Prayers for Challenging Times
You're welcome to join in our Zoom communal prayer -- Sunday gatherings and weekday contemplative times. Email if you'd like to be with us and we'll send the Zoom link and dial-in number.
Planners for communal contemplative times might consider the material in the linked page here (already formatted for communal prayer) or explore the prayers below or the contemplative resources on the Contemplation page of this website.
Peace Prayer of St. Francis, adapted by Sr. Jean Schwieters, OSF
God, fashion us anew as doorways to your peace.
Where there is violence and hostility, let us bring compassion.
Where there is abuse of power, let us bring dignity and respect.
Where there is deliberate deceit, let us bring truth and authentic concern.
Where there is a shuttering of dreams, let us bring visions of hope.
Where there is conflict in relationships, let us bring reconciliations.
And where there is disregard for creation, let us bring reverence and care.
O Divine Creator, let us not so much seek to be centered on ourselves
as to focus on the needs of those neglected;
To be appreciated by others as to further the gifts of the forgotten;
To be materially secure as to share our wealth with the poor.
For it is through awareness of injustice that suffering will be healed,
It is by simplifying our lifestyle that consumerism will lose its grip,
And it is through a selfless commitment to love that peace will be reborn.
Amen.
God, fashion us anew as doorways to your peace.
Where there is violence and hostility, let us bring compassion.
Where there is abuse of power, let us bring dignity and respect.
Where there is deliberate deceit, let us bring truth and authentic concern.
Where there is a shuttering of dreams, let us bring visions of hope.
Where there is conflict in relationships, let us bring reconciliations.
And where there is disregard for creation, let us bring reverence and care.
O Divine Creator, let us not so much seek to be centered on ourselves
as to focus on the needs of those neglected;
To be appreciated by others as to further the gifts of the forgotten;
To be materially secure as to share our wealth with the poor.
For it is through awareness of injustice that suffering will be healed,
It is by simplifying our lifestyle that consumerism will lose its grip,
And it is through a selfless commitment to love that peace will be reborn.
Amen.
A Prayer for our Earth by Pope Francis
All-powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
* Pope Francis published this prayer in his Laudato Si’ encyclical, for sharing.
All-powerful God,
you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
* Pope Francis published this prayer in his Laudato Si’ encyclical, for sharing.
Native American prayers - from Xavier University
(See also from Xavier University: Spring Prayers Humility Environment and Sustainability
Chinook Prayer
May all I say and all I think
be in harmony with thee,
God within me,
God beyond me,
maker of the trees.
- Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast
Lakota Prayer
Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery,
teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing,
the senses of my body,
the blessings of my spirit.
Teach me to trust these things
so that I may enter my Sacred Space
and love beyond my fear,
and thus Walk in Balance
with the passing of each glorious Sun.
Earth, Teach Me
Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.
Great Spirit Prayer
Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
- Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887
Prayer for Life
Our old women gods, we ask you!
Our old women gods, we ask you!
Then give us long life together,
May we live until our frosted hair is white;
May we live till then.
This life that now we know!
- Tewa (North American Indian) Traditional Prayer
Only For a Short While
Oh, only for so short a while you
have loaned us to each other,
because we take form in your act of drawing us,
and we take life in your painting us,
and we breathe in your singing us.
But only for so short a while
have you loaned us to each other.
Because even a drawing cut in obsidian fades,
and the green feathers, the crown feathers,
of the Quetzal bird lose their color,
and even the sounds of the waterfall
die out in the dry season.
So, we too, because only for a short while
have you loaned us to each other.
- Aztec Indian Prayer
The Garden is Rich
The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
Great Mystery keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
Great Mystery fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O Great Mystery
be as incense to thee
In the sacred grove of eternity
As I smell and remember
The ancient forests of earth.
- Chinook Psalter
Earth Prayer
Hey! Learn to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed.
Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.
It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!
Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.
- Black Elk
(See also from Xavier University: Spring Prayers Humility Environment and Sustainability
Chinook Prayer
May all I say and all I think
be in harmony with thee,
God within me,
God beyond me,
maker of the trees.
- Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast
Lakota Prayer
Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery,
teach me how to trust
my heart,
my mind,
my intuition,
my inner knowing,
the senses of my body,
the blessings of my spirit.
Teach me to trust these things
so that I may enter my Sacred Space
and love beyond my fear,
and thus Walk in Balance
with the passing of each glorious Sun.
Earth, Teach Me
Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.
Great Spirit Prayer
Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
- Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887
Prayer for Life
Our old women gods, we ask you!
Our old women gods, we ask you!
Then give us long life together,
May we live until our frosted hair is white;
May we live till then.
This life that now we know!
- Tewa (North American Indian) Traditional Prayer
Only For a Short While
Oh, only for so short a while you
have loaned us to each other,
because we take form in your act of drawing us,
and we take life in your painting us,
and we breathe in your singing us.
But only for so short a while
have you loaned us to each other.
Because even a drawing cut in obsidian fades,
and the green feathers, the crown feathers,
of the Quetzal bird lose their color,
and even the sounds of the waterfall
die out in the dry season.
So, we too, because only for a short while
have you loaned us to each other.
- Aztec Indian Prayer
The Garden is Rich
The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
Great Mystery keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
Great Mystery fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O Great Mystery
be as incense to thee
In the sacred grove of eternity
As I smell and remember
The ancient forests of earth.
- Chinook Psalter
Earth Prayer
Hey! Learn to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed.
Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.
It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!
Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.
- Black Elk
A Blessing for One Who Is Moving
and A Blessing on Who We Are Together
(Originally for Linda P. Donaldson by SwS and LCWR. Customize for your needs.)
O great and gracious One,
O Holy Mystery whom we name God,
We thank you for the inspiring, joyful gift of our solidarity, our communion, in You.
We thank you for the gift of ____ in our midst,
for her steady wisdom and clear vision,
for her inclusive and caring leadership,
for the grace through which she makes Your presence known,
for her groundness in You,
and for her contagious joy in You.
We rejoice in your new call to _____ ,
leading her to new openings for Your presence and Your grace.
Please give her in abundance
all that will be helpful to her,
all that will give her strength and support,
all that will show her the immediate next step
as well as the brightness on the horizon,
and all that will sustain her in times when clarity is absent.
Please surround her with a community where You abide.
Please give her family, too, all that will support and strengthen each of them in this transition –
(by name…).
We are grateful for the example _____ has given us of attentiveness to your call,
how to work quietly and seek dialogue,
how to stand strong and visible, an illuminating beacon amid turmoil,
how to seek and recognize good new opportunity,
and, in the midst of whatever else has been happening,
how to continue leading students into the principles and practice of
Catholic Social Teaching,
We thank you for the call in each of our hearts that has led us to this table – a call to be Your people.
As Your people, we thank You for
our interconnectedness, our diversity,
our brokenness and our wholeness,
and the diversity, connectedness, brokenness, and wholeness
of the people and the world around us,
longing for communion that they describe in many different ways.
As Your people, we pray for a contemplative way of being in the world
so we can look at all that is with Your eyes of love,
Your heart of mercy and justice,
Your ways of peace.
As Your people, together we seek
to live in right relationship with all persons, and with the Earth and all its creatures,
to recognize what is ours to do in this messy and beautiful world,
to take the next step on the path you unfold before us,
without asking where the path ends,
and to entrust the outcome of our efforts entirely to You.
Today we thank you especially for _____ – for Your call and for her response.
Pour out Your blessings on her.
Let wisdom and grace shine in her.
Give her vision, strength, and support in her leadership.
Give peace to each member of her family.
Give her joy, community, and balance as her life moves forward.
And pour out Your blessings on all who will miss her among us here.
Let us dwell in Your unity and let Your vision take shape in us.
We ask this in the Spirit of all that is holy,
Amen.
Blessing the Threshold
This blessing
has been waiting for you
for a long time.
While you have been
making your way here
this blessing has been
gathering itself
making ready
biding its time
praying.
This blessing has been
polishing the door
oiling the hinges
sweeping the steps
lighting candles
in the windows.
This blessing has been
setting the table
as it hums a tune
from an old song
it knows,something about
a spiraling road
and bread
and grace.
All this time
it has kept an eye
on the horizon,watching,
keeping vigil,
hardly aware of how
it was leaning itself
in your direction.
And now that
you are here
this blessing
can hardly believe
its good fortune
that you have finally arrived,
that it can drop everything
at last
to fling its arms wide
to you, crying
welcome
welcome
welcome.
- Jan Richardson
A Valiant Woman
This adaptation was a favorite for Sr. Ethel Vaca, CSJ (1928 - 2003).
LEADER: She is a VALIANT woman: her roots are firmly planted. The kingdom is within; her heart, treasure-filled.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a VALIANT woman: her roots are firmly planted. The kingdom is within; her heart, treasure-filled.
LEADER: She is a JOYFUL woman for whom laughter is not stranger; a song to sing, a smile to give, a hand clasp or embrace.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a JOYFUL woman for whom laughter is not stranger; a song to sing, a smile to give, a hand clasp or embrace.
LEADER: She is a STRONG woman whose heart and arms withstand the pressures and the worries that each day unfolds.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a STRONG woman whose heart and arms withstand the pressures and the worries that each day unfolds.
LEADER: She is a PATIENT woman waiting through storm and night for new life, new growth, rich harvest.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a PATIENT woman waiting through storm and night for new life, new growth, rich harvest.
LEADER: She is a LOVING woman ever giving and forgiving, ever caring and concerned.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a LOVING woman ever giving and forgiving, ever caring and concerned.
LEADER: She is a SHARING woman who with arms outstretched gives her gifts and treasures to those both near and far.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a SHARING woman who with arms outstretched gives her gifts and treasures to those both near and far. (Proverbs 31)
Blessings on you as you take the next steps on your path. The Love that you have shared will continue to be cherished. May beauty and strength walk with you. May the winds and rains anoint you. May you experience all creation as friend and may gratitude be your constant companion in the dance of life. Amen.
Blessing
May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart that something good is going to happen to you.
May you find a harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing which lives at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May your angel free you from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment, and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, mind you, and embrace you in belonging.
-- John O’Donohue from Eternal Echoes
What to Remember When Waking
In that first hardly noticed moment to which you wake,
coming back to this life from the other more secret,
moveable and frighteningly honest world where everything began,
there is a small opening into the new day which closes the moment you begin your plans.
What you can plan is too small for you to live.
What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough
for the vitality hidden in your sleep.
To be human is to become visible
while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.
To remember the other world in this world
is to live in your true inheritance.
You are not a troubled guest on this earth,
you are not an accident amidst other accidents
you were invited from another and greater night
than the one from which you have just emerged.
Now, looking through the slanting light of the morning window
toward the mountain presence of everything that can be,
what urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape waits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
against a future sky?
Is it waiting in the fertile sea?
In the trees beyond the house?
In the life you can imagine for yourself?
In the open and lovely white page on the waiting desk?
- David Whyte (The House of Belonging)
Be Prepared at All Times for the Gifts of God
Above all else then
be prepared at all times
for the gifts of God
and be ready always for new ones.
For God is a thousand times
more ready to give than we are to receive.
For the person who has learned to let go
and let be, nothing can hinder.
Then each creature points you toward God
and to a new birth and toward seeing
the world as God sees it: Transparently!
Then all things become nothing but God
and we learn to know with God’s
knowledge and to live with God’s love.
When we learn this we know everything
praises God. Darkness, privations, defects,
evil too praise and bless God
For all paths lead to God
and God is on them evenly for those who
know with transformed knowledge.
What is best is to take God
and enjoy God in any manner, in any thing.
All my life, this has been my joy.
God does not ask anything else of you
except that you let yourself go
and let God be God in you.
- Meister Eckhart
Encouraged by the Miracles of Life
For instance:
The wisdom of the mango tree.
Two years ago
A hurricane
Named Patricia
-The worst storm
ever to hit Earth
according to those keeping record
of relatively recent times-
Destroyed two mango trees
I planted thirty years
Ago.
With sorrow, we pulled up one stump
But while preparing
To pull up stump #2
We noticed at the very top
Of it
Clinging for dear life,
A tiny twig of a branch had started
To grow.
It’s solitary tenacity
Moved me.
I grieved the huge tree
The Mango used to be
With luscious mangoes
Hanging down
And hanging as well
A bright green swing
I had placed on a stout branch
For my grandchild.
Last year I noticed the tiny branch
Left out of pity on the otherwise
Dead seeming stump
Had begun to grow.
This year I see it has grown
Incredibly
And has shaped itself
Into a tree.
