Centennial Prayer

A “wrap-up” Mass in January 2009 is intended to look back at last year and look forward to the future, which the writers of this History do now:

We celebrate the past—appreciating our successes for they helped us move forward; grateful for our failures because they taught us so much; remembering the tragedies we survived for they helped us grow in strength.

We embrace the present, delighting in our diversity and the strong ties of love and loyalty that bind us together. We are active in many ways in our community and in our world and are united in our determination to give back to others the love and grace which has been so abundant in our lives.

We dedicate the future in our determination to build on what we have received , to be a force for God’s love in our homes, our community and our world, to be a source of strength and love for each other and to be the hands and the heart of Jesus in reaching out to those who need us.

We thank God for the “amazing grace” that has been poured on us so abundantly—for the Carmelites who have shown us the way, the nuns who have served all of us but especially the children for so many years, the staff and each other.
(Prayer prepared by Mary Lou Abrams)