Liturgy of Love for the Neighbor

Cantor: The bread which we do not use 

All: is the bread of the hungry.

Cantor: The garment hanging in our wardrobe

All: is the garment of one who is naked.

Cantor: The shoes that we do not wear

All: are the shoes of one who is barefooted.

Cantor: The money we keep locked away

All: is the money of the poor.

Cantor: The acts of charity we do not perform

All: are the many injustices we commit.

Lord, I am no longer my own but Yours. Put me to what You will. Put me to doing. Put me to being. Put me to suffering. Let me be employed for You — or laid aside for You. Let me be full — let me be empty. Let me have all things — let me have nothing. Help me to open my eyes when others close theirs; to hear what others don’t wish to listen; to look when others turn away; to seek to understand when others give up; to rouse myself when others acquiesce; to continue to struggle even when I am not the strongest; to cry out when others are silent; to be Christians in Community. First of all that, then further, to live when others are dead and Be Love when society is mean and self-obsessed to remember. We love You Lord and so give ourselves. Amen. 

[Adapted from the words of St. Basil the Great by Holy Transfiguration Monastery]