From a distance you cannot even tell
This “tree” is growing
Out of a stump!
Here is the miracle –
How did it know
To do this?
That though only a sprig of a branch
And a spindly one
At that
How did it know
It was supposed to be
A tree!
Next year it may well
Produce mangoes!
From this experience
My faith in us
Returns.
In just this way
The way of the tiny mango twig
That knew it was supposed
To be a tree
We will also know
-however betrayed, broken, deformed or distorted
we may become, whole parts of us sheared off in a multitude
of human storms –
That we are meant to be
Upstanding, fully rounded,
Goodness producing
Human beings.
We will grow ourselves back
To our original form
If even one leaf is left to us;
And we will drop our fruit
To feed the world.
By Alice Walker
In the Midst of Little Things
May each of us be so fortunate as to be overtaken by God in the midst of little things.
May we each be so blessed as to be finished off by God,
swooping down from above or welling up from beneath,
to extinguish the illusion of separateness that perpetuates our fears.
May we, in having our illusory, separate self slain by God,
be born into a new and true awareness of who we really are:
one with God forever.
May we continue on in this true awareness, seeing in each and every little thing
the fullness of God's presence in our lives.
May we also be someone in whose presence others
are better able to recognize God's presence in their lives, so that they, too,
might know the freedom of the children of God.
- James Finley
Psalm 54
Awaken me, O Mighty One, in your holy mercy,
that I might be free from fear.
Hear my prayer, O Holy One;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For nagging doubts assail me,
bringing loneliness and pain;
I remember not the Beloved, so
overwhelming are my fears.
Yet behold, You are my helper,
the upholder of my life.
With You I have strength to face my fears,
in your faithfulness help me to let them go.
With boundless confidence, I
abandon myself to You;
I give praise to your name, O Beloved,
with gratitude and joy.
For you deliver me from illusion,
and, through Love, my heart opens to Wisdom
-from Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill
On What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted
by Church Lothrop
All sorts of things need breaking
Seals on letters
Husks on corn
Bread
Butterflies from cocoons
Chickens from eggs
And hearts.
To break a heart
Is to let me out
And to let you in.
To be broken-hearted
To say YES to cracked open wideness
And walking around in my
Into pieces self
Revelations abound
So much more room
So much more me.
Not even the sidewalks can resist
Persistent dandelions
They would not have known him
In the breaking of the bread
Had not their hearts broken as well.
Loving is breaking
Into pieces
Into ourselves
Into each other.
Heartbreakers all.
Isaiah 43
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
10 “You are my witnesses
and my servants whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am God.
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.”
When the Time Is Ripe
When the time is ripe,
the vision will come.
When the heart is ready,
the fruit will appear,
the harvest will happen.
Not to worry
about all the unspoken,
the unspoken,
the unnamed, the undelivered.
Not to hurry
the sprouts out of seeds,
the weeds out of garden.
Let it all grow.
Wait for the ripening.
Yearn for the yielding
if you must,
but be patient,
Trust the process
talk to the restlessness
sit with confusion,
dance with the paradoxes
and sip tea
with the angel of life.
Smile while you wish,
empty basket in hand,
all too eager
to snatch the produce
of your spiritual path.
- Joyce Rupp
A Franciscan Blessing
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and to the poor.
Prayer after Ezekiel 11: 19-21
“I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them. I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and give them a heart of flesh instead so that they follow my way.”
Gracious God, I ask for a listening heart, open and receptive so that
I can hear you in the ordinary events of life
Compassionate God, create in me a clean heart, cleared of the refuse of
old battles with others and opposition with myself.
Gracious God, I ask for a trusting heart, cleansed of anxiety and fear,
restoring in me an enduring faith in your abiding presence
and unconditional love.
Compassionate God, create in me tender heart, freed from
harsh thoughts and perfectionistic tendencies,
warmly welcoming others with openness and love.
Gracious God, create in me a silent heart, free of the frantic busyness,
so that I will have time to dwell with you in the listening space
of solitude.
Loving God, create in me an accepting heart that I may embrace
all parts of who I am, the light and the dark,
the weak and the strong,
so I may reflect your goodness and light in the world.
Gracious God, create in me a peaceful heart that I may live
in reverence with all people, in harmony with all creation,
and be your peace in the world.
Gracious God, you are stirring in our hearts.
You call us to open our minds and hearts to receive your energizing, transforming radiance. Make us receptive so that we will follow your loving movement in our lives. We trust in your powerful presence within us and in the presence of Jesus our friend and Brother and your Holy Spirit of love. Amen.
Prayer for the Church
By Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lord…
We thank you for your church,
founded upon your Word,
that challenges us to do more than sing and pray,
but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers
depended on us and not upon you.
Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars
and live on through all eternity.
Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace.
Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together
until that day when all God’s children — Black, White, Red, Brown and Yellow --
will rejoice in one common band of humanity
in the reign of our Lord and of our God, we pray.
Amen.
Opening Prayer of Hope
By the Catholic Women’s League of Saskatchewan
O God of the entire universe, we praise and thank you for all the good gifts that you have given us and especially for the gift of light to see with hope-filled eyes.
Right: We ask that you will renew our sight, so that we may envision a new heaven and a new earth, a world in which all women and men will work together joyfully in cooperation and love.
Left: These are new and challenging times in the Church and in the world. Give us wisdom so that we may be conscious of tradition and open to the new ways in which the Spirit calls us.
Right: Guide us as we learn from the wisdom of each other. Give us a Spirit of trust so that we may more fully collaborate with our sisters and brothers.
Left: May our lives be those of priestly people, a people who are filled with hope because of your presence in our midst, a people who recognize that it is in serving each other that we serve you.
Right: We ask you all these favors because you are the giver of life and light, the one who enlightens our vision, touches it with wisdom, and gives it strength and brilliance.
Left: We thank you for all your gifts, and especially for your presence among us here now.
All: Amen.
Imagine a World
Imagine a World - where governments respect the rights of all their citizens
and settle disputes by the rule of law for the common good.
Imagine a World - where all people have food, shelter and access to medical care, and
children are born into and raised by healthy families and communities.
Imagine a World - where literacy and education for all are accomplished facts.
Imagine a World - where economic practices create well-being for all stakeholders,
including communities and the environment.
Imagine a World - where beauty, the arts, and media
inspire the best in people.
Imagine a World - where the benefits of science and technology
enhance all circles of life.
Imagine a World - where tolerance and appreciations of diverse religious beliefs is the rule,
spiritual practice is encouraged, and reverence for life fostered.
Imagine a World - where the earth in all her natural beauty is treasured
and its resources utilized sustainably, for this and future generations.
This is a World at Peace.… You are a pathway to peace.
PathwaysToPeace.org
Excerpt from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace weekly peace prayer
Prayer of Silence
Companions,
The wise tell us that God abides in silence –
that God speaks to us in the silent serenity of the heart.
Let us not speak of silence;
rather, let silence speak to us of God.
Together,
let us enter, through the door of serenity,
the silence of our heart.
The chatter of our fears, our angers, our anxiety –
the chatter of our desires and curiosity,
of our projected plans and unfinished work –
falls away in serenity and makes space, an open space
for a new heart, created in the silence of prayer,
created in the prayer of silence…..
a heart that is free, peaceful, quiet and calm;
a heart that is one…
a heart so large and wide
that it embraces the God of all
and the all of God,
the God who in silence speaks one word,
the God who speaks of Love.
- Benedictine Monks of Weston Priority in Weston, Vermont
We Bless You, Father
by Dom Helder Camara
We bless you, Father,
for the thirst
you put in us,
for the boldness
you inspire,
for the fire
alight in us,
that is you in us,
you the just.
Never mind
that our thirst
is mostly unquenched
(pity the satisfied).
Never mind
our bold plots
are mostly unclinched,
wanted not realized.
Who better than you
knows that success
comes not from us?
You ask us to do
our utmost only,
but willingly.
From a poem by Christopher Fry
The human heart can go the length of God.
Cold and dark, it may be
But this is no winter now.
The frozen misery of centuries cracks, breaks, begins to move.
The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the up-start spring.
Thank God, our time is now
When wrong comes up to face us every where
Never to leave until we take
The greatest stride of soul that people ever took.
Affairs are now soul-size.
The enterprise is exploration into God.
From a poem by Alice Walker
The children of Earth
Are starving
For the sight
Of something
Real
Dying for the sound
Of something
True.
Pray for us
To know
That nothing
Stops a lie
Like being
Yourself.
Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
Prayer – adapted from Sister Doris Gottemoeller, RSM:
Despite the winds buffeting us, we too can set our direction.
Our compass is Christ,
our sails are woven of faith and hope, courage and love.
We can only face forward,
to the new leaders and creative deeds in our future.
There was no golden age of the church.
There were only women and men, human as we are,
who loved God, cared for persons in need, and
dared to dream.
We are as human, as flawed and gifted as they were,
and still in touch with the dream.
Let us end by invoking the wind that comes from another direction,
the breath of the Spirit which blows where it wills.
Sometimes a zephyr, sometimes a mighty gale –
God’s Spirit can nudge our timid choices,
strengthen our frail resolve,
reverse any misdirected course….
Spirit of God, fill us and send us forth with the power and passion of your Word!
Gratitude in God’s Presence
O Gracious Mystery that we name God,
We thank you that you promise to be with us always.
Thank you that your presence is with us right now.
Today we give you our hearts, our minds and our lives.
Come speak your words of life into our beings.
We pray that you will deepen our comprehension,
broaden our thinking,
and transform our understanding of what we are about to discuss, to do, and to be.
For you are our wise counsellor, our perfect teacher, and our faithful friend.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
Spirits Touch
by Mary Fortey, CSJP-A
You call my name.
A gentle whisper.
A quiet sigh.
Heard within.
The caress of breeze.
The warmth of sun.
Your touch.
Felt within.
You take my hand.
You lead me on.
You guide my way.
From within.
Enfolded in
Your love
Your heart beats with mine
Deep within.
Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Christ Jesus, before ascending into heaven, You promised to send the Holy Spirit to Your apostles and disciples.
Grant that the same Spirit may perfect in our lives the work of Your grace and love.
Grant us the Spirit of Fear Of The Lord that we may be filled with a loving reverence toward You;
the Spirit of Piety that we may find peace and fulfillment in the service of God while serving others;
the Spirit of Fortitude that we may bear our cross with You and, with courage, overcome the obstacles that interfere with our salvation;
the Spirit of Knowledge that we may know You and know ourselves and grow in holiness;
the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten our minds with the light of Your truth;
the Spirit of Counsel that we may choose the surest way of doing Your will, seeking first the Kingdom.
Grant us the Spirit of Wisdom that we may aspire to the things that last forever.
Teach us to be Your faithful disciples and animate us in every way with Your Spirit.
Amen.
The Long View
It helps, now and then, to step back
and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
(An excerpt from a homily written for Cardinal Dearden by then-Fr. Ken Untener in 1979. Pope Francis quoted Cardinal Dearden on December 21, 2015. On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero, Bishop Untener included in a reflection book a passage titled "The mystery of the Romero Prayer." The mystery is that the words of the prayer are commonly attributed to Oscar Romero, but they were never spoken by him.)
Patient Trust
By Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ,
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Falling in Love
- Attributed to Father Pedro Arupe, SJ
Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
Closing Prayer
In the name of the divine, we confront the truth.
The future is dark. But, what if?
What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb but the darkness of the womb?
What if the story of America is one long labor?
What if all the mothers who came before us,
Who survived
Genocide and occupation
Slavery and Jim Crow,
Racism, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia,
Political oppression, sexual assault
Are standing behind us now,
Whispering in our ear,
“You are Brave.”
What if?
What if this is our great contraction before we birth a new future.
Remember the wisdom of the midwife.
“Breathe.” She says.
And then, “Push.”
Today it is time to breath but soon it will be time to push.
Soon it will be time to fight for those we love,
The Muslim father, Sikh son, trans daughter, indigenous brother, immigrant sister,
White worker, the poor and the forgotten.
With revolutionary love and relentless optimism we pray
In the name of the divine, in the name of love within us and around us, we find everlasting optimism.
Within your will, may there be grace for all of humanity.
Amen.
- Prayer by Valarie Kaur (from Prayer to Heal the Nation Service November 9, 2016)
Opening Prayer
Leader A: In a moment’s silence, honor the core of your being by placing your hand on your heart to feel your own heartbeat. Be aware that the Heart of God is beating inside you.
Leader B: And let your eyes rest on each face gathered at this table.
