A Mardi Gras Prayer
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
for it is from your goodness that we have this day
to celebrate
on the threshold of the Season of Lent.
Tomorrow we will fast and abstain from meat.
Today we feast.
We thank you for the abundance
of gifts
you shower upon us.
We thank you especially for one another.
As we give you thanks,
we are mindful of those who have
so much
less than we do.
As we share these wonderful gifts together,
we commit ourselves to greater generosity
toward those who need our support.
Prepare
us for tomorrow.
Tasting the fullness of what we have today,
let us experience some hunger tomorrow.
May our fasting make us more
alert
and may it heighten our consciousness
so that we might be ready to hear your Word
and respond to your call.
As our feasting
fills us with gratitude so may
our fasting and abstinence hollow out in us
a place for deeper desires
and an attentiveness to hear
the cry of the poor.
May our self-denial turn our hearts to you
and give us a new freedom for
generous service to others.
with our hearts full of delight
and stirring with readiness
for the journey ahead.
We ask them with confidence
in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Mardi Gras Table Blessing
(On the eve of Ash Wednesday)
Lord our God,
on this eve of Ash Wednesday,
we ask that You bless our celebration
of
the feast of Mardi Gras.
Bless our table, our food and wine,
as well as all of us
who sit about this feast day table.
Come, Gracious Lord,
and
join us at this feast
as we prepare to join Your Son, Jesus,
by prayerfully entering into
these forty days of Lent.
As the food and wine
of this feast
give nourishment and strength
to our bodies and spirits,
so may we, during this coming season of Lent,
give strength and
support to each other
and to all who accompany us
on this pilgrimage of prayer
from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.
As this Lenten roadway
causes us to reflect
upon the death of our Lord,
may we also remember His victory
in His resurrection from the dead.
May this dinner
on
the eve of the day of ashes
be a joyful foretaste
of the rebirth and new life that is the promise
of the feast of the Resurrection.
Together
for the final time before these forty days,
let us sing the ancient song of joyful victory:
Alleluia!
