Blessing of Bicyles and Participants in the Banner GAA Club, Ennis, charity cycle, Friday evening, May 10th, 2019
In the name of the Father….
May Christ, the Son of God who was pleased to be known as the carpenter’s son, be with you all.
Call to Prayer: Lord, Source of all energy and light. The Ancients saw your providence through great wheels of fire rolling across the sky. In those circles of light our ancestors learned to trust in your reliable and sustaining providence. You gave us the ingenuity for science. For generations we have adapted the wheel to sustain us and our creativity, especially for means of transportation. You gave us legs and intended us to be travelers and to seek out a world beyond ourselves. So we gather today to ask for your blessing on our travels. We especially invoke your constancy and care on behalf of those who use bicycles to commute each day – for exercise, for work and for pleasure. We pray this, as a pilgrim people, always yearning for you as our ultimate destination, in Jesus’ name. (Amen)
God’s Word: (Ezekiel 1: 15-21 and Luke 10: 25-37)
Ezekiel 1:15-21 New International Version (NIV)
15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21 When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
The Word of the Lord
Blessing for Bicycles:
Lord bless the bicycles and participants present here in the Banner club as they embark on their charity cycle for the sporting activities of the Banner club, along with the outstanding work of Cahercalla Community Hospital and Sláinte an Chláir. Keep them safe, free from harm, free from punctures, accidents, mishaps, accidents and tumbles.
Lord, you are our protector and source of all blessings. We ask for your special blessing on these bicycles and their operators. All wheels remind us of the infinite quality of your eternal presence. May these bicycles keep our minds alert and our bodies strong. May they provide for our own needs, and encourage us to care for others. Let they remind us of the infinite vistas and adventures in a miraculous world that you created for us.
And most of all, Lord, let us never doubt your protective presence in our lives. You are the ultimate destination of all our journeys. Let these vehicles get us to every destination safely and always be a reminder to us of your constant care which is just as certain as a wheel rolls down a hill. We pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the wind of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(invite owners to bring their bicycles and sprinkle holy water on everyone)
Concluding Rite
May Christ the Lord,
Who for our salvation took on the burden of human toil,
Continue now to strengthen us with his help
And give us his peace,
Now and for ever.
Amen