Ours are the same hearts that beat in all creation: beings of land, sea and sky. Stillness, help us to be in tune with the sound of the Spirit at the core of life itself.
Life itself is the gift of light. To refuse to give in to darkness is the essence of courage. To bear the weight of darkness until it turns to dawn is the universal biography of the human soul.
Help us to breathe with the Great Spirit who is breathing within us all the time and within all things. The Spirit herself will pray in us, with sighs too deep for words.
No matter how distant the interplay of light and darkness seems to be at any moment in time, no matter how lost we feel in an abyss of pain or loneliness, of fear or anger, one small beam of light can penetrate and break down the walls of dark and isolated despair.
Let us lean heart to heart on the One who pulses life in the lowliest and least of all that lives.
The power of light is everywhere, is always. Darkness comes gradually but light comes instantly. Let us see that any one person can ignite it – a match in a cave, a beam on a mountaintop, a flicker in the wind – and the whole world changes.
Every part of creation is beating with the heart of God, fulfilling its place in the community of life. When we sit to meditate, the whole creation sits with us in some mysterious way.
When one person sees, we can all see as well. If only we look. If we only watch for the flame of it. We ourselves need only give the light we were born to share.
[Together] Pilgrims, listen ... the Heart of God is beating all around us.
AMEN
From: “Listening to the heartbeat: God's, ours and the world's”
Teresita Abraham Global Sisters Report, online, December 12, 2016
And: Joan Chittister January 2016 Monastic way reflection (Bold)
Blessing of the New LCWR Office
from A New Zealand Prayer Book by He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa
Great mystery,
You have made us to need each other
and to grow best with companions.
Bless those who shall sit or talk or work together here.
May we share your care and understanding.
[ Bless this space with --- Read what half the people have named. ]
Encircle this dwelling place with your protection, O God.
May your holy angels encompass these walls,
and peace be within them.
Open the windows and doors of this office that the light and love
of your Holy Spirit may shine within,
a light in the world for warmth and welcome.
[ Bless this space with --- Read what half the people have named.]
God of hearth and home, maker of love and laughter,
make this a place for reflection and restoration, joining and justice,
a place where the heart and soul of LCWR and Solidarity with Sisters may find its strength.
The Lord watch over your going out and your coming in
from this time forward for evermore.
Blessings for the New LCWR Office
Included in the above prayer by Solidarity with Sisters, February 8, 2019
Bless this space with
A sense of peace,
A spirit of joy,
A stance of hospitality,
A soul of purpose,
Wisdom,
Courage,
Peace that surpasses all understanding,
Grace,
Connection,
Imagination, creativity, and fresh thinking,
Confidence,
Good health, and
Awareness that we’re with you.
May this space be a source of dignity and respect for all those it supports.
Bless this space with a pure and brilliant flame of truth and love (and release from pressures).
May this be a place of
Nourishment, inspiration, and joy
in spreading the liberating message of the Gospel to the world;
Comfort for all who spend time here
so that nothing interferes with the work that is engendered here;
Hope that LCWR will continue to be light
with members and sisters serving migrants and other vulnerable people;
And continued wisdom to guide
those who have the privilege to hear your words
in an understanding of how to live the Gospel.
May this be a space that fosters
Resolution of the problems in the Catholic Church
and the challenges facing women religious, and
Authentic communion
with each other and with our very needy, vulnerable, and beautiful world.
Where the Light Begins
— By Jan Richardson, from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
Perhaps it does not begin.
Perhaps it is always.
Perhaps it takes
a lifetime
to open our eyes,
to learn to see
what has forever
shimmered in front of us--
the luminous line
of the map
in the dark
the vigil flame
in the house
of the heart
the love
so searing
we cannot keep
from singing,
from crying out
in testimony
and praise.
Perhaps this day
will be the mountain
over which
the dawn breaks.
Perhaps we
will turn our face
toward it,
toward what has been
always.
Perhaps
our eyes
will finally open
in ancient recognition,
willingly dazzled,
illuminated at last.
Perhaps this day
the light begins
in us.
and A Blessing on Who We Are Together
(Originally for Linda P. Donaldson by SwS and LCWR. Customize for your needs.)
O great and gracious One,
O Holy Mystery whom we name God,
We thank you for the inspiring, joyful gift of our solidarity, our communion, in You.
We thank you for the gift of ____ in our midst,
for her steady wisdom and clear vision,
for her inclusive and caring leadership,
for the grace through which she makes Your presence known,
for her groundness in You,
and for her contagious joy in You.
We rejoice in your new call to _____ ,
leading her to new openings for Your presence and Your grace.
Please give her in abundance
all that will be helpful to her,
all that will give her strength and support,
all that will show her the immediate next step
as well as the brightness on the horizon,
and all that will sustain her in times when clarity is absent.
Please surround her with a community where You abide.
Please give her family, too, all that will support and strengthen each of them in this transition –
(by name…).
We are grateful for the example _____ has given us of attentiveness to your call,
how to work quietly and seek dialogue,
how to stand strong and visible, an illuminating beacon amid turmoil,
how to seek and recognize good new opportunity,
and, in the midst of whatever else has been happening,
how to continue leading students into the principles and practice of
Catholic Social Teaching,
We thank you for the call in each of our hearts that has led us to this table – a call to be Your people.
As Your people, we thank You for
our interconnectedness, our diversity,
our brokenness and our wholeness,
and the diversity, connectedness, brokenness, and wholeness
of the people and the world around us,
longing for communion that they describe in many different ways.
As Your people, we pray for a contemplative way of being in the world
so we can look at all that is with Your eyes of love,
Your heart of mercy and justice,
Your ways of peace.
As Your people, together we seek
to live in right relationship with all persons, and with the Earth and all its creatures,
to recognize what is ours to do in this messy and beautiful world,
to take the next step on the path you unfold before us,
without asking where the path ends,
and to entrust the outcome of our efforts entirely to You.
Today we thank you especially for _____ – for Your call and for her response.
Pour out Your blessings on her.
Let wisdom and grace shine in her.
Give her vision, strength, and support in her leadership.
Give peace to each member of her family.
Give her joy, community, and balance as her life moves forward.
And pour out Your blessings on all who will miss her among us here.
Let us dwell in Your unity and let Your vision take shape in us.
We ask this in the Spirit of all that is holy,
Amen.
Blessing the Threshold
This blessing
has been waiting for you
for a long time.
While you have been
making your way here
this blessing has been
gathering itself
making ready
biding its time
praying.
This blessing has been
polishing the door
oiling the hinges
sweeping the steps
lighting candles
in the windows.
This blessing has been
setting the table
as it hums a tune
from an old song
it knows,something about
a spiraling road
and bread
and grace.
All this time
it has kept an eye
on the horizon,watching,
keeping vigil,
hardly aware of how
it was leaning itself
in your direction.
And now that
you are here
this blessing
can hardly believe
its good fortune
that you have finally arrived,
that it can drop everything
at last
to fling its arms wide
to you, crying
welcome
welcome
welcome.
- Jan Richardson
A Valiant Woman
This adaptation was a favorite for Sr. Ethel Vaca, CSJ (1928 - 2003).
LEADER: She is a VALIANT woman: her roots are firmly planted. The kingdom is within; her heart, treasure-filled.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a VALIANT woman: her roots are firmly planted. The kingdom is within; her heart, treasure-filled.
LEADER: She is a JOYFUL woman for whom laughter is not stranger; a song to sing, a smile to give, a hand clasp or embrace.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a JOYFUL woman for whom laughter is not stranger; a song to sing, a smile to give, a hand clasp or embrace.
LEADER: She is a STRONG woman whose heart and arms withstand the pressures and the worries that each day unfolds.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a STRONG woman whose heart and arms withstand the pressures and the worries that each day unfolds.
LEADER: She is a PATIENT woman waiting through storm and night for new life, new growth, rich harvest.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a PATIENT woman waiting through storm and night for new life, new growth, rich harvest.
LEADER: She is a LOVING woman ever giving and forgiving, ever caring and concerned.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a LOVING woman ever giving and forgiving, ever caring and concerned.
LEADER: She is a SHARING woman who with arms outstretched gives her gifts and treasures to those both near and far.
WHOLE GROUP: She is a SHARING woman who with arms outstretched gives her gifts and treasures to those both near and far. (Proverbs 31)
Blessings on you as you take the next steps on your path. The Love that you have shared will continue to be cherished. May beauty and strength walk with you. May the winds and rains anoint you. May you experience all creation as friend and may gratitude be your constant companion in the dance of life. Amen.
Blessing
May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart that something good is going to happen to you.
May you find a harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing which lives at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May your angel free you from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment, and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, mind you, and embrace you in belonging.
-- John O’Donohue from Eternal Echoes
What to Remember When Waking
In that first hardly noticed moment to which you wake,
coming back to this life from the other more secret,
moveable and frighteningly honest world where everything began,
there is a small opening into the new day which closes the moment you begin your plans.
What you can plan is too small for you to live.
What you can live wholeheartedly will make plans enough
for the vitality hidden in your sleep.
To be human is to become visible
while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others.
To remember the other world in this world
is to live in your true inheritance.
You are not a troubled guest on this earth,
you are not an accident amidst other accidents
you were invited from another and greater night
than the one from which you have just emerged.
Now, looking through the slanting light of the morning window
toward the mountain presence of everything that can be,
what urgency calls you to your one love?
What shape waits in the seed of you
to grow and spread its branches
against a future sky?
Is it waiting in the fertile sea?
In the trees beyond the house?
In the life you can imagine for yourself?
In the open and lovely white page on the waiting desk?
- David Whyte (The House of Belonging)
Be Prepared at All Times for the Gifts of God
Above all else then
be prepared at all times
for the gifts of God
and be ready always for new ones.
For God is a thousand times
more ready to give than we are to receive.
For the person who has learned to let go
and let be, nothing can hinder.
Then each creature points you toward God
and to a new birth and toward seeing
the world as God sees it: Transparently!
Then all things become nothing but God
and we learn to know with God’s
knowledge and to live with God’s love.
When we learn this we know everything
praises God. Darkness, privations, defects,
evil too praise and bless God
For all paths lead to God
and God is on them evenly for those who
know with transformed knowledge.
What is best is to take God
and enjoy God in any manner, in any thing.
All my life, this has been my joy.
God does not ask anything else of you
except that you let yourself go
and let God be God in you.
- Meister Eckhart
Encouraged by the Miracles of Life
For instance:
The wisdom of the mango tree.
Two years ago
A hurricane
Named Patricia
-The worst storm
ever to hit Earth
according to those keeping record
of relatively recent times-
Destroyed two mango trees
I planted thirty years
Ago.
With sorrow, we pulled up one stump
But while preparing
To pull up stump #2
We noticed at the very top
Of it
Clinging for dear life,
A tiny twig of a branch had started
To grow.
It’s solitary tenacity
Moved me.
I grieved the huge tree
The Mango used to be
With luscious mangoes
Hanging down
And hanging as well
A bright green swing
I had placed on a stout branch
For my grandchild.
Last year I noticed the tiny branch
Left out of pity on the otherwise
Dead seeming stump
Had begun to grow.
This year I see it has grown
Incredibly
And has shaped itself
Into a tree.
From a distance you cannot even tell
This “tree” is growing
Out of a stump!
Here is the miracle –
How did it know
To do this?
That though only a sprig of a branch
And a spindly one
At that
How did it know
It was supposed to be
A tree!
Next year it may well
Produce mangoes!
From this experience
My faith in us
Returns.
In just this way
The way of the tiny mango twig
That knew it was supposed
To be a tree
We will also know
-however betrayed, broken, deformed or distorted
we may become, whole parts of us sheared off in a multitude
of human storms –
That we are meant to be
Upstanding, fully rounded,
Goodness producing
Human beings.
We will grow ourselves back
To our original form
If even one leaf is left to us;
And we will drop our fruit
To feed the world.
By Alice Walker
In the Midst of Little Things
May each of us be so fortunate as to be overtaken by God in the midst of little things.
May we each be so blessed as to be finished off by God,
swooping down from above or welling up from beneath,
to extinguish the illusion of separateness that perpetuates our fears.
May we, in having our illusory, separate self slain by God,
be born into a new and true awareness of who we really are:
one with God forever.
May we continue on in this true awareness, seeing in each and every little thing
the fullness of God's presence in our lives.
May we also be someone in whose presence others
are better able to recognize God's presence in their lives, so that they, too,
might know the freedom of the children of God.
- James Finley
Psalm 54
Awaken me, O Mighty One, in your holy mercy,
that I might be free from fear.
