tenderly

Prayer in the Spirit of Taizé Tuesday, July 14, 2020, 7:00 p.m.

C H U R C H O F T H E I M M A C U L A T E C O N C E P T I O N

S A I N T M A R Y - O F - T H E - W O O D S , I N D I A N A

Because of copyright considerations

the readings in this program are for personal use only

and may not be distributed.

Act TENDERLY

Love HUMBLY

Walk JUSTLY

MICAH 6:8

NO MATTER WHAT A lot of us grew up believing at any moment we could lose it all, and at the drop of a hat God might turn from us and move on. A lot of us feel like we blew it, thinking that we're just too far gone, but I want you to know there's still a hope for you now. No matter what you've done, you can't erase God’s love. Nothing can change it—you're not separated. No matter what, there's never been a better time to get honest; there's never been a better time to get clean, so come as you are, run to the cross and be free. No matter what you've done, you can't erase God’s love. Nothing can change it—you're not separated. No matter where you run, God’s always holding on. You're still a daughter, you're still a son, no matter what.

~ Ryan Stevenson

Prayer in the spirit of the Taizé Community is a meditative form of common prayer.

Gathered in the presence of God, we sing uncomplicated, repetitive songs, uncluttered by too many words, allowing the mystery of God to become tangible through the beauty of simplicity.

A few words sung over and over reinforce the meditative quality of prayer. They express a basic reality of faith that can quickly be grasped by the intellect

and that gradually penetrates the whole being.

WELCOME AND CALL TO PRAYER SONG Within Our Darkest Night Berthier

Music and text: Jacques Berthier. Copyright © 1980, Ateliers et Presses de Taizé (France). Used with permission of GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive US agent. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A-702950.

A READING FROM THE WORDS OF MARK NEPO More Than Our Mistakes

Try as we will, we cannot escape the making of mistakes. No one is exempt.

A pipe falls on a dancer’s leg and the dancer must reinvent herself, while the worker who dropped it is driven to volunteer with crippled veterans. A dear friend discovers small bulbous tubers and his tulips begin to speak, and when he dies, his nurse becomes a garden. Things come apart and join sometimes faster than we can cope. But as we evolve in spite of our limitations, and though we break and make mistakes, we are always mysteriously more than what is broken. Indeed, we somehow grow from the soil of our mistakes. And often in the process, the things we refuse to let go of are somehow forced from our grip.

I have been broken and have failed so many times that my sense of identity has sprouted and peeled like an onion. But because of this, I have lived more than my share of lives and feel both young and old at once, with a sudden heart that cries just to meet the air. Now, on the other side of all I’ve suffered so far, everything, from the quick song of birds to the peace trapped inside a fresh brook’s gurgle, is rare and uncertain. Now I want to stand naked before every wind; and though I’m still frightened I will break, I somehow know it’s all a part – even the fright – of the rhythm of being alive.

SONG As the Deer Longs Hurd

Text and Music: Bob Hurd; arr. by Craig S. Kingsbury. Copyright © 1988, Bob Hurd.

Published by OCP Publications. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A-702950.

PSALM 107

What a blessing was that stillness as God brought them safely into harbor! Let them praise the Most High for great love and for the wonderful things God has done for them. Let them exalt the Most High publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation. Give thanks to God, whose steadfast love endures forever. God changes rivers into deserts and springs of water into dry, thirsty land. God turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there. But God also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of water. God brings the hungry to settle there and to build their cities. Give thanks to God, whose steadfast love endures forever. They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest their bumper crops. How God blesses them! They raise large families there, and their herds of livestock increase. When they decrease in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, the Most High pours contempt on their princes, causing them to wander in trackless wastelands. Give thanks to God, whose steadfast love endures forever. But God rescues the poor from trouble and increases their families like flocks of sheep. The godly will see these things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent. Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Most High God.

Give thanks to God, whose steadfast love endures forever.

