his ordeal, Francis realized that there must be more to life than shallow pleasures, And he came to the conclusion that real satisfaction was to be found in loving God and doing what God wanted him to do—love others.  
He was disowned by his father for giving away family  wealth , surrendered whatever other worldly goods And privileges he had, and wandered the country-side, improvising hymns of praise as he went.  
Others, drawn by his sincerity, zeal, and joy, joined F in his vow of poverty—the beginnings of The Franciscan Order. Francis loved people, from the rich and powerful in their palaces to the beggars in the streets. He also loved animals and is said to have been able to communicate with them. 
He also is said to have tamed a fierce wolf that terrified the villagers of Gubbio, Italy, and he petitioned the emperor to pass a law that all birds and beasts,  as well as the poor, be given extra food at Christmas “so that all might have occasion to rejoice in the Lord.” 
Francis  was always looking for new ways to make God's truths easily understandable to others.  P
PAt Christmastime 1223, while visiting the town of       PG
recio, Italy, he had the idea of showing people what PJ
esus’ birthplace must have been like.  He found a Pm
ountain cave near the village and fashioned it into Pa
 rough stable.  P 
PS
t. Bonaventure (d. 1274), in his Life of St. Francis of tA
ssisi, gave this account of what followed: “Then he Pp
repared a manger and brought hay and an ox and Pa
n ass to the place appointed. The brethren were Ps
ummoned, the people ran together, the forest re-Ps
ounded with their voices, and that venerable night Pw
as made glorious by many brilliant lights and sono-Pr
ous psalms of praise.  P 
PT
he man of God [St. Francis] stood before the man-Pg
er, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and Pr
adiant with joy. P 
PT
hen he preached to the people around the Nativity Po
f the poor King; and being unable to utter His name Pf
or the tenderness of His love, he called Him the PB
abe of Bethlehem.” P 
PS
aint Francis is also considered the “father of the PC
hristmas carol” for having been the first to include Pc
arols in Christmas worship services. As a boy, PF
rancis had perhaps learned more in the school of Pt
he troubadours—itinerant composers and perform-Pe
rs of songs—than from the priests of St. George’s Pa
t Assisi, where his father had sent him for an edu-Pc
ation. It’s not surprising, then, that joyous music Pb
ecame one of Francis’s favorite forms of worship.  P 
PT
hat joy was contagious, and still is. P