Beatitudes & Prayer for Mask Makers

The Beatitudes:

Blessed are those who give the gift of their time and their talent
to create face masks for others,
for their community, for strangers,
for they shall help to save the lives of many people.

Blessed are those who make masks for others to wear
so that together we may protect others,
especially the most vulnerable
who at another time had protected us
when they worked as first responders,
served in the military,
or taught us the school lessons of our childhood,
for they shall truly know the value of each human life.

Blessed are those who work tirelessly to fill bins in the market
or the clothesline across the front door of the church
with masks of all sizes and types,
for they shall know that this is grace, compassion,
and love of neighbor.

Blessed are the mask makers
who send face masks to those who may be forgotten,
to the agencies that support the homeless,
nursing home staff and residents,
the mentally ill,
the prisoner,
the tenderest among us,
for they shall have respected and remembered the least of these.

Blessed are those who crochet ear savers
and hunt down the buttons
that hook on to the face masks for comfort
for those who wear them for endless hours,
for they shall see the face of God
in each caregiver who wears one.

Blessed are those who give out of their own money
for supplies and postage for face masks and ear savers
because others’ lives and comfort are more important
than their personal checking account,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who wear face masks
to show their care for others,
who know that they can be passing on the virus
that moves as a stealth,
infecting others days before their own symptoms emerge
for they shall be for they shall be called children of God.

Prayer: 

O Holy One.
Bless the mask makers, those who create –
from cloth, flannel, elastic, wire, yarn and buttons –
the barriers that allow us to be out among others
yet keep them safe from what we might be silently harboring.

Bless the mask wearers
that we may see them as a sign of care and concern for others;
that we may see your face beneath each mask.

Bless us all
that we may see that by covering our noses and mouths
we have opened our eyes and our hearts to one another. Amen.

~ created by Rev. Donna Vuilleumier, Pastor at Smith Memorial Church, UCC in Hillsboro, NH.