Reflections
PRAYER with Sister Monica Sparks (SGS)
8th March 2009, International Women's Day
An integral part of this celebration is The World Day of Prayer (formerly Women's World Day of Prayer but now more inclusive). Each year church women of a specific country prepare from their culture a Prayer service. This year it is from Papua New Guinea. As this edition carries Dorothy's story of an ecological warrioress, it may be opportune to celebrate the Feminine in Christian thought and practice.
We need to keep REFLECTING, RECLAIMING and RENEWING our theological/ecological spirituality. Let us reverently endeavour to plumb some of the depths of our God's relational presence in all Creation. Let us contemplate this interrelational mystery, pondering in our hearts some images from Papua New Guinea, the Amazon, or our own land.
Contemplation: Be present. Be still. Be aware. Come in love. Be thankful. Be a being in love and praise. Choose in imagination or reality an image with which to stay. Let the interconnectedness flow between you, allowing the Divine Mystery to be incarnated and bring about God given transformation.
Some suggestions may help:
Images of dense rainforest, highland mountains, orchids, birds of paradise - A native Papua New Guinea woman subsistence farming (85%).
The mighty Amazon, at present flooding and 240kms wide. Rainforest, bright flowers, monkeys. An Amerindian woman gathering plants for medicine in the forest.
Any images from our own country of endangered species.
GLORY, PRAISE AND THANKS TO YOU, O IN-DWELLING GOD IN WHOM ALL IS CREATED AND SUSTAINED AS IT WAS AND IS AND EVER WILL BE, AMEN.
Sr Monica
