Friday 9 February 2007

Friday Morning Prayer for 26 January 2007: The Most Precious Blood of Jesus

Tongue warmer: Introducing Fr Roberto to everyone and guessing how tall Fr Roberto is and where he is from.
Good morning everyone! I am very pleased to introduce one of our Franciscan brothers to you. He is Fr Roberto and you may have guessed it correctly about his nationality. Fr Roberto is Italian, and the name Roberto is the Italian form of Robert. Just like Maria is another form of Mary. Fr Roberto will be with us from time to time, mostly on Fridays, our English Speaking Days and you can talk to him in English just about anything. So, on behalf of everyone here at St Joseph’s, a very a warm welcome to you, Fr Roberto.
You were guessing how tall he is. Let him tell you the answer.

[1.97m]

Thank you. That's pretty impressive.

Let’s start today’s morning prayer with a song that we sang last time. Please turn to page 7 of your hymnal. Let’s sing verse 1 altogether. [SING] Let’s learn the second verse. Please repeat after me. Please sing after me. [HYMN] Let’s turn back to page 19.
Please write down the word in verse two that rhymes with find. Five seconds. Yes, it’s kind. Look up and see on the screen are words that also rhyme with find: blind, hind, mind, rind. But how about this word? WIND. Does it rhyme with FIND? Well, it can rhyme! Because there are two ways to pronounce the word WIND. It is wind, which does not rhyme with the word FIND meaning the moving air, as a noun, but as a verb, it is wind, rhyming with the words such FIND and BLIND.. E.g. The river winds through the valley means There are many curves and bends in the river that runs through the valley.
Now back to our hymn. Please take a look at the line: Grace and life eternal in that blood I find. In poetry we sometimes mix the word order, we do not follow the normal word order so we can make words rhyme at the end. The meaning of the verse Grace and life eternal in that blood I find means I find grace and eternal life in that blood. That blood of course refers to the blood of Jesus. If you still remember, that’s what we talked about last Friday. In the Bible, there is a story about how Jesus’ blood came out from his body. Let’s have Mr Mckenzie read it for us.
Listen to the Word of God. A Reading from the Gospel according to St John.
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear…Can you tell what does the word his refer to? Yes, it refers to the side of Jesus, as you can tell from the pictures. The soldier and his spear [SPEAR] can be seen in the picture at the bottom. The picture above has an angel using a cup to collect the blood that came out from Jesus. Why would Jesus die on the cross? Because he loves us no matter how much people do not love him. People do not like him, even to the point of putting him to death. That’s why we say his compassion is infinitely kind. Having compassion is being kind. But now, the author of this song said it is not just kind compassion but infinitely kind compassion.
Can you try to match the new words for today with the words and phrases on the right hand side?
I will give you 15 seconds. Here are the answers:
Eternal = Lasting forever: E.g. Jesus gives us eternal life, a life that is everlasting.
Blest = Blessed: My grandfather said that he has been very blessed all his life: although he is not very rich, he always enjoys good health and a happy family.
Compassion = A strong feeling of sadness for the bad luck of others: My compassion goes to Jane because her mother dies recently.
Infinitely = Very much: African countries owe a lot of money, almost an infinite amount. There is no end. Faced with such an infinitely large amount of debt, African countries are very poor.
Pierce = To make a hole: Joseph went to Red Cross to donate blood and the nurse used a needle to pierce through his skin in order to draw blood from his vein.
Mercy = Kindness: Although Peter failed in his exam, his teacher was merciful to him and gave him another chance to retake the exam.
Finally, let’s say the prayer at the bottom of page 19 together. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Lord Jesus, when the soldier pierced Your side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. In Your Most Holy blood, we find grace and eternal life.
For Your infinitely kind compassion, we give You thanks. Please help us to be thankful always for Your love and teach us to be as loving as You are to us.
We ask this for You are God and King for ever and ever. Amen.
St Joseph, Pray for us. St Francis, Pray for us.

No comments:

Post a Comment