Hear my prayer, O Holy One;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For nagging doubts assail me,
bringing loneliness and pain;
I remember not the Beloved, so
overwhelming are my fears.
Yet behold, You are my helper,
the upholder of my life.
With You I have strength to face my fears,
in your faithfulness help me to let them go.
With boundless confidence, I
abandon myself to You;
I give praise to your name, O Beloved,
with gratitude and joy.
For you deliver me from illusion,
and, through Love, my heart opens to Wisdom
-from Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill
On What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted
by Church Lothrop
All sorts of things need breaking
Seals on letters
Husks on corn
Bread
Butterflies from cocoons
Chickens from eggs
And hearts.
To break a heart
Is to let me out
And to let you in.
To be broken-hearted
To say YES to cracked open wideness
And walking around in my
Into pieces self
Revelations abound
So much more room
So much more me.
Not even the sidewalks can resist
Persistent dandelions
They would not have known him
In the breaking of the bread
Had not their hearts broken as well.
Loving is breaking
Into pieces
Into ourselves
Into each other.
Heartbreakers all.
Isaiah 43
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
10 “You are my witnesses
and my servants whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am God.
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21 the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.”
When the Time Is Ripe
When the time is ripe,
the vision will come.
When the heart is ready,
the fruit will appear,
the harvest will happen.
Not to worry
about all the unspoken,
the unspoken,
the unnamed, the undelivered.
Not to hurry
the sprouts out of seeds,
the weeds out of garden.
Let it all grow.
Wait for the ripening.
Yearn for the yielding
if you must,
but be patient,
Trust the process
talk to the restlessness
sit with confusion,
dance with the paradoxes
and sip tea
with the angel of life.
Smile while you wish,
empty basket in hand,
all too eager
to snatch the produce
of your spiritual path.
- Joyce Rupp
A Franciscan Blessing
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done, to bring justice and kindness to all our children and to the poor.
Prayer after Ezekiel 11: 19-21
“I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them. I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and give them a heart of flesh instead so that they follow my way.”
Gracious God, I ask for a listening heart, open and receptive so that
I can hear you in the ordinary events of life
Compassionate God, create in me a clean heart, cleared of the refuse of
old battles with others and opposition with myself.
Gracious God, I ask for a trusting heart, cleansed of anxiety and fear,
restoring in me an enduring faith in your abiding presence
and unconditional love.
Compassionate God, create in me tender heart, freed from
harsh thoughts and perfectionistic tendencies,
warmly welcoming others with openness and love.
Gracious God, create in me a silent heart, free of the frantic busyness,
so that I will have time to dwell with you in the listening space
of solitude.
Loving God, create in me an accepting heart that I may embrace
all parts of who I am, the light and the dark,
the weak and the strong,
so I may reflect your goodness and light in the world.
Gracious God, create in me a peaceful heart that I may live
in reverence with all people, in harmony with all creation,
and be your peace in the world.
Gracious God, you are stirring in our hearts.
You call us to open our minds and hearts to receive your energizing, transforming radiance. Make us receptive so that we will follow your loving movement in our lives. We trust in your powerful presence within us and in the presence of Jesus our friend and Brother and your Holy Spirit of love. Amen.
Prayer for the Church
By Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lord…
We thank you for your church,
founded upon your Word,
that challenges us to do more than sing and pray,
but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers
depended on us and not upon you.
Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars
and live on through all eternity.
Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace.
Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together
until that day when all God’s children — Black, White, Red, Brown and Yellow --
will rejoice in one common band of humanity
in the reign of our Lord and of our God, we pray.
Amen.
Opening Prayer of Hope
By the Catholic Women’s League of Saskatchewan
O God of the entire universe, we praise and thank you for all the good gifts that you have given us and especially for the gift of light to see with hope-filled eyes.
Right: We ask that you will renew our sight, so that we may envision a new heaven and a new earth, a world in which all women and men will work together joyfully in cooperation and love.
Left: These are new and challenging times in the Church and in the world. Give us wisdom so that we may be conscious of tradition and open to the new ways in which the Spirit calls us.
Right: Guide us as we learn from the wisdom of each other. Give us a Spirit of trust so that we may more fully collaborate with our sisters and brothers.
Left: May our lives be those of priestly people, a people who are filled with hope because of your presence in our midst, a people who recognize that it is in serving each other that we serve you.
Right: We ask you all these favors because you are the giver of life and light, the one who enlightens our vision, touches it with wisdom, and gives it strength and brilliance.
Left: We thank you for all your gifts, and especially for your presence among us here now.
All: Amen.
Imagine a World
Imagine a World - where governments respect the rights of all their citizens
and settle disputes by the rule of law for the common good.
Imagine a World - where all people have food, shelter and access to medical care, and
children are born into and raised by healthy families and communities.
Imagine a World - where literacy and education for all are accomplished facts.
Imagine a World - where economic practices create well-being for all stakeholders,
including communities and the environment.
Imagine a World - where beauty, the arts, and media
inspire the best in people.
Imagine a World - where the benefits of science and technology
enhance all circles of life.
Imagine a World - where tolerance and appreciations of diverse religious beliefs is the rule,
spiritual practice is encouraged, and reverence for life fostered.
Imagine a World - where the earth in all her natural beauty is treasured
and its resources utilized sustainably, for this and future generations.
This is a World at Peace.… You are a pathway to peace.
PathwaysToPeace.org
Excerpt from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace weekly peace prayer
Prayer of Silence
Companions,
The wise tell us that God abides in silence –
that God speaks to us in the silent serenity of the heart.
Let us not speak of silence;
rather, let silence speak to us of God.
Together,
let us enter, through the door of serenity,
the silence of our heart.
The chatter of our fears, our angers, our anxiety –
the chatter of our desires and curiosity,
of our projected plans and unfinished work –
falls away in serenity and makes space, an open space
for a new heart, created in the silence of prayer,
created in the prayer of silence…..
a heart that is free, peaceful, quiet and calm;
a heart that is one…
a heart so large and wide
that it embraces the God of all
and the all of God,
the God who in silence speaks one word,
the God who speaks of Love.
- Benedictine Monks of Weston Priority in Weston, Vermont
We Bless You, Father
by Dom Helder Camara
We bless you, Father,
for the thirst
you put in us,
for the boldness
you inspire,
for the fire
alight in us,
that is you in us,
you the just.
Never mind
that our thirst
is mostly unquenched
(pity the satisfied).
Never mind
our bold plots
are mostly unclinched,
wanted not realized.
Who better than you
knows that success
comes not from us?
You ask us to do
our utmost only,
but willingly.
From a poem by Christopher Fry
The human heart can go the length of God.
Cold and dark, it may be
But this is no winter now.
The frozen misery of centuries cracks, breaks, begins to move.
The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the up-start spring.
Thank God, our time is now
When wrong comes up to face us every where
Never to leave until we take
The greatest stride of soul that people ever took.
Affairs are now soul-size.
The enterprise is exploration into God.
From a poem by Alice Walker
The children of Earth
Are starving
For the sight
Of something
Real
Dying for the sound
Of something
True.
Pray for us
To know
That nothing
Stops a lie
Like being
Yourself.
Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
Prayer – adapted from Sister Doris Gottemoeller, RSM:
Despite the winds buffeting us, we too can set our direction.
Our compass is Christ,
our sails are woven of faith and hope, courage and love.
We can only face forward,
to the new leaders and creative deeds in our future.
There was no golden age of the church.
There were only women and men, human as we are,
who loved God, cared for persons in need, and
dared to dream.
We are as human, as flawed and gifted as they were,
and still in touch with the dream.
Let us end by invoking the wind that comes from another direction,
the breath of the Spirit which blows where it wills.
Sometimes a zephyr, sometimes a mighty gale –
God’s Spirit can nudge our timid choices,
strengthen our frail resolve,
reverse any misdirected course….
Spirit of God, fill us and send us forth with the power and passion of your Word!
Gratitude in God’s Presence
O Gracious Mystery that we name God,
We thank you that you promise to be with us always.
Thank you that your presence is with us right now.
Today we give you our hearts, our minds and our lives.
Come speak your words of life into our beings.
We pray that you will deepen our comprehension,
broaden our thinking,
and transform our understanding of what we are about to discuss, to do, and to be.
For you are our wise counsellor, our perfect teacher, and our faithful friend.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
Spirits Touch
by Mary Fortey, CSJP-A
You call my name.
A gentle whisper.
A quiet sigh.
Heard within.
The caress of breeze.
The warmth of sun.
Your touch.
Felt within.
You take my hand.
You lead me on.
You guide my way.
From within.
Enfolded in
Your love
Your heart beats with mine
Deep within.
Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Christ Jesus, before ascending into heaven, You promised to send the Holy Spirit to Your apostles and disciples.
Grant that the same Spirit may perfect in our lives the work of Your grace and love.
Grant us the Spirit of Fear Of The Lord that we may be filled with a loving reverence toward You;
the Spirit of Piety that we may find peace and fulfillment in the service of God while serving others;
the Spirit of Fortitude that we may bear our cross with You and, with courage, overcome the obstacles that interfere with our salvation;
the Spirit of Knowledge that we may know You and know ourselves and grow in holiness;
the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten our minds with the light of Your truth;
the Spirit of Counsel that we may choose the surest way of doing Your will, seeking first the Kingdom.
Grant us the Spirit of Wisdom that we may aspire to the things that last forever.
Teach us to be Your faithful disciples and animate us in every way with Your Spirit.
Amen.
The Long View
It helps, now and then, to step back
and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything,
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.
(An excerpt from a homily written for Cardinal Dearden by then-Fr. Ken Untener in 1979. Pope Francis quoted Cardinal Dearden on December 21, 2015. On the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero, Bishop Untener included in a reflection book a passage titled "The mystery of the Romero Prayer." The mystery is that the words of the prayer are commonly attributed to Oscar Romero, but they were never spoken by him.)
Patient Trust
By Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ,
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Falling in Love
- Attributed to Father Pedro Arupe, SJ
Nothing is more practical than
finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.
Closing Prayer
In the name of the divine, we confront the truth.
The future is dark. But, what if?
What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb but the darkness of the womb?
What if the story of America is one long labor?
What if all the mothers who came before us,
Who survived
Genocide and occupation
Slavery and Jim Crow,
Racism, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia,
Political oppression, sexual assault
Are standing behind us now,
Whispering in our ear,
“You are Brave.”
What if?
What if this is our great contraction before we birth a new future.
Remember the wisdom of the midwife.
“Breathe.” She says.
And then, “Push.”
Today it is time to breath but soon it will be time to push.
Soon it will be time to fight for those we love,
The Muslim father, Sikh son, trans daughter, indigenous brother, immigrant sister,
White worker, the poor and the forgotten.
With revolutionary love and relentless optimism we pray
In the name of the divine, in the name of love within us and around us, we find everlasting optimism.
Within your will, may there be grace for all of humanity.
Amen.
- Prayer by Valarie Kaur (from Prayer to Heal the Nation Service November 9, 2016)
Opening Prayer
Leader A: In a moment’s silence, honor the core of your being by placing your hand on your heart to feel your own heartbeat. Be aware that the Heart of God is beating inside you.
Leader B: And let your eyes rest on each face gathered at this table.
Ours are the same hearts that beat in all creation: beings of land, sea and sky. Stillness, help us to be in tune with the sound of the Spirit at the core of life itself.
Life itself is the gift of light. To refuse to give in to darkness is the essence of courage. To bear the weight of darkness until it turns to dawn is the universal biography of the human soul.
Help us to breathe with the Great Spirit who is breathing within us all the time and within all things. The Spirit herself will pray in us, with sighs too deep for words.
No matter how distant the interplay of light and darkness seems to be at any moment in time, no matter how lost we feel in an abyss of pain or loneliness, of fear or anger, one small beam of light can penetrate and break down the walls of dark and isolated despair.
Let us lean heart to heart on the One who pulses life in the lowliest and least of all that lives.
The power of light is everywhere, is always. Darkness comes gradually but light comes instantly. Let us see that any one person can ignite it – a match in a cave, a beam on a mountaintop, a flicker in the wind – and the whole world changes.
Every part of creation is beating with the heart of God, fulfilling its place in the community of life. When we sit to meditate, the whole creation sits with us in some mysterious way.
When one person sees, we can all see as well. If only we look. If we only watch for the flame of it. We ourselves need only give the light we were born to share.
[Together] Pilgrims, listen ... the Heart of God is beating all around us.
