Litany for Blessing of the Animals, Outdoor Worship on September 27, 2020
Prelude
Welcome
Invocation and Prayer:
P: The joy of Jesus Christ, the compassion of God, and the creative power of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Let us pray.
Source and sustainer of life, we cherish the myriad works of your hands. Water, earth, and sky are yours, as are all their inhabitants, wild and tame. We thank you for creatures that nourish and serve, befriend, enrich, entertain, and protect. May we, who are made in your image, care for all your creatures well. And may your groaning yet wondrous creation rally and thrive, revealing to all who come after us your wise, transforming love; through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Litany of Longing and Repentance
P: In the beginning, the Spirit over the deep; new life daily unfolding at God’s call. Darkness and light: Good. Skies, lands, and seas: Good. The earth and all that fills it---plants and rocks, the finned, the feathered, the furry: Good. At the last, humankind in God’s image: Very Good.
Yet we have failed to draw from that goodness in care for God’s creation.
C: Forgive us, God, for the ways we have exploited the earth and its creatures.
P: We have misunderstood our calling to be protectors of God’s creation.
C: Forgive us, God, for the ways we have exploited the earth and its creatures.
P: We long for new relationships with God’s creation that has been entrusted to us.
C: Help us, God, to make a new community with all that lives alongside us.
P: May the merciful God who calls us to tend the earth and all its creatures, deepen our knowledge of creation’s interweaving, so that our lives are shaped in wholeness and peace with all living things; in Jesus’s name. Amen.
Solo, “God of the Sparrow”
Scripture: Genesis 1:1, 20–28 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so.
God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them care for the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the cattle, and all the wild animals of the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God created them; male and female God created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and care for it; and be a good steward with all living creatures, the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every living thing that moves upon the earth
Reflections on Creation
Solo, “Make Me A Channel of Your Peace”
Blessings of the Animals
All who have brought pets (or a picture or a toy, in the case of animals who would not find it a blessing to be present OR if you have a stuffed animal) are invited forward for a prayer of blessing.
Holy God, we thank you for the gift of _____________ . Through this animal you have brought many blessings. Today we pause to name our gratitude and to pray a blessing upon_________. For the companionship of our pets, we say thanks. Bless this animal’s life in our care; may he/she/it know love through all his/her/its days. Amen.
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 Thine is the kingdom, And the power, and the glory. Forever, and ever. Amen.
Announcements
Blessing as you go on your way….
Gracious and loving God, you place all living things into the care of humankind. We pray that companionship with household pets will deepen our care for animals everywhere. Help us to balance our needs with theirs, and lead us in ways of life together that will be sustainable for all. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Solo