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Sou ☆ ☆ * ob « Diocese of, Savannah mm ☆ hern (jtoss iui|4U lilW Jfc 3000[ Contents Headline Hopscotch 2 News 3 Commentary. : 4-5 Around the Diocese 6-7 Faith Alive! 8-9 Notices 10-11 Last But Not Least 12 Vol. 80, No. 6 $.50 per issue Thursday, February 10, 2000 A prayer service for a sacred place in the home D uring this Jubilee Year, the Diocese of Savannah is encourag ing every family in the diocese to set aside a sacred space in the home, a place of prayer and meditation. The diocese recommends that this space be created by placing in it a Jubilee candle, a cross or crucifix, a Bible, a bowl of Holy Water, a sacred image (picture or statue) and growing plants to remind us of our growing life in Christ. Each family was asked to select a candle to bring to Mass for it to be blessed on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas), February 2. It was also recommended that the family Jubilee candles be decorated with a decal of the diocesan millennium logo. These decals are still available from the Communications Office (912-238- 2320). The following prayer service for creating a sacred space in the home is reprinted courtesy the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmac- noise, Ireland. Candles await blessing on the Feast of the Presentation. INTRODUCTION e have gathered here today in this family to mark a sacred space in our home. This space will remind us and all who enter our home that life is sacred, because where there is life, there is God. As parents of this family (or the youngest member of this family) we (or I) will now lead you to our sacred space. OPENING PRAYER ver living God and Father of us all, we gather here today to mark this sacred space. You are God without beginning or end, from whom we come and to whom we go. May our sacred space hold this truth for us, and may it be a sign that Jesus Christ is Lord of the family. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen. THE BLESSING ith this Holy Water I bless this sacred space. I bless the floor beneath it. May it support all who pass this way. I bless the roof above. May it keep this family safe from the storms of life. I bless the walls surrounding this space. May they give comfort and protection to the peo ple inside. I bless the air in this sacred space. May it bring health and long life to all who live here. And may the blessing of Almighty God descend on this sacred space and on all of us gathered here today, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. MARKING THE SACRED SPACE [Any number of the following symbols may mark the Sacred Space] ith this lighted candle I mark this space as sacred. It will be sacred in our lives, in our relationships. I place this lighted candle in the center of this space. May it burn brightly to remind us that Christ is the Light of our lives. With the cross I mark this space as sacred. This is the Cross of Hope and New Life. Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. I pray today that the Sign of the Cross will be ever in our lives to comfort and to heal us, to strengthen and to guide us. With this evergreen plant I mark this sacred space. Lord, we know that your love is unconditional and that your mercy is from age to age. This evergreen will remind us that “I am who am” is ever with his people and that you love us with an everlasting love. With this Bible I mark this sacred space. Your Word, O Lord, is a lamp for our path. It is food for our journey. When your Word is heard you are there. May the Word of God be ever spoken in this fami ly; may it ever be loved in this home. With this picture (or statue) I mark this sacred space. This image recalls for us your abiding presence in this world, in our home. I now place this picture (or statue) in this sacred space. It will be a sign to this family and to our extended family of neighbors and friends that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of history. WORD OF GOD (Exodus 3:1-5) ne day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him as a flame coming up in the middle of the bush. Moses saw the bush was on fire but it was not burning up. “This is strange,” he thought. “Why isn’t the bush burning up? I will go closer and see.” When the Lord saw that Moses was coming closer, he called him from the middle of the bush and said, “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Yes, here I am.” God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” [Note: The person who reads the Scripture could remove his / her shoes] REFLECTIONS od is here. I take off my shoes. I see him in the pots and pans, in the shapes and surfaces, in the colors of light and in the weight of darkness. I see him making things out of nothing and filling space with emotion and stillness with movement and possibility. I see him in the deepest breath, and in the beating hearts he is penetrating time. I take off my shoes. I hear him in the breaking of (Continued on page 11)