AMEN
From: “Listening to the heartbeat: God's, ours and the world's”
Teresita Abraham Global Sisters Report, online, December 12, 2016
And: Joan Chittister January 2016 Monastic way reflection (Bold)
Blessing of the New LCWR Office
from A New Zealand Prayer Book by He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa
Great mystery,
You have made us to need each other
and to grow best with companions.
Bless those who shall sit or talk or work together here.
May we share your care and understanding.
[ Bless this space with --- Read what half the people have named. ]
Encircle this dwelling place with your protection, O God.
May your holy angels encompass these walls,
and peace be within them.
Open the windows and doors of this office that the light and love
of your Holy Spirit may shine within,
a light in the world for warmth and welcome.
[ Bless this space with --- Read what half the people have named.]
God of hearth and home, maker of love and laughter,
make this a place for reflection and restoration, joining and justice,
a place where the heart and soul of LCWR and Solidarity with Sisters may find its strength.
The Lord watch over your going out and your coming in
from this time forward for evermore.
Blessings for the New LCWR Office
Included in the above prayer by Solidarity with Sisters, February 8, 2019
Bless this space with
A sense of peace,
A spirit of joy,
A stance of hospitality,
A soul of purpose,
Wisdom,
Courage,
Peace that surpasses all understanding,
Grace,
Connection,
Imagination, creativity, and fresh thinking,
Confidence,
Good health, and
Awareness that we’re with you.
May this space be a source of dignity and respect for all those it supports.
Bless this space with a pure and brilliant flame of truth and love (and release from pressures).
May this be a place of
Nourishment, inspiration, and joy
in spreading the liberating message of the Gospel to the world;
Comfort for all who spend time here
so that nothing interferes with the work that is engendered here;
Hope that LCWR will continue to be light
with members and sisters serving migrants and other vulnerable people;
And continued wisdom to guide
those who have the privilege to hear your words
in an understanding of how to live the Gospel.
May this be a space that fosters
Resolution of the problems in the Catholic Church
and the challenges facing women religious, and
Authentic communion
with each other and with our very needy, vulnerable, and beautiful world.
Where the Light Begins
— By Jan Richardson, from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
Perhaps it does not begin.
Perhaps it is always.
Perhaps it takes
a lifetime
to open our eyes,
to learn to see
what has forever
shimmered in front of us--
the luminous line
of the map
in the dark
the vigil flame
in the house
of the heart
the love
so searing
we cannot keep
from singing,
from crying out
in testimony
and praise.
Perhaps this day
will be the mountain
over which
the dawn breaks.
Perhaps we
will turn our face
toward it,
toward what has been
always.
Perhaps
our eyes
will finally open
in ancient recognition,
willingly dazzled,
illuminated at last.
Perhaps this day
the light begins
in us.
2019 Lenten resources for you!
- Excellent homilies for Sundays and the major days of Lent at Catholic Women Preach, like this one for Ash Wednesday
- Mary: A Beacon to Light the Way (Lent 2019) - from Sr. Joan Chittister ($3 download), with an invitation to a free online Lenten forum
- Lent 2019: Recommit to Racial Justice – weekly emails from NETWORK
- A Lenten Devotional for Dismantling White Supremacy – eBook ($10) recommended by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
- 40 Days, 40 Ways: A Guide to a Green Lent – from the Franciscan Action Network
- A calendar for Lenten Creation Care – from Interfaith Power and Light.
- A calendar for Living a Laudata Si Lent – from several sisters’ groups.
- Immigration Reform: Your Lenten Promise – prayers, reflections, and tools for each week in Lent from Justice for Immigrants at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Liliana’s Story: A Way of the Cross reflection booklet on the trafficking of human persons -- from the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
- Walking the Way of the Cross with St. Josephine Bakhita (human trafficking focus)
- Praying the Stations of the Cross for Victims of Human Trafficking – from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Stations of the Cross: Walking with Jesus for Peace: A Lenten reflection from Fr. Henri Nouwen
- Lenten reflection book to be aligned with the way of nonviolence, Lose Your Life to Save It ($3.75 download) from Pax Christi
- A Scriptural Way of the Cross for Lent (social justice focus) from the USCCB Office of Justice and Peace
- Daily reflection emails on brokenness and wholeness, Broken Lent 2019, from the Ignatian Spirituality Network (sign up)
- Please Don’t Give Up Social Media for Lent – from Busted Halo
- 25 Great Things You Can Do for Lent – from Busted Halo
- InstaLent Photo Challenge – from Busted Halo
- Many thanks to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and to LCWR's social-justice networks for many of the above links.
- More resources for Lent and Easter from the Sisters of Mercy.
Beginning Again – from the weekly peace prayer of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, by Sister Carmen Little:
God of peace, bless us all over again,
that we might live with a new, mature faith,
that we might be instruments of your gift of peace on earth,
that all may be healed,
that all may radiate your love,
that all may be one.
God of peace, bless us all over again,
that we might live with a new, mature faith,
that we might be instruments of your gift of peace on earth,
that all may be healed,
that all may radiate your love,
that all may be one.
2018 Advent resources for you!
- “Walking toward Hope,” reflections with a focus on refugees and immigrants for each week of Advent, Christmas Eve, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, and the Epiphany, from the Interfaith Immigation Coalition (includes LCWR) – 21 pages
- From the School Sisters of Notre Dame - Advent 2018 reflections with a focus on Mary – 7 pages
- From the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, PA -- weekly Advent 2018 reflections
- Sisters of Providence of St.-Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana - Advent reflections in the footsteps of foundress St. Mother Theodore Guerin
- Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace -- weekly Advent peace prayers (and year-long)
- Sisters of Mercy –weekly Advent 2018 reflections – 1 page each week
- Sister Joan Chittister, “Prepare Your Heart”
- Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange – 100 Days of Prayer (a continuing series)
- From NCR’s website Celebration Publications – sign up for daily Advent emails
- Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia – A Cosmic Advent Wreath – short prayers for each week of Advent as you light the wreath’s candles
- Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia – Praying Advent – readings, reflections, and prayers for Advent
- Advent retreat and resources at Sister Joan Chittister’s Monasteries of the Heart
- Jan Richardson's 'Illuminated 2018' online retreat
- Jan Richardson's "Advent Door" -- a collection of her reflections for each week
- All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings by David G Klein and Gayle Boss – “The dark is not an end but the way a new beginning comes. Short, daily reflections that paint vivid, poetic images of familiar animals, paired with charming original wood-cuts, will engage both children and adults.”
Photo thanks to Betty D. Thompson
In the Midst of Little Things
by James Finley
May each of us be so fortunate as to be
overtaken by God in the midst of little things.
May we each be so blessed as to be finished off by God,
swooping down from above or welling up from beneath,
to extinguish the illusion of separateness
that perpetuates our fears.
May we, in having our illusory, separate self slain by God,
be born into a new and true awareness of who we really are:
one with God forever.
May we continue on in this true awareness, seeing in each and every little thing
the fulness of God's presence in our lives.
May we also be someone in whose presence others
are better able to recognize God's presence in their lives, so that they, too,
might know the freedom of the children of God.
by James Finley
May each of us be so fortunate as to be
overtaken by God in the midst of little things.
May we each be so blessed as to be finished off by God,
swooping down from above or welling up from beneath,
to extinguish the illusion of separateness
that perpetuates our fears.
May we, in having our illusory, separate self slain by God,
be born into a new and true awareness of who we really are:
one with God forever.
May we continue on in this true awareness, seeing in each and every little thing
the fulness of God's presence in our lives.
May we also be someone in whose presence others
are better able to recognize God's presence in their lives, so that they, too,
might know the freedom of the children of God.
A Prayer for LIfe's Journey
God of the journey,
be our traveling companion.
Guide us over terrain
both pleasant and perilous.
Share our laughter
when the sun shines.
Lead us to shelter
when the storms come.
Over hills and through valleys,
forests and deserts,
bless us with steadfast hope.
For with you, the Holy Pilgrim,
we are never alone.
Never unheld.
Never unloved.
God of the journey,
be our traveling companion.
Guide us over terrain
both pleasant and perilous.
Share our laughter
when the sun shines.
Lead us to shelter
when the storms come.
Over hills and through valleys,
forests and deserts,
bless us with steadfast hope.
For with you, the Holy Pilgrim,
we are never alone.
Never unheld.
Never unloved.
"The Annunciation" by Henry Ossawa Tanner
Reflections on Annunciation
We wait, watch, hope, and yearn
for the next steps of clarity and direction
in our personal, congregational, national, and global lives.
We might attend more deeply to the places of light and shadow
with a holiness of presence
even when the brightness blinds and the darkness darkens.
We might respond more deeply
to the invitation of birthing anew this life we love and cherish
even when the birthing includes dying.
We might accept more deeply
the mystery and unknowing of our day and time
in a stance of contemplative gaze
and embrace it, joyfully, even when it is most difficult.
We might listen long and lovingly
and answer faithfully and fearlessly even when the cost is great,
for the sake of the One Who Is.
-- Sister Carol Zinn, reflecting on Henry Ossawa Turner's painting of The Annunciation
God's Spirit by Sister Chris Koellhoffer
In this time of pain and promise,
we call on God’s Spirit to bless
the leadership of LCWR, of our
Congregation, and all women religious
who strive to live the gospel in these
uncertain times.
We call on the Spirit of God to reveal
the way forward that is faithful to God’s
dream for us and our lives together.
May all who are called to engage
in prayer and conversation come to
the table with hearts that are open,
transparent, and faith-filled. May their
reflection be marked by a deep listening
to the voice of the Spirit at work in
our world.
May the holy ones who have gone
before us inspire us by their courage
and wisdom and affirm that we are
not alone.
May we continue to faithfully live the
questions of our time and witness to
the people of God that we are women
at home with mystery and filled with
fierce hope for our shared future.
Amen.
The prayer is available in several languages and in bookmark format (4 per page) ready for printing. Artwork used with LCWR permission.
A Prayer, A Pledge Together
I pledge to you, my sisters and brothers,
to make a conscious choice
to stand in and surrender to the living truth
as it evolves and is revealed this day.
- LCWR assembly pledge after 40 minutes of prayer and silent reflection before a key session at 2012 Assembly.
We wait, watch, hope, and yearn
for the next steps of clarity and direction
in our personal, congregational, national, and global lives.
We might attend more deeply to the places of light and shadow
with a holiness of presence
even when the brightness blinds and the darkness darkens.
We might respond more deeply
to the invitation of birthing anew this life we love and cherish
even when the birthing includes dying.
We might accept more deeply
the mystery and unknowing of our day and time
in a stance of contemplative gaze
and embrace it, joyfully, even when it is most difficult.
We might listen long and lovingly
and answer faithfully and fearlessly even when the cost is great,
for the sake of the One Who Is.
-- Sister Carol Zinn, reflecting on Henry Ossawa Turner's painting of The Annunciation
God's Spirit by Sister Chris Koellhoffer
In this time of pain and promise,
we call on God’s Spirit to bless
the leadership of LCWR, of our
Congregation, and all women religious
who strive to live the gospel in these
uncertain times.
We call on the Spirit of God to reveal
the way forward that is faithful to God’s
dream for us and our lives together.
May all who are called to engage
in prayer and conversation come to
the table with hearts that are open,
transparent, and faith-filled. May their
reflection be marked by a deep listening
to the voice of the Spirit at work in
our world.
May the holy ones who have gone
before us inspire us by their courage
and wisdom and affirm that we are
not alone.
May we continue to faithfully live the
questions of our time and witness to
the people of God that we are women
at home with mystery and filled with
fierce hope for our shared future.
Amen.
The prayer is available in several languages and in bookmark format (4 per page) ready for printing. Artwork used with LCWR permission.
A Prayer, A Pledge Together
I pledge to you, my sisters and brothers,
to make a conscious choice
to stand in and surrender to the living truth
as it evolves and is revealed this day.
- LCWR assembly pledge after 40 minutes of prayer and silent reflection before a key session at 2012 Assembly.
Opening Prayer: Presence
from the wonderful website Sacred Space
I remind myself that, as I sit here now,
God is gazing on me with love and holding me in being.
I pause for a moment and think of this.
from the wonderful website Sacred Space
I remind myself that, as I sit here now,
God is gazing on me with love and holding me in being.
I pause for a moment and think of this.
