Celebrating Our Internationality*
Chichi to ko to seirei no mina ni yotte, Amen.
(Sign of the Cross in Japanese)
Opening hymn: CHRISTE LUX MUNDI* or another suitable song
Christe lux mundi qui sequitur te, habebit lumen vitae, lumen vitae.
Christ, light of the world, whoever follows you will have the light of life.
Leader: At this year’s celebration of our internationality, we are invited by our 2021-2026 Orientation to expand our hearts still further in order to “intentionally live and deepen interculturality and intergenerationality.“ In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis shares this commitment: “It is my desire that, in this our time, by acknowledging the dignity of each human person, we can contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity (kinship). Kinship between all men and women.”
Reader 1: A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 2: 2-5)
The word that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
The word of the Lord.
All: Nous rendons grâce à Dieu. Te alabamos, Señor.
Leader: This vision of the prophet and the pope is echoed in a contemporary music piece, “Sing Gently.” *
May we sing together, always; may our voice be soft
May our singing be music for others, and may it keep others aloft
Sing, sing gently, always; sing, sing as one.
May we stand together, always; may our voice be strong.
May we hear the singing, and may we always sing along.
Sing, sing gently, always; sing, sing as one,
Singing gently as one.
Reader 2: Eric Whitacre, the composer of this piece reflected on what he experienced in what we have just seen and heard:* You see thousands of us here singing . . .not only individuals coming together, but continents . . . states . . . communities . . . all of them coming back together and being healed as one. I just find—that’s it! If we can figure that out, then as a people we can do anything. But it’s got to happen together; that’s the only way it can happen. It’s the only way that true change going forward happens.
Reader 3: We return to the words of Pope Francis:
We need a community that supports and helps us,
in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together…
By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages,
things that are not there.
Dreams, on the other hand, are built together.
Let us dream, then, as a single human family,
as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh,
as children of the same earth which is our common home,
each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions,
each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all.
Time to share the dream the Spirit has planted in us…
(After several minutes of silence, each person may share her/his reflection.)
Leader: God calls us to hear the cries of our wounded world.
Let us call to mind those cries, and respond to each petition: Christ, be our light.
O God, Trinity of love, from the profound communion of your divine life,
pour out upon us a torrent of sisterly and brotherly love. Christ, be our light.
Grant us the love reflected in the actions of Jesus, in his family of Nazareth,
and in the early Christian community. Christ, be our light.
Grant that we Christians may live the Gospel, discovering Christ in each human being, recognizing him crucified in the sufferings of the abandoned and forgotten of our world, and risen in each brother or sister who makes a new start.
Christ, be our light.
Add other petitions….
Our Father (perhaps in another language, texts at the end of the prayer)
Leader: Come, Holy Spirit, show us your beauty, reflected in all the peoples of the earth, so that we may discover anew that all are important and all are necessary, different faces of the one humanity that God so loves.
Amen.
Closing Hymn: A verse of Hâtons-nous en chemin in a different language.
*Note to leader of prayer: This prayer service includes a clip from the video “Sing Gently”; you can stop the video at 4:20 or play to the end, which is 10 ½ minutes long.
If the video will not be shown, you might prefer to eliminate the brief reading from
Eric Whitacre.
The videos in the prayer can be accessed by clicking on the links below or by going directly to YOUTUBE and searching for them using the titles:
- Taizé – Christe, lux mundi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jvlio0nJa4
- Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 6: Sing Gently https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InULYfJHKI0
Eric Whitacre's comments can be found in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fDNpqaer1w&t=1694s
The Fratelli Tutti reading is in section 8; the prayer comes from the end of the encyclical.
Notre Père, qui est aux cieux,
Que ton nom soit sanctifié, que ton règne vienne,
que ta volonté soit faite sur la terre comme au ciel.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour.
Pardonne-nous nos offenses comme nous pardonnons aussi à ceux qui nous ont offensés. Et ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation, mais délivre-nous du mal, car c'est à toi qu'appartiennent le règne, la puissance et la gloire, pour les siècles des siècles. Amen.
Padre Nuestro, que estás en el cielo, santificado sea tu Nombre.
Venga a nosotros tu Reino. Hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día.
Perdona nuestras ofensas como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden. No nos dejes caer en la tentación y líbranos del mal.
Amén.
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.
Amen.