Hymn
Option I. Make Me a Channel of Your Peace (Gather 828)
Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord, And where there is doubt true faith in You.
Make me a channel of your peace. Where there’s despair in life let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light, And where there’s sadness, ever joy.
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving of ourselves that we receive, and in dying that we’re born to eternal life.
Option II. The Servant Song (Gather 751)
- Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too. - We are pilgrims on a journey, we are trav’lers on the road.
We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load. - I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear. - I will weep when you are weeping, when you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen this journey through. - When we sing to God in heaven, we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony. - Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I might have the grace to let you be my servant, too.
Prayer
Leader:
Leader:
All:
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Let us pray as one:
Good and Gracious God,
We come before you as the community of St. Margaret of Scotland,
gathered today to pray a Novena for clarity of mind and heart
during this search for new school leadership.
We ask you, O God, for support and strength,
direction and guidance,
joy and peace
as we seek to be people
who serve the needs of others and confront the problems of our society.
Lead us the way we need to go, as our story unfolds before us.
We make this prayer, filled with hope,
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Reading
The experience of Christian community leads naturally to service. Christ gives his people different gifts not only for themselves, but for others. Each must serve the other for the good of all. The Church is a servant community …so that [people] may more fully realize their human potential and more readily enjoy life with God now and eternally.
But the Christian community should not be concerned only for itself. Christ did not intend it to live walled off from the world any more than He intended each person to work out [his or her] destiny in isolation from others. Fidelity to the will of Christ joins his community with the total human community. “Thus the mission of the Church will show its religious, and by that very fact, its supremely human character.” (The Church Today, 11) No human joy, no human sorrow is a matter of indifference to the community established by Jesus. [T]his requires that … [we] be involved in seeking solutions to a host of complex problems, such as war, poverty, racism, and environmental pollution, which undermine community within and among nations. Christians render such service by prayer and worship and also by direct participation in the cause of social reform.
It is imperative that the Church render the service of educational ministry today. Many institutions in society possess much larger material resources and thus can do far more to meet [people’s] material needs. None, however, has the unique resources of vision and values entrusted to His community by Jesus Christ. To suppose that the Church’s mission of service is somehow less urgent in today’s world than in the past is to fail to recognize [the] enduring spiritual need [of humankind] and the unique capacity for meeting that need possessed by the Christian community.
From “To Teach as Jesus Did: A Pastoral Message on Catholic Education“
Response
Leader:
All:
Leader:
All:
Leader:
All:
At dawn, fill us with your merciful love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let your deed be seen by your servants,
and your glorious power by their children.
Let the favor of the LORD our God be upon us;
Give success to the work of our hands.
O give success to the work of our hands.
Word of God
During supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
[Jesus] rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.…(W)hen he had washed their feet (and) put his garments back on
from John 13
and reclined at table again, he said to them,
“Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you,
you should also do.”
Questions for Reflection
After leader reads questions aloud, all pause to reflect during one minute of silence.
- How does St. Margaret’s community challenge each of us to take on Christ-like service for the “total human community”? How might this translate for the qualities of the new school leadership we seek?
- How does the St. Margaret community consider the needs of the children of God? What characteristics should we foster in ourselves to help us meet those needs?
Petitions
Leader: Christ hears and saves all who hope in him. Let us bring him our needs.
That our school may follow the path of Christ with acts of service to those who have needs, we pray…
R. Lord, hear our prayer.
That our children will continue to develop a desire to worship God with their hearts, minds and with their deeds so that others may be strengthened through their service, we pray… R.
That our community will follow the example and the command of Jesus, humbly embracing the tasks of service in the world, to become a transformative presence in our neighborhood, we pray… R.
For what else shall we pray?
Individuals may offer intentions.
Prayer of Saint Margaret of Scotland
Leader: Let us recall our mission as together we pray:
Loving God,
You call your people to holiness and create among them models of kindness.
We thank you for the life of St. Margaret of Scotland:
a woman of leadership and hope in a confusing world;
a wife and mother excelling in patience, dedication and love;
a teacher supported and inspired by a life of learning;
a generous friend and a loyal servant to the poor and helpless;
a model of Christian faith and constant prayerfulness.
As we build our faith, help us to grow rich in the values of St. Margaret:
That faith, hope and love might inspire
our presence in the city and neighborhood,
our relationships with family and friends,
our concern for the education of the young,
our care for the poor and the weak,
our community’s prayer in word and sacrament.
Bless our parish and our school;
Let it be for us a community of love and sharing,
and a source of life and grace;
Let it be a witness to our neighbors
of your life, your presence and your love.
Through Christ, Our Lord,
Amen.
Optional, following Novena:
Share your reflections from above questions, focused on the mission value of the day.
- Index cards available at the shared novena, or
- Email PraySMOS@gmail.com
- Comments received may be shared with the community and those who search for our new staff members.