No Longer Bystanders
By Sister Gail Worcelo (at 2004 LCWR Assembly)
Like a Supernova in a far distant galaxy
explosive with the power of life
you spew your elements across the ages
you red giants of the night sky-
You Dominic, Benedict, Frances, Claire, Teresa
You blues dwarfs Theresa Maxis, Mother Theodore Guerin,
Nano Nagle
In your fiery bellies you held burning vision
Gestating
Until in universe time the moment was ripe
Not without sacrifice, internal implosion of supernova force
Ripped open your flesh of fiery vision blowing all elements into the vastness of space, nothing left of you only your gift
Like elements of the periodic chart
members came together by gravitational pull
first two , like hydrogen and helium, then many
becoming bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh
taking you further than you could have ever gone on your own
extending you through the ages
You could not have known this dear Angela Merici, Elizabeth Seton, Louis de Montfort
In that dark night of your stellar sacrifice.
The universe roars towards life
Your star stuff begins to wear a face
form hands
shape a heart
a rule
a way
Love deepening,
Teaching the children, tending the sick, sheltering the homeless
Your star stuff going where no one else would dare-
Into Earth’s caverns where lepers, prostitutes, beggars fare
Love still deepening
Into Systems of government, corporations, United Nations
Love still deepening
Into universe, Earth, waters, air
Tending the Holy there
Can your stellar gift unfurl still?
Yes, Catherine McCauley, Jean Medaille, Emily Gamelin,
Catherine Drexel
Today you reach into the distant future
Through us
Even though we remember Mother Teresa bending over the moment
and still do so ourselves
The FUTURE presses in on us now
We feel the vulnerability of the child up ahead
Calling for a drink of clean water
Will there be any to be found?
The animals, plants, forests, streams
Vulnerable too in their innocence
With them- Joy
Without them- Soul Loss
Oh dear Mother Cabrini, Madeleine Barat, Vincent De Paul, Anna Dengel
It is for the WHOLE that we are no longer By-Standers
As if we ever were
By Sister Gail Worcelo (at 2004 LCWR Assembly)
Like a Supernova in a far distant galaxy
explosive with the power of life
you spew your elements across the ages
you red giants of the night sky-
You Dominic, Benedict, Frances, Claire, Teresa
You blues dwarfs Theresa Maxis, Mother Theodore Guerin,
Nano Nagle
In your fiery bellies you held burning vision
Gestating
Until in universe time the moment was ripe
Not without sacrifice, internal implosion of supernova force
Ripped open your flesh of fiery vision blowing all elements into the vastness of space, nothing left of you only your gift
Like elements of the periodic chart
members came together by gravitational pull
first two , like hydrogen and helium, then many
becoming bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh
taking you further than you could have ever gone on your own
extending you through the ages
You could not have known this dear Angela Merici, Elizabeth Seton, Louis de Montfort
In that dark night of your stellar sacrifice.
The universe roars towards life
Your star stuff begins to wear a face
form hands
shape a heart
a rule
a way
Love deepening,
Teaching the children, tending the sick, sheltering the homeless
Your star stuff going where no one else would dare-
Into Earth’s caverns where lepers, prostitutes, beggars fare
Love still deepening
Into Systems of government, corporations, United Nations
Love still deepening
Into universe, Earth, waters, air
Tending the Holy there
Can your stellar gift unfurl still?
Yes, Catherine McCauley, Jean Medaille, Emily Gamelin,
Catherine Drexel
Today you reach into the distant future
Through us
Even though we remember Mother Teresa bending over the moment
and still do so ourselves
The FUTURE presses in on us now
We feel the vulnerability of the child up ahead
Calling for a drink of clean water
Will there be any to be found?
The animals, plants, forests, streams
Vulnerable too in their innocence
With them- Joy
Without them- Soul Loss
Oh dear Mother Cabrini, Madeleine Barat, Vincent De Paul, Anna Dengel
It is for the WHOLE that we are no longer By-Standers
As if we ever were
Prayer
By Sister of St. Joseph Pat Bergen
Healer of Our Every Ill,
Breathe in and among all of us who dwell in this land.
Soothe our wounds. Calm our fears.
Mend our divisions.
Hope of All Tomorrows,
Open our deaf ears and fill us with Compassion.
Tender our hearts.
Inspire creative ideas to address the cries of our sisters, brothers and Earth itself.
Send forth your Spirit of Love and Unity.
Transform pointed fingers of blame into hands open in reverence to receive one another.
Fan into flame the gift of our founding
And let us be known again as a people
United for the goodness, justice and peace of all people forever.
Amen.
Peace Prayer
By Sister of St. Joseph Lyn Szymkiewicz
God of Great Love,
We commit ourselves to living
in the most sincere, true and
profound humility so that we might
give voice to your gospel of peace.
Empower us with your grace of union and
reconciliation so that we might be impelled
to give our whole lives for those deprived
of bread, peace and love.
Allow us the courage to give voice
to the cries of the poor,
to the terror of those at war,
to the humiliation of the many who are disenfranchised.
May your healing and unifying love flow
through us in such a way that it honors
every neighbor on Earth, without distinction,
in a manner that glorifies you as
the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier of all life.
Amen.
Peace Prayer
By Sister of St. Joseph Sally Witt
O God, you have placed within us
A longing for union with you
and with all our neighbors of the earth.
Yet we have broken that union;
It is fractured within us as well as
between friends and among nations.
Bring us to a time of stillness
That we may see your face in all our neighbors
And hear your voice through all creation.
Give us the courage to turn toward your healing love.
Show us how to mend the disputes of our days;
Bring all nations back to a desire for your peace.
We thank you, O God, our Creator,
Redeemer and Sanctifier,
For the longing of our hearts to live in you.
Amen.
From Dom Helder Camara
My personal vocation is to be a pilgrim of peace…..
I would prefer a thousand times more to be killed
than to kill anyone.
This personal position is founded on the Gospel…..
We need only turn to the Beatitudes to see
that the option for Christians is clear.
We, as Christians, are on the side of nonviolence
and this is in no way an option for weakness and passivity.
Opting for nonviolence means to believe more strongly
in the power of truth, justice and love
than in the power of wars, weapons and hatred.
Prayers related to Faith, Family, Holiday, Our Lady of Providence, Peace & Justice, Providence or Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
From the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods
By Sister of St. Joseph Pat Bergen
Healer of Our Every Ill,
Breathe in and among all of us who dwell in this land.
Soothe our wounds. Calm our fears.
Mend our divisions.
Hope of All Tomorrows,
Open our deaf ears and fill us with Compassion.
Tender our hearts.
Inspire creative ideas to address the cries of our sisters, brothers and Earth itself.
Send forth your Spirit of Love and Unity.
Transform pointed fingers of blame into hands open in reverence to receive one another.
Fan into flame the gift of our founding
And let us be known again as a people
United for the goodness, justice and peace of all people forever.
Amen.
Peace Prayer
By Sister of St. Joseph Lyn Szymkiewicz
God of Great Love,
We commit ourselves to living
in the most sincere, true and
profound humility so that we might
give voice to your gospel of peace.
Empower us with your grace of union and
reconciliation so that we might be impelled
to give our whole lives for those deprived
of bread, peace and love.
Allow us the courage to give voice
to the cries of the poor,
to the terror of those at war,
to the humiliation of the many who are disenfranchised.
May your healing and unifying love flow
through us in such a way that it honors
every neighbor on Earth, without distinction,
in a manner that glorifies you as
the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier of all life.
Amen.
Peace Prayer
By Sister of St. Joseph Sally Witt
O God, you have placed within us
A longing for union with you
and with all our neighbors of the earth.
Yet we have broken that union;
It is fractured within us as well as
between friends and among nations.
Bring us to a time of stillness
That we may see your face in all our neighbors
And hear your voice through all creation.
Give us the courage to turn toward your healing love.
Show us how to mend the disputes of our days;
Bring all nations back to a desire for your peace.
We thank you, O God, our Creator,
Redeemer and Sanctifier,
For the longing of our hearts to live in you.
Amen.
From Dom Helder Camara
My personal vocation is to be a pilgrim of peace…..
I would prefer a thousand times more to be killed
than to kill anyone.
This personal position is founded on the Gospel…..
We need only turn to the Beatitudes to see
that the option for Christians is clear.
We, as Christians, are on the side of nonviolence
and this is in no way an option for weakness and passivity.
Opting for nonviolence means to believe more strongly
in the power of truth, justice and love
than in the power of wars, weapons and hatred.
Prayers related to Faith, Family, Holiday, Our Lady of Providence, Peace & Justice, Providence or Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
From the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods
A treasure chest from Krista Tippett's "On Being"
-- beloved poems and their authors (Poetry can be a rich entry for contemplative grace.)
-- beloved poems and their authors (Poetry can be a rich entry for contemplative grace.)
A Moment for Grace: A Prayer for Refugees from Catholic Relief Services:
God of our Wandering Ancestors,
Long have we known
That your heart is with the refugee:
That you were born into time
In a family of refugees
Fleeing violence in their homeland,
Who then gathered up their hungry child
And fled into alien country.
Their cry, your cry, resounds through the ages:
“Will you let me in?”
Give us hearts that break open
When our brothers and sisters turn to us
with that same cry.
Then surely all these things will follow:
Ears will no longer turn deaf to their voices.
Eyes will see a moment for grace instead of a threat.
Tongues will not be silenced but will instead advocate.
And hands will reach out--
working for peace in their homeland,
working for justice in the lands where they seek safe haven.
Lord, protect all refugees in their travels.
May they find a friend in me
And so make me worthy
Of the refuge I have found in you.
Amen.
Also – the prayer of the Iraqi Dominican Sisters (many are themselves refugees now) for their General Chapter, July 2016
http://springfieldop.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IraqChapterPrayer_1_up.pdf
Prayer to Care for Our Common Home, based on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si.
Father of all,
Creator and ruler of the universe,
You entrusted your world to us as a gift.
Help us to care for it and all people,
that we may live in right relationship--
with You,
with ourselves,
with one another,
and with creation.
Christ our Lord,
both divine and human,
You lived among us and died for our sins.
Help us to imitate your love for the human family
by recognizing that we are all connected--
to our brothers and sisters around the world,
to those in poverty impacted by environmental devastation,
and to future generations.
Holy Spirit,
giver of wisdom and love,
You breathe life in us and guide us.
Help us to live according to your vision,
stirring to action the hearts of all--
individuals and families,
communities of faith,
and civil and political leaders.
Triune God, help us to hear the cry of those in poverty, and the cry of the earth, so that we may together care for our common home.
Amen.
Prayer for A Diverse Community, from the Education for Justice team at the Center of Concern:
Creator of all races and ethnicities,
help us see that a diverse community is the way
to deepen our lives and to know you more deeply.
Guide us to see that entering into a vital and just relationship
with others who are different from us
is the way to make ourselves whole.
Guard us from fear of the other,
from the fear that our own security is threatened
if we become truly willing to make a place at the table for all.
Open us to live out what we profess to believe:
That our true security is in You and in your call to justice and peace,
That we are a part of your global family,
That, because of your Incarnation, the human dignity of everyone is sacred,
And that we are constantly called to conversion and inclusive community.
We pray that you help us recognize any forms of racism in our hearts,
And in our legal systems and social structures.
Forgive us our sins of exclusion.
Heal our souls and spirits.
Ground us in compassion for all through your grace.
Help us take the steps you call us to take
To build a more just community,
Where difference is respected
And where we can all join hands
And rejoice in the common good.
Through the mercy of God, we pray.
Amen.
Also, the Sisters of Mercy offer a complete prayer service For the Elimination of Racism: http://www.sistersofmercy.org/resources/prayer-the-elimination-of-racism/
God of our Wandering Ancestors,
Long have we known
That your heart is with the refugee:
That you were born into time
In a family of refugees
Fleeing violence in their homeland,
Who then gathered up their hungry child
And fled into alien country.
Their cry, your cry, resounds through the ages:
“Will you let me in?”
Give us hearts that break open
When our brothers and sisters turn to us
with that same cry.
Then surely all these things will follow:
Ears will no longer turn deaf to their voices.
Eyes will see a moment for grace instead of a threat.
Tongues will not be silenced but will instead advocate.
And hands will reach out--
working for peace in their homeland,
working for justice in the lands where they seek safe haven.
Lord, protect all refugees in their travels.
May they find a friend in me
And so make me worthy
Of the refuge I have found in you.
Amen.
Also – the prayer of the Iraqi Dominican Sisters (many are themselves refugees now) for their General Chapter, July 2016
http://springfieldop.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IraqChapterPrayer_1_up.pdf
Prayer to Care for Our Common Home, based on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si.
Father of all,
Creator and ruler of the universe,
You entrusted your world to us as a gift.
