Call to Prayer
Leader
All
God of the past who has fathered and mothered us
We are here to thank you
Leader
All
God of the future who is always ahead of us
We are here to trust you
Leader
All
God of the present here in the midst of us
We are here to praise you
Leader
All
God of life beyond us within us
We rejoice in your glorious love
Leader
We gather this evening in your name to do your work. May we
come to know one another through the sharing of ourselves, our
faith and the ministry we have been called to.
Be with us God of our sacred story as we share some of
our journey with one another.
All
Opening Song
The Story We Share
© Peter Kearney, Crossover Music (Willow Collection 1992) Used with
permission WOLI Licence no:2190
It’s a story that’s older than you or me, deep as a well in the desert you see;
A journey begun in the far off time when Abraham believed the sign God gave.
And the story is mine, the story is ours.
If we open our ears, we can hear.
A story that grows with the passing of years; made of our laughter, struggle and fears.
The story we share, the journey to there is happening here.
The story we share, the journey to there.
It’s a story the children and the grandmother share; a myst’ry to ponder, a journey to make if we
dare, a story to help us grow tall.
A tale of love, the story of us all.
It’s the story of dying and rising again;
friendship found in the wine and the bread.
‘Round a fire that glows at the end of the day we share the news and sing the blues away.
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus, you told great stories
They helped people make sense of their lives
They revealed God in ordinary things
They encouraged and changed people
All
Make us more ready to share our stories
Give us words where we are tongue-tied
Confidence to know our stories matter
Tact to know the right place to tell them.
Also, most importantly, make us ready to listen.
We ask this in your name, Amen.
Teresa’s Story
We are a commission formed to promote women’s participation in the church in
the diocese of Wollongong. It is appropriate then that we listen to the story of a
woman who is celebrated because she responded to her baptismal call by living a
religious life and is venerated because of her outstanding contribution to
theology and spirituality.
St. Teresa of Avila was one of three women Doctors of the Church and her feast
day is celebrated on October 15th. She was born into a wealthy Spanish family
and entered the religious life early in her life. Teresa was a woman of prayer and
through her prayer life she discerned that she was called to reform the
Carmelites. Her ministry was characterised by her practical down to earth
approach to spirituality and her book, The Interior Castle is considered one of the
great religious classics on prayer and spirituality. Teresa was a great woman of
faith and we can learn much from her story.
Sharing Our Stories
The human person is swimming in a sea of stories as a fish inhabits water,
breathing them in and out, buoyed up by them, taking sustenance from them,
but rarely conscious of this element in which we exist. We are born into stories,
they nurture and sustain us throughout our life. Our world is stories. No one
individual is beginning from scratch when we begin the journey of life; rather,
each one of surfaces in the waters of experience where countless generations
before us have been creating a story-shaped world.
Each person is invited to share some of their sacred story…
Prayer Response
Leader
Grateful for the giftedness and uniqueness of each other, let us
turn to our God, the eternal storyteller and ask for our needs.
Reader
That we may accept the challenge of the Gospel as a way of life
with the values of Jesus Christ. Lord hear us
Lord hear our prayer
All
Reader
All
That our faith and hope may be strengthened as we worship
God who sets no limits to God’s mercy. Lord hear us
Lord hear our prayer
Reader
That we may recognise the needs of those around us and bring
them hope and empowerment. Lord hear us
All
Lord hear our prayer
Reader
That we may learn to listen to and appreciate the sacredness of
the stories of all members of the Body of Christ. Lord hear us
Lord hear our prayer
All
Leader
Loving God, hear the prayers of your children. Help us to be
faithful followers and guide us in our lives as we continue to
create sacred stories. We ask this through Christ our Lord,
Amen.
Concluding Prayer
Leader
All
May the peace and glory of God which is beyond all
understanding keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and
love of God.
Bless and strengthen us
Let your face shine upon us and bring us peace
Amen
Concluding Song The Story We Share
It’s the story that’s woven strand by strand; the weaving of lives and the linking of hands;
no need to be lonely, the story we share is drawing us, calling us to care.
And the story is mine, the story is ours.
If we open our ears, we can hear.
A story that grows with the passing of years; made of our laughter, struggle and fears.
The story we share, the journey to there is happening here.
The story we share, the journey to there.
It’s the story of God, concerned for the small, providing the earth as a mother for all;
Giving pow’r to build up and power to burn.
“Where to now?” is surely our concern.
Prayer for Meeting of Wollongong Diocesan Commission
for Australian Catholic Women
Friday 17th October, 2003