|
Blessing of All Who Work the Land
We share in God’s work through our human labor. Work is not drudgery that our Creator has imposed on us, nor is it a penance for our sinfulness. Work is a gift: human participation in the creative activity of God.
In Church tradition, we have a beautiful partnership of work by the married farm couple, Isidore & Maria. These saints labored with their hands, cared for the land and its creatures, and brought a blessing to the poor of their day and the Church for all time.
All who have a part in helping bring food to the table are a precious treasure in the human community and especially in the Church. Their country lifestyle and the spirituality that flows from it is a witness to Biblical faith.
Work is our communion with God and is also our communion with people, our way of taking responsibility for the well-being of our neighbors, communities and the environment.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray: Creator God, you formed the human in your image to be partner with you. You have blessed us by calling us to work with the land and its creatures, providing nourishment and health for all.
Let your word now take root in our hearts and lives, to produce a rich harvest of justice for all creation. Let all who work with the land be blessed with dignity, their homes blessed with health, and their labor blessed with safety. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Canticle of Praise (said by all): Psalm 104:14, 15a, 23, 24, 27-30
How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all.
You make grass grow for the cattle
and plants for people to cultivate,
bringing forth food from the earth:
wine that gladdens human hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains their hearts.
How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all.
People go forth to their work,
to their labor until evening.
How many are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you wrought them all.
How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all.
All creatures look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all.
When you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
When you send your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
Closing Blessing
(A bowl of olive oil or canola oil is placed in the center of the group.)
God blesses our work, the work of human hands, to make the land fruitful and to provide food for us. Let us ask God to mark our hands and our labors with a blessing this day.
Blessed are you, Lord God, for through your goodness this oil is the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands. By your mighty love, it carries your blessing to us and to all that we do. Let it be a blessing to all who labor with their hands and to all who work with the land.
Blessed be God forever.
| 