Help us to care for it and all people,
that we may live in right relationship--
with You,
with ourselves,
with one another,
and with creation.
Christ our Lord,
both divine and human,
You lived among us and died for our sins.
Help us to imitate your love for the human family
by recognizing that we are all connected--
to our brothers and sisters around the world,
to those in poverty impacted by environmental devastation,
and to future generations.
Holy Spirit,
giver of wisdom and love,
You breathe life in us and guide us.
Help us to live according to your vision,
stirring to action the hearts of all--
individuals and families,
communities of faith,
and civil and political leaders.
Triune God, help us to hear the cry of those in poverty, and the cry of the earth, so that we may together care for our common home.
Amen.
Prayer for A Diverse Community, from the Education for Justice team at the Center of Concern:
Creator of all races and ethnicities,
help us see that a diverse community is the way
to deepen our lives and to know you more deeply.
Guide us to see that entering into a vital and just relationship
with others who are different from us
is the way to make ourselves whole.
Guard us from fear of the other,
from the fear that our own security is threatened
if we become truly willing to make a place at the table for all.
Open us to live out what we profess to believe:
That our true security is in You and in your call to justice and peace,
That we are a part of your global family,
That, because of your Incarnation, the human dignity of everyone is sacred,
And that we are constantly called to conversion and inclusive community.
We pray that you help us recognize any forms of racism in our hearts,
And in our legal systems and social structures.
Forgive us our sins of exclusion.
Heal our souls and spirits.
Ground us in compassion for all through your grace.
Help us take the steps you call us to take
To build a more just community,
Where difference is respected
And where we can all join hands
And rejoice in the common good.
Through the mercy of God, we pray.
Amen.
Also, the Sisters of Mercy offer a complete prayer service For the Elimination of Racism: http://www.sistersofmercy.org/resources/prayer-the-elimination-of-racism/
Prayer for Conscience and Courage in Times of Public Struggle – Joan Chittister, a Benedictine Sister of Erie, PA (excerpt) -- Please click on the title to pray this whole prayer with us. It is magnificent.
Loving God,
lead us beyond ourselves
to care and protect,
to nourish and shape,
to challenge and energize
both the life and the world
You have given us.
God of light and God of darkness,
God of conscience and God of courage,
lead us through this time
of spiritual confusion and public uncertainty.
Lead us beyond fear, apathy and defensiveness
to new hope in You and to hearts full of faith.
Give us the conscience it takes
to comprehend what we’re facing,
to see what we’re looking at
and to say what we see
so that others, hearing us,
may also brave the pressure that comes
with being out of public step.
Give us the courage we need
to confront those things
that compromise our consciences
or threaten our integrity.
Give us, most of all,
the courage to follow those before us
who challenged wrong and changed it,
whatever the cost to themselves.
Mary, Mother of Jesus…
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys…
St. Thomas Aquinas…
St. Maximilian Kolbe…
St. Polycarp…
St. Joan of Arc…
St. Basil the Great…
Shiphrah and Puah…
St. Stanislaus …
St. John the Baptist…
St. Teresa of Avila…
St. Hildegard of Bingen…
St. Hugh…
St. Pope John XXIII…
Holy Mohandas Gandhi…
Holy Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz…
Holy Mary Ward…
Holy Maura Clarke and Companions…
Holy Stephen Biko…
Holy Cesar Chavez…
Holy John Howard Griffin…
Holy Philip Berrigan…
Finally, Great God,
give us the kind of faith in you
that was the mainstay of those before us
who followed you from
Galilee to Jerusalem doing good,
raising the dead to life
and singing alleluia all the way.
God of Conscience,
God of Courage
give us whatever grace we need
to work for the coming
of the reign of God
now, here and always.
Amen.
“I Discovered Minorities”– by Dom Helder Camara
I was forced to accept that institutions as a whole are too cumbersome… It isn’t easy to mobilize even a single university; it’s impossible to mobilize several… So then I discovered minorities. It’s true that all the various institutions taken as a whole are difficult to move; but it’s also absolutely true, experimentally demonstrable, that in every institution, every human group everywhere, no matter what the country, race, or religion, there are minorities who, beneath a vast diversity of denominations, leaders, and objectives, share a common hunger and thirst for justice; minorities for whom justice is the path of peace. I now believe that the moral pressure to liberate humankind will come not from institutions as a whole, but from the minorities that I still call Abrahamic, ...in honor of Abraham, the father of all those who over the centuries have continued to hope against hope… What they share is the same hunger and thirst for justice as the path to peace.
(I discovered Dom Helder Camara because St. Joseph Sister Janet Mock, past LCWR executive director, cited him as a tremendous influence on her and her leadership. The above is from an essay in Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings, edited by Francis McDonagh, in Orbis Books’ Modern Spiritual Masters Series.)
We Bless You, Father – by Dom Helder Camara
We bless you, Father,
for the thirst
you put in us,
for the boldness
you inspire,
for the fire
alight in us,
that is you in us,
you the just.
Never mind
that our thirst
is mostly unquenched
(pity the satisfied).
Never mind
our bold plots
are mostly unclinched,
wanted not realized.
Who better than you
knows that success
comes not from us?
You ask us to do
our utmost only,
but willingly.
(I discovered Dom Helder Camara because St. Joseph Sister Janet Mock, past LCWR executive director, cited him as a tremendous influence on her and her leadership. This prayer is in Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings, edited by Francis McDonagh, in Orbis Books’ Modern Spiritual Masters Series.)
Maryknoll Prayer for Peace and a Healing of the Wounds of War (2006)
Faced with the frightening prospect of continued chaos spilling out of the Mideast, we affirm our commitment to reverence the dignity of each person and the whole community of life.
For an end to the violence, O God of Peace, we pray.
For an end to the mourning, an end to the suffering, O God of Peace, we pray.
For comfort and the healing of broken hearts, O God of Peace, we pray.
For the people of Iraq, Syria, France, Lebanon, and more, we pray.
For surviving family members and loved ones, we pray.
For those whose broken bodies carry the scars of war, we pray.
For the earth damaged by war, we pray.
God of Life, we are filled with a deep yearning for peace. We ache with the pain and fear of those who have loved ones - or who themselves are - now in danger. We ask you to guide our leaders toward a just and lasting resolution of this dreadful conflict. We ask you to gift the human community with a new capacity to build right relationships in a bitterly divided world.
Seeking to participate actively in the transformation of the world, pursuing social justice, the integrity of creation, and - with even greater intensity in these times - peace, we ask this in the name of Jesus, our brother. Amen.
Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred,
Let me sow love,
Where there is injury,
Pardon,
Where there is doubt,
Faith,
Where there is despair,
Hope,
Where there is darkness,
Light,
Where there is sadness,
Joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consolded
As to console,
To be understood
As to understand,
To be loved
As to love.
For it is in giving
That we receive.
It is in pardoning
That we are pardoned.
And it is in dying
That we are born to eternal life.
O You Who are Wisdom and Courage,
What would you like us to courageously unlearn?
What would you like us to courageously imagine?
What would you like us to courageously propose?
What would you like us to courageously reject?
How would you like us to combine courage and love?
What is the first step you’d like us to take?
May we have the wisdom and courage
to let your Holy Mystery be revealed among us.
What would you like us to courageously unlearn?
What would you like us to courageously imagine?
What would you like us to courageously propose?
What would you like us to courageously reject?
How would you like us to combine courage and love?
What is the first step you’d like us to take?
May we have the wisdom and courage
to let your Holy Mystery be revealed among us.
Prayer for Justice, Peace, and Truth - by Rabbi H. Rolando Matalon (from the Center of Concern)
O God Source of Life, Creator of Peace,
help Your children, anguished and confused,
to understand the futility of hatred and violence
and grant them the ability to stretch across
political, religious and national boundaries
so they may confront horror and fear
by continuing together
in the search for justice, peace and truth.
With every fiber of our being
we beg You, O God,
to help us not to fail nor falter. Amen.
A Native American Prayer for Peace – by a Cheyenne Indian (from the Center of Concern)
Let us know peace.
For as long as the moon shall rise,
For as long as the rivers shall flow,
For as long as the sun will shine,
For as long as the grass shall grow,
Let us know peace.
An Islamic Prayer for Peace -- a saying from The Prophet, used in daily prayer by Muslims (from the Center of Concern)
Oh God, You are Peace.
From You comes Peace,
To You Returns Peace.
Revive us with a salutation of Peace,
and lead us to your abode of Peace.
A Muslim Prayer for Peace (from the Center of Concern)
In the name of Allah,
the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of the
Universe who has created us and
made us into tribes and nations
that we may know each other, not that
we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do
thou also incline towards peace, and
trust God, for the Lord is the one that
heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God,
Most gracious are those who walk on
the Earth in humility, and when we
address them, we say "PEACE."
A Buddhist Prayer for Peace (from the Center of Concern)
May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness--
the children, the aged, the unprotected--
be surrounded by great compassion and lovingkindness.
Many more prayers from the Center of Concern and its Education for Justice project – and here are specifically their Peace Prayers
O God Source of Life, Creator of Peace,
help Your children, anguished and confused,
to understand the futility of hatred and violence
and grant them the ability to stretch across
political, religious and national boundaries
so they may confront horror and fear
by continuing together
in the search for justice, peace and truth.
With every fiber of our being
we beg You, O God,
to help us not to fail nor falter. Amen.
A Native American Prayer for Peace – by a Cheyenne Indian (from the Center of Concern)
Let us know peace.
For as long as the moon shall rise,
For as long as the rivers shall flow,
For as long as the sun will shine,
For as long as the grass shall grow,
Let us know peace.
An Islamic Prayer for Peace -- a saying from The Prophet, used in daily prayer by Muslims (from the Center of Concern)
Oh God, You are Peace.
From You comes Peace,
To You Returns Peace.
Revive us with a salutation of Peace,
and lead us to your abode of Peace.
A Muslim Prayer for Peace (from the Center of Concern)
In the name of Allah,
the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of the
Universe who has created us and
made us into tribes and nations
that we may know each other, not that
we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do
thou also incline towards peace, and
trust God, for the Lord is the one that
heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God,
Most gracious are those who walk on
the Earth in humility, and when we
address them, we say "PEACE."
A Buddhist Prayer for Peace (from the Center of Concern)
May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness--
the children, the aged, the unprotected--
be surrounded by great compassion and lovingkindness.
Many more prayers from the Center of Concern and its Education for Justice project – and here are specifically their Peace Prayers
Pax Christi Prayer for an End to Violence, War, and Senseless Death – by Jesuit Father Jim Hug (excerpt)
O Loving God,
We so often and for so long hear about the guns and rockets, drones and bombs.
We see the pictures of death in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan, Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, Central African Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala,…
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
In these few months, we have heard the weapons and seen the blood of mass shootings and gang violence in cities, towns and villages across our nation.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
The bombs are exploding again....
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
Violence continues hidden in so many homes and families around the world – and the abuse of innocent children….
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
In so many parts of the world today, the air is tense with
Waiting, uncertainty, insecurity.
From ravaged lands, destroyed by war, Your peoples lift their hands to you.
We pray for stillness, for justice, and for peace to come and to last. We fear that they will not.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
O God, our maker, God of Abraham and Sarah, from whom three great religions stemmed. We pray for peace.
We pray for peaceful existence between Israelis and Palestinians, Sunnis and Shiites, Muslims, Jews and Christians.
We pray for negotiations which can reach the roots of historical conflicts.
We pray for a commitment to human rights by all sides and the protection of all lives.
We pray for effective international intervention to ensure justice for all sides.
We pray for humanitarian aid and rebuilding where destruction has occurred.
We pray for peace and for justice in our homes and city streets.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
We pray for an end to violence, war and senseless death.
Grant us this, peaceful God.Grant us a peaceful world. Amen.
A Prayer for Peace – Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister
Great God, who has told us
"Vengeance is mine,"
save us from ourselves,
save us from the vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.
Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.
Give us the strength it takes
to listen rather than to judge,
to trust rather than to fear,
to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.
We ask, O God, for the grace
to be our best selves.
We ask for the vision
to be builders of the human community
rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people
to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.
We ask for the love it takes
to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the heart it takes
to care for all the peoples
of Afghanistan and Iraq, of Palestine and Israel
as well as for ourselves.
Give us the depth of soul, O God,
to constrain our might,
to resist the temptations of power
to refuse to attack the attackable,
to understand
that vengeance begets violence,
and to bring peace--not war--wherever we go.
For You, O God, have been merciful to us.
For You, O God, have been patient with us.
