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Liturgies in Response to Terrorist Events
Marked with God's Living Water
The following can be done at the end of the service. It contains
images of Ash Wednesday, the words spoken at the graveside, and images
of baptism and new life. It may be done at the font if appropriate or
with a very large bowl of water in the midst of the people. Reminiscent
of the Easter Vigil, the congregation may be blessed at the end with
the flinging of water from an evergreen branch.
L. This last year has been like a year of Lent. As a nation, we have been covered
with the ashes and dust of destruction and death. The events of September 11th
have caused us personally and together to reflect upon our lives, the people
we hold dear, and what matters most to us.
C. We are a dusty people.
L. God took Ezekiel down into the valley of bones and until God spoke, there
was only death. We have sent our own prophets and faithful people down into the
pit and they saw death. The clouds of ash fell in New York and New Jersey, in
Washington D.C., in Pennsylvania. It is hard for us to look beyond the ashes
to hear God’s promise of life.
C. We are a dusty people.
L. We do not live faithfully as God’s children. We lose hope, our questions become
louder than our creeds, and our eyes become shaded by grief. Too easily, we deny
our Lord Jesus, not speaking his name or admitting our sin.
C. We are a dusty people.
L. The ashes of this last year weigh us down. Christ died to set you free and
give you life. You are forgiven and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
You are a dusty people washed clean in the Holy Spirit.
C. We are a dusty people.
During this announcement, water may be sprinkled on the people or they may be
invited to come to the font and mark themselves with water in the shape of a
cross.
L. You are an Easter people, given the gift of faith and promised the resurrection.
God’s loving hold on you is stronger than any power or evil on earth or beyond.
You are an Easter people, marked with the cross of Christ for life.
C. We are an Easter people.
L. You are God’s Easter people,
Created in God’s image,
Marked for life by Christ
And gifted by the Holy Spirit.
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
C. Thanks be to God.