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We bow to the presence of God in all creation
and we also bow to the presence of God
in the heart of every person.
Mantra: Holy Ground Monica Brown
You are here,
so this is holy ground.
In all that is You are here.
This is holy ground, the ground of my being now.
My spirit bows to You upon this holy ground.
Before each reading, the reader places a pair of shoes at the prayer focus.
Reflection 1:
Holy Ground is any place where we experience God: where we learn that we’re not alone
and where we discover that God provides us with what we need to be who we’re being called to be and do what we’re being called to do.
It is the place where God challenges us.
Holy Ground is a place of new beginnings.
Before reading, place shoes as directed.
Scripture Reading: Exodus 3:5-6
Then he said, “Come no closer! Take off your shoes, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Before reading, place shoes as directed.
Reflection 2:
O child of unnecessary shoes
cast them off
and stand in readiness
on this holy ground.
For the Egypt in people’s lives
demands that you see the burning bushes
all around you
aflame
burning wildly
calling you
away from the comfort
of well-protected feet.
… Awaken your sleeping prophet
Believe in your Moses
and go …
Macrina Wiederkehr
Before reading, place shoes as directed
Reflection 3: Holy Ground
… a missionary must respect the culture of a people, not destroy it. The incarnation of the gospel, the flesh and blood which must grow on the gospel, is up to the people of a culture. The way people might celebrate the central truths of Christianity; the way they would distribute the goods of the earth and live out their daily lives; their spiritual, ascetical expression of Christianity if they should accept it; their way of working out the Christian responsibility of the social implications of the gospel - all these things, that is: liturgy, morality, dogmatic theology, spirituality, and social action would be a cultural response to a central, unchanging, supracultural, uninterpreted gospel.
Vincent J Donovan
Before reading, place shoes as directed.
Reflection 4:
How have I grown in the awareness that my story and others’ stories are interconnected and that our story is the continuation of God’s story of communion?
Prayers of Intercession:
Response: God of all cultures, hear and heal us!
Create in us a heart that feels deep gratitude for our origin: our family, life situations, nationality and cultural heritage. R/
When we think that one culture is superior to another and one opinion is better than another. R/
When our negative thoughts of others prevent us from being compassionate and understanding. R/
When our cultural prejudices rise and we succumb to being judgmental instead of being sensitive and appreciative of different cultural values. R/
O God, let us discover and respect ever more deeply the sacredness of the ground where we are, the sacredness of the other we meet, the sacredness that reflects your presence in all creation.
The Lord’s Prayer – in the richness of our own language.
Loving God, we recognise your great ability to break through our distances, structures, borders and rules in order to speak to us wherever we are the words once spoken to Moses, “Take off your shoes, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Help us to live this truth!
Amen.
