Baptism Team Gathering  30 April 2015

Opening Prayer
All say:    Tá mé ag filleadh arís ort,
I come back to you again
Is a Rí gheal ná daor sinn;
and, bright King,do not condemn us;
Tabhair dom deoch as tobar na daonnacht’,
give me a drink from the well of your humanity
Nó braon den uisce úd do shil as do thaobh deas,
or a drop of water that flowed from your right side,
A dhéanfadh sinn a ghlanadh, a ghealadh is a shaoradh,
which will be enough to clean us and wash us and free us,
Is go rachaidh ár n-anam go Flaithis i d’fhéachaint.
and may our souls rise up to Heaven in your sight.

Song We Shall Draw Water Joyfully (Paul Inwood)
All sing: We shall draw water joyfully,
singing joyfully, singing joyfully,
We shall draw water joyfully from the wellsprings of salvation.

Reading     Hosea 6:2-3

After two days he will revive us;
On the third he will raise us up,
That we may live before him.
Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
His appearing is as sure as dawn;
He will come to us like showers,
Like the spring rains that water the earth.

All sing:  We shall draw water joyfully,
singing joyfully, singing joyfully
We shall draw water joyfully from the wellsprings of salvation.

Reflection  Quencher of Thirst (Rabindranath Tagore)
Come to us, Quencher of Thirst,
and relieve our endless yearning.
Come to the desert of our busyness
and refresh our parched attention.
Come to the arid land of boredom
and pour enthusiasm into prayer.
Come to the wasteland of worry
and satisfy us with your stillness.
Come to the wilderness of denial
and fill us with growth-filled authenticity.

Instrumental  Water Music (Handel)

Reflection  Rainmaker (Sri Lankan)
Seed the empty clouds of my heart
with a downpour of your love.
Gather the raindrops of joyfulness
and rinse away my melancholy.
Shower the land of my mind
with thoughts beneficial to all.
Sprinkle true motivation through
the charitable deeds that I do.
Water my efforts at forgiveness
with the flowing rains of compassion.

Song   You Have Been Baptised (Ian Callanan)
All sing: You have been baptised, you have put on Christ,
come rejoicing to God’s table,
You have been baptised, you have put on Christ
come rejoicing to God’s table of redemption.

Reflection   Saint John Paul 11
With baptism we become children of God in his
only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Rising from the waters of the baptismal font,
every Christian hears again the voice that was once heard on the banks of the Jordan river;
‘You are my beloved;
with you I am well pleased.’

All sing:  You have been baptised, you have put on Christ …

Reading     Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking the Holy Spirit came down on all the listeners. Jewish believers who had accompanied Peter were all astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be poured out on the pagans too, since they could hear them speaking strange languages and proclaiming the greatness of God. Peter himself then said, “Could anyone refuse the water of Baptism to these people now they have received the Holy Spirit just as much as we have?” He then gave orders for them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ. Afterwards they begged him to stay on for some days.

All sing:  You have been baptised, you have put on Christ …

Reflection    In Praise Of Water (John O’Donohue)
Let us bless the humility of water,
Always willing to take the shape
Of whatever otherness holds it,

The buoyancy of water,
Stronger than the deadening,
Downward drag of gravity,

The innocence of water,
Flowing forth, without thought
Of what awaits it,
The refreshment of water,
Dissolving the crystals of thirst.

Water: voice of grief,
Cry of love,
In the flowing tear.

Water: vehicle and idiom
Of all the inner voyaging
that keeps us alive.

Blessed be water,
Our first mother.

Easter Blessing   Let us pray,
O God, whose Son,
Baptised by John in the waters of the Jordan,
was anointed with the Holy Spirit,
and, as he hung from the Cross,
gave forth water from his side along with blood,
and after his Resurrection, commanded his disciples:
‘Go forth, teach all nations, baptising them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’,
look now we pray upon the face of your Church
and graciously unseal for her the fountain of Baptism.

Blessing of Water – Easter Vigil – Roman Missal

Song    You Have Been Baptised (Ian Callanan)
All sing:  You have been baptised, you have put on Christ,
come rejoicing to God’s table,
You have been baptised, you have put on Christ
come rejoicing to God’s table of redemption.