For You, O God, have been gracious to us.
And so may we be merciful
and patient
and gracious
and trusting
with these others whom you also love.
This we ask through Jesus,
the one without vengeance in his heart.
This we ask forever and ever. Amen
More Prayers by Joan Chittister, Benedictine Sister of Erie
O Loving God,
We so often and for so long hear about the guns and rockets, drones and bombs.
We see the pictures of death in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan, Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, Central African Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala,…
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
In these few months, we have heard the weapons and seen the blood of mass shootings and gang violence in cities, towns and villages across our nation.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
The bombs are exploding again....
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
Violence continues hidden in so many homes and families around the world – and the abuse of innocent children….
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
In so many parts of the world today, the air is tense with
Waiting, uncertainty, insecurity.
From ravaged lands, destroyed by war, Your peoples lift their hands to you.
We pray for stillness, for justice, and for peace to come and to last. We fear that they will not.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
O God, our maker, God of Abraham and Sarah, from whom three great religions stemmed. We pray for peace.
We pray for peaceful existence between Israelis and Palestinians, Sunnis and Shiites, Muslims, Jews and Christians.
We pray for negotiations which can reach the roots of historical conflicts.
We pray for a commitment to human rights by all sides and the protection of all lives.
We pray for effective international intervention to ensure justice for all sides.
We pray for humanitarian aid and rebuilding where destruction has occurred.
We pray for peace and for justice in our homes and city streets.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love.
Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer
and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
We pray for an end to violence, war and senseless death.
Grant us this, peaceful God.Grant us a peaceful world. Amen.
A Prayer for Peace – Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister
Great God, who has told us
"Vengeance is mine,"
save us from ourselves,
save us from the vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.
Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.
Give us the strength it takes
to listen rather than to judge,
to trust rather than to fear,
to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.
We ask, O God, for the grace
to be our best selves.
We ask for the vision
to be builders of the human community
rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people
to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.
We ask for the love it takes
to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the heart it takes
to care for all the peoples
of Afghanistan and Iraq, of Palestine and Israel
as well as for ourselves.
Give us the depth of soul, O God,
to constrain our might,
to resist the temptations of power
to refuse to attack the attackable,
to understand
that vengeance begets violence,
and to bring peace--not war--wherever we go.
For You, O God, have been merciful to us.
For You, O God, have been patient with us.
For You, O God, have been gracious to us.
And so may we be merciful
and patient
and gracious
and trusting
with these others whom you also love.
This we ask through Jesus,
the one without vengeance in his heart.
This we ask forever and ever. Amen
More Prayers by Joan Chittister, Benedictine Sister of Erie
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace – by Deborah Harmeling, a Benedictine sister. (The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace post a weekly Peace Prayer. This is part of the prayer for November 17, 2015)
O God of Mercy and Tender Compassion,
We cry out to you in this time of crisis.
Hear the cries of the people of Syria.
Bring healing to those suffering from violence
and comfort to those mourning the dead.
O God of Hope,
sustain those who labor for peaceful and just solutions.
Inspire leaders and decision makers to choose the way of
peace over the way of violence.
Deliver all your children from the threat of war
and teach us to encounter one another with reverence and love.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ
Who came to bring to peace on earth
And who abides with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace – prepared by Carmen Little, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace. Her congregation posts a weekly Peace Prayer. This is part of the prayer for November 24, 2015)
Recognizing gospel peace as both gift and task,
we believe that prayer is fundamental to our life.
Our intimacy with God unifies our prayer and activity
so that we are moved to action by prayer
while action urges us to pray.
In unity with the church and with all creation
we give praise and thanks to the Giver of all gifts.
We open ourselves to the liberating power of God
whose Spirit in us leads to peace.
Spirituality of Peace of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
"Peace is God's gift to us,
given in Christ,
a gift we experience and enjoy now,
though not in its completeness.
We believe that peace
points beyond itself in hope
to the fullness of time." (Constitution 1)
Recognizing gospel peace as both gift and task,
we believe that prayer is fundamental to our life.
Our intimacy with God
unifies our prayer and activity
so that we are moved to action by prayer
while action urges us to pray.
In unity with the church
and with all of creation
we give praise and thanks to the Giver of all gifts.
We open ourselves to the liberating power of God
whose Spirit in us leads to peace." (Constitution 28)
A Muslim Prayer for Peace – from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace (November 17, 2015) – prepared by Carmen Little, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace
O believers, be steadfast witnesses for God with justice.
Do not let the hatred of the people make you act unjustly.
Be just, for justice is next to piety.
(The Qur’an: 5:8)
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Accept our prayer to sustain us
and our brothers and sisters of different beliefs
in our desire for peace.
Help us to find this peace in our living together.
Lead us from hate to love and from violence to peace,
from fear to trust and from despair to hope.
Enable us to eliminate poverty, prejudice and oppression
so that peace may prevail with righteousness and justice. Amen
A Jewish Prayer for Peace – from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace (November 17, 2015) – prepared by Carmen Little, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace
This we know:
fear can yield to faith, hope can reignite,
rage can cease, hatred can be melted…
Merciful One, illumine the sight of your children
to see you in each other’s eyes.
Merciful One spread the canopy of your peace
over us, over Ishmael, over all who dwell on earth. Amen.
Prayer for Wholeness - shared by Alex Weissman
Oh World of Miracles, you are supremely broken.
Your shards are painful and cutting.
Your pieces are scattered across the globe, aching for wholeness.
We seek justice and peace in you.
We long and love, divine sparks igniting fires within us.
We tend the embers and feed the flames, at times nearly consuming ourselves
and our neighbors.
We pray for-no, we demand-open heartedness and resilience.
We seek grace and peace.
We pursue justice.
May the fragments of our world and the brokenness of our souls be blessed
with strength, wisdom, and compassion.
May we be whole again, quickly, in our days.
Blessing in a Time of Violence –by Jan Richardson, with gorgeous accompanying artwork at her Painted Prayerbook (excerpt -- please pray the whole, it's beautiful)
Which is to say
this blessing
is always.
Which is to say
there is no place
this blessing
does not long
to cry out
in lament,
to weep its words
in sorrow,
to scream its lines
in sacred rage....
O God of Mercy and Tender Compassion,
We cry out to you in this time of crisis.
Hear the cries of the people of Syria.
Bring healing to those suffering from violence
and comfort to those mourning the dead.
O God of Hope,
sustain those who labor for peaceful and just solutions.
Inspire leaders and decision makers to choose the way of
peace over the way of violence.
Deliver all your children from the threat of war
and teach us to encounter one another with reverence and love.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ
Who came to bring to peace on earth
And who abides with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace – prepared by Carmen Little, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace. Her congregation posts a weekly Peace Prayer. This is part of the prayer for November 24, 2015)
Recognizing gospel peace as both gift and task,
we believe that prayer is fundamental to our life.
Our intimacy with God unifies our prayer and activity
so that we are moved to action by prayer
while action urges us to pray.
In unity with the church and with all creation
we give praise and thanks to the Giver of all gifts.
We open ourselves to the liberating power of God
whose Spirit in us leads to peace.
Spirituality of Peace of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
"Peace is God's gift to us,
given in Christ,
a gift we experience and enjoy now,
though not in its completeness.
We believe that peace
points beyond itself in hope
to the fullness of time." (Constitution 1)
Recognizing gospel peace as both gift and task,
we believe that prayer is fundamental to our life.
Our intimacy with God
unifies our prayer and activity
so that we are moved to action by prayer
while action urges us to pray.
In unity with the church
and with all of creation
we give praise and thanks to the Giver of all gifts.
We open ourselves to the liberating power of God
whose Spirit in us leads to peace." (Constitution 28)
A Muslim Prayer for Peace – from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace (November 17, 2015) – prepared by Carmen Little, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace
O believers, be steadfast witnesses for God with justice.
Do not let the hatred of the people make you act unjustly.
Be just, for justice is next to piety.
(The Qur’an: 5:8)
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Accept our prayer to sustain us
and our brothers and sisters of different beliefs
in our desire for peace.
Help us to find this peace in our living together.
Lead us from hate to love and from violence to peace,
from fear to trust and from despair to hope.
Enable us to eliminate poverty, prejudice and oppression
so that peace may prevail with righteousness and justice. Amen
A Jewish Prayer for Peace – from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace (November 17, 2015) – prepared by Carmen Little, a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace
This we know:
fear can yield to faith, hope can reignite,
rage can cease, hatred can be melted…
Merciful One, illumine the sight of your children
to see you in each other’s eyes.
Merciful One spread the canopy of your peace
over us, over Ishmael, over all who dwell on earth. Amen.
Prayer for Wholeness - shared by Alex Weissman
Oh World of Miracles, you are supremely broken.
Your shards are painful and cutting.
Your pieces are scattered across the globe, aching for wholeness.
We seek justice and peace in you.
We long and love, divine sparks igniting fires within us.
We tend the embers and feed the flames, at times nearly consuming ourselves
and our neighbors.
We pray for-no, we demand-open heartedness and resilience.
We seek grace and peace.
We pursue justice.
May the fragments of our world and the brokenness of our souls be blessed
with strength, wisdom, and compassion.
May we be whole again, quickly, in our days.
Blessing in a Time of Violence –by Jan Richardson, with gorgeous accompanying artwork at her Painted Prayerbook (excerpt -- please pray the whole, it's beautiful)
Which is to say
this blessing
is always.
Which is to say
there is no place
this blessing
does not long
to cry out
in lament,
to weep its words
in sorrow,
to scream its lines
in sacred rage....
A Prayer for the World – Rabbi Harold Kushner (2003)
Let the rain come and wash away
the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds
held and nurtured over generations.
Let the rain wash away the memory
of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and
fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us
wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that
we can see each other clearly.
So that we can see beyond labels,
beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness
of the sun melt our selfishness.
So that we can share the joys and
feel the sorrows of our neighbors.
And let the light of the sun
be so strong that we will see all
people as our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished by rain,
bring forth flowers
to surround us with beauty.
And let the mountains teach our hearts
to reach upward to heaven.
Amen.
Prayer for Peace – Mian Ashraf, New England Islamic Center, Sharon, MA (on the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful:
Guide us on the straight way, the way of those whom thou has blessed.
Help us so that we do not transgress
the bounds of what is right and lawful.
Take us out of deep darkness into light.
Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear.
Help us bring about mutual affection and understanding between us.
Grant us Thy forgiveness and blessings, O Our Sustainer,
for with Thee is all journeys' end.
Amen.
Prayer for Peace – Rabbi Herbert Bronstein, Northshore Congregation Israel, Glencoe, IL (on the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Sustain together in undiminished hope, O God of hope,
those who continue to labor with undiminished determination
to build peace in the land from which, of old,
out of brokenness, violence and destruction,
nevertheless hope emerged for so many of faith.
Bless all the spiritual seed of Abraham together
with the light of your Presence.
For in the light of your Presence
we have found a way of justice and mercy
and a vision of Peace.
We praise you O God, Giver of Peace,
who commands us to Peace.
Amen
More Prayers for Peace from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
A Prayer for Simplicity and Peace, by Michael Leunig, Australian poet/cartoonist and Quaker
Dear God,
We give thanks for places of simplicity and peace.
Let us find such a place within ourselves.
We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty.
Let us find such a place within ourselves.
We give thanks for places of nature’s truth and freedom,
of joy, inspiration, and renewal,
places where all creatures may find acceptance and belonging.
Let us search for these places in the world,
in ourselves, and in others.
Let us restore them. Let us strengthen and protect them,
and let us create them.
May we mend this outer world
according to the truth of our inner life
and may our souls be shaped
and nourished by nature’s eternal wisdom.
Amen
Peace Prayers of Different Religious Traditions from the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Reader l BUDDIST
May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be free:
May the powerless find power,
And may people think of befriending one another.
Reader 2 HINDU
May God protect us.
Common be our resolution.
Alike be our feeling towards our fellow beings.
United be our hearts.
Perfect be our unity for peace.
Reader 3 JANIST
I forgive all creatures.
And let all creatures forgive me.
Know that violence is the root cause
of all miseries in the world.
Reader 4 MUSLIM
Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe.
The Mercy-Giving, the Merciful!
You do we worship and You do we call on for help.
Guide us along the Straight Road.
Reader 5 AFRICAN
Almighty God,
You are the One who does not hesitate to respond to our call:
You are the Cornerstone of Peace.
We pray for world peace.
Let peace reign in the Vatican.
Grant peace to Africa.
Grant peace to individuals, to