SCRIPTURE/PRAYER

Family Rituals

Summer Ordinary Time       

Ordinary Time takes its name from the ordering of the Sundays. They are counted: ordinal numbers are first, second, third, and so on. The Sunday after the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is called the 2nd week of Ordinary Time, because it begins the second week in Ordinary Time.

The Church keeps two blocks of ordinary time: between the Christmas season and Lent, and between the Easter season and Advent. Over half of the liturgical year is spent in Ordinary Time.

Blessing for the Home

Be our shelter, Lord, when we are at home, our companion when we are away,

and our welcome guest when we return. We wait in joyful hope for you to at last receive us into the dwelling place you have prepared for us, where you live for ever and ever.

Amen.

At the entrance:

O God, protect our going out and our coming in; Let us share the hospitality of this home

with all who visit us, that those who enter here may know your love and peace.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In the living room:

O God, give your blessings to all who share this room,    that we may be knit together in companionship.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In the kitchen:

O God, you fill the hungry with good things. Send your blessing on us, as we work in this kitchen, and make us ever thankful for our daily bread.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In the dining room:

Blessed are you, Lord of heaven and earth, for you give us food and drink to sustain our lives and make our hearts glad. Help us to be grateful for all your mercies, and mindful of the needs of others.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

In the bedrooms:

Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep, that awake we may keep watch with Christ, and asleep, we may rest in his peace.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

A Meal Prayer for Summer Ordinary Time

God, giver of all good gifts,
we are grateful as we pause before this meal
for all the blessings of life that you give to us.
Daily, we are fed with good things,
and nourished by friendship and care.
We give you thanks for the blessings of this table as we pray:
Bless us, O Lord, and these, thy gifts,
which we are about to receive
from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. AMEN.