 February/March
2003
A Lectionary-Based Prayer in Ten
Minutes
If I am asked to prepare prayer for a
meeting or gathering, I often use the Sunday Readings as my guide. Fellow
ministers enjoy reflecting upon the readings ahead of
time, and these are great occasions for faith-sharing. Using online
resources, I can pull together a simple celebration in very few minutes.
Here are the steps that I take:
1. Cut and Paste the Readings...
My favorite place to get the readings is from the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops web site:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/index.htm
Once I go to the day or weekend that I want, I decide which reading or
readings I will use. Often I choose just the Gospel, or a portion of the
Gospel. Sometimes I will also include the Responsorial Psalm.
I select the text in my web
browser, and then click Edit, Copy. I then open a new Microsoft Word document.
Instead of clicking Edit, Paste, I often choose Paste Special instead, and
select either formatted (RTF) or unformatted text. I have found that a
simple cut-and-paste puts HTML code in the document, and this sometimes
messes up the formatting.
For this type of use in a
prayer service, the USCCB requests that you paste an acknowledgement after
the passage, or at the bottom of the page. See:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/permissions.htm#lectionary
2. Find reflection material....
Depending upon the meeting, and how much time we have
for prayer, I like to add some material for personal reflection to the
prayer. There are a number of places to get this material. Some of the
sites I regularly visit offer material for various age levels or groups:
www.cyberfaith.com - This site
has a "Proclaiming Faith" feature that offers reflections upon the Sunday
and Holy day scriptures geared towards young people. I have adapted some
of the reflection questions for use with adults as well.
www.disciplesnow.com/celebrate/index.cfm - Disciples Now offers
reflections upon the Sunday readings geared towards youth, in
collaboration with St. Mary's Press.
www.faithfirst.com/html/catechist/lectionary/lectionary.asp - This
site offers lectionary-based reflection for primary through junior-high
ages, plus reflection for adults. FaithFirst.com also offers an excellent
"Gospel Reflections" page for families that works well for this
purpose.
http://v2000.org - This site
is "Vision 2000", offering short reflections and questions for the
scriptures - perfect for adult gatherings.
Again, it is quite simple to
cut and past elements in here.
3. Add a Closing Prayer...
The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis
University (http://liturgy.slu.edu)
offers prayers connected to each of the Sunday readings, plus General
Intercessions. These would work well for a closing prayer to be recited by
all. Another resource for a closing prayer, or even the entire prayer, is
the Diocese of Saskatoon's Small Christian Communities site:
http://www.rcdiocesesktn.sk.ca/smallcc.html
4. ...a Graphic....
My very favorite site for religious graphics online is the Hermanolean
Clip Art site:
http://www.sijcomputers.com/cruzblanca/hermanoleon/index.htm
This site offers numerous color and black and white images on various
religious themes, as well as a weekly graphic for the upcoming Sunday.
Click on the graphic you wish to use, and then, with it showing full
screen, right click on it and select Save Picture As. Place the graphic in
a folder on your computer, and it is ready to be inserted into your
prayer.
...and Voila!
In just a few minutes, you have designed a prayer
celebration that will give your participants the chance to reflect upon
and pray the Sunday Scriptures.
Click here to see a sample,
in Adobe Acrobat format,
that I devised on the spot as I wrote this column.
[Need the
free Adobe Acrobat Reader? Click here]
Chris Weber
Director,
Catholic Education Ministries of Central Maryland
301-447-3707
Copyright © 2003 by the Catholic Education
Ministries Center of Central Maryland, Emmitsburg, MD 21727. All rights reserved.
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