O God, Giver of all good gifts:

In the beginning, you spoke –

and all that is came to be.

In the fullness of time, you spoke –

and your Word took on flesh,

and the Church was born from the water and blood

which poured from his side.

In our time, you still speak –

through the Scriptures and through the Sacraments.

In baptism, you call us to be a chosen race, a royal

priesthood, a holy nation, a people for your own possession.

You gather a Eucharistic people to yourself,

so that from the rising of the sun to its setting,

a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.

When we sin and wander far from you,

you seek us out speaking words of mercy and forgiveness

through the sacrament of reconciliation.

You call us to lives of generous service,

whether in the sacrament of marriage or the sacrament

of holy orders, whether as vowed religious or as single persons in the world.

Hear us, O God.

May your Holy Spirit come to rest in our hearts and set them aflame,

so that we may become what we receive, Bread,

broken for the life of the world, and make of our lives,

and of the Diocese of Davenport, a return-gift to you.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Official prayer of the Diocese of Davenport, 2015