SONG Nothing Can Trouble Berthier

Music and text: Jacques Berthier. Copyright © 1980, Ateliers et Presses de Taize (France). Used with permission of GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive US agent. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A-702950.

A READING FROM THE WORDS OF PAMELA CRIM

Hurt people hurt people.

Don't you see that in your life? The person in your world who is hurting you is simply hurting, and they don’t know what to do with that hurt, so they pour it out on you. We’re all just a bunch of hurt people hurting people. But let the cycle stop with you. Be kinder than necessary. See their hurt and be sympathetic. Don’t pour that hurt onto someone else.

Hurt people hurt people. Yes, it’s true. But loved people also love people. We are loved people. God’s love has covered us and heals us, now we can go into the world and give that love.

Forgiven people forgive people. Let the forgiveness God has freely given us create a tenderness within us towards others. Today, if you have faith in God, then have faith in daughters and sons of God too.

Let us not get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. Get out of the way and get behind them! Be their champion today and call out the best in them. I believe that’s exactly what God wants us to do.

SONG Bless the Lord Berthier

Music and text: Jacques Berthier. Copyright © 1980, Ateliers et Presses de Taizé (France).

Used with permission of GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive US agent. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A-702950.

SILENCE (10 minutes) PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION

For those struggling to see beyond their past, extending the same grace to themselves that they would to those they love, we pray… God of mercy, hear our prayer.

For those who have been hurt and are now hurting others as a defense mechanism, may their wounds be healed so they can help heal others, we pray… God of mercy, hear our prayer.

For those striving to be cheerleaders for those around them, may their encouragement be louder than any doubts and their support be steadfast through the storm, we pray…

God of mercy, hear our prayer.

For those feeling forgotten and unseen, may they be reminded that they are not erased or separated from God’s love, we pray… God of mercy, hear our prayer.

For those looking to see into the shadows of themselves that they might discover new truths and a deeper appreciation for the great masterpiece they are. God of mercy, hear our prayer.

LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER Joyce Rupp

Guide and Companion of my life, take me to the hidden places of my shadow where both wanted and unwanted qualities dwell. Grant me courage to face my inner enemies. Help me to learn from them. Fill me with light to see the undeveloped aspects within me that long to be lived. May I accept any goodness that I have heretofore refused to believe is a part of myself. Fill me with love for who I am. Amen.

RITUAL OF LIGHT My Peace Berthier

Music and text: Jacques Berthier. Copyright © 1980, Ateliers et Presses de Taizé (France).

Used with permission of GIA Publications, Inc., exclusive US agent. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A-702950.

MYRIAD FLOWERS IN THE FIELD OF SKY Nothing gives as much joy as the sky which is like a pure transparent veil, like a meadow with a thousand flowers—the stars, like a crown for our heads. Nothing is as delightful as the rising of the sun when the night is fleeing away. Its rays are not yet scorching hot. The sky is turning red. In a moment its light reaches the earth, the sea, the mountains, the valleys, the hills, the whole sky, removing from nature the cloak of darkness and revealing it naked to our eyes. Nothing rouses more admiration than the course of the sun, the regularity of its route, the service it never denies us, its beauty, its brightness, its splendor, its purity. And its usefulness is beyond description. Just think what the sun does for seeds, for plants, for the human race, for animals, for the earth, for the sea, for the air, for everything that exists!

~ Saint John Chrysostom

Special Thanks

Thank you to the Taizé community in France who graciously responded to our request to use their recorded music and lyrics due to the special circumstances of the global pandemic.

The email indicated that they are receiving such requests from around the world.

Information about Taizé

For information visit Taize.SistersofProvidence.org You are invited to join our Taize Facebook group (Taize Prayer Service, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods)

For additional information about Taizé visit www.taize.fr/en. Recordings, books, music and videos from Taizé are available through GIA Publications at

www.giamusic.com

Join us for Taizé Prayer

throughout 2020!

THE MICAH MANDATE

Second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.

August 11 September 8 October 13 November 10 December 8