Blessing of the Shawls

I spent the weekend in retreat with twenty others who knit and crochet prayer shawls. In retreat, not in workshops or seminars. Wisdom was shared but not in guided discussions of assigned topics. Instead, we gathered in the chapel of the retreat house to knit and pray together, we celebrated Holy Communion together, we ate together. But the rest of the time was spent in whatever ways feed your soul. For some, that meant gathering together to knit communally. For me, that meant sleep and time to be quiet, physically and mentally.

Coincidentally, while I was at the Franciscan retreat house, I discovered a legend about Saint Francis that I had not known. The legend says that in the barren mid-winter, Francis approached an almond tree and said, “Speak to me of God!” and the almond tree broke forth into bloom.

The only way to witness to God was in its aliveness.

The second image that I carried with me as I left the retreat was one of ‘meeting Jesus’. It is in the encounter that we are changed. It is in the encounter with other members of the body of Christ that we can enter into dialogue and learn; it is in the encounter with others whose needs we can meet that we can learn to be servants and to be served.

We closed the retreat with a blessing of the shawls and the needles, yarns and hands that would be used to make more shawls in the weeks and months to come.

To you, O Divine One, from whose hands
comes the work of creation, so artfully designed,
We pray that our work may be done in companionship with you.
May our work sing your praise as songbirds do.
May our work add to the light of your presence
because it is done with great love.
May our work speak like a prophet of old
of your dream of beauty and unity.
May our work be a shimmering mirror of your handiwork
in the excellence of its execution,
in the joy of doing it for others,
in our invitation to others to share in it
and in its bearing fruit for the world.
we come to you, our Beloved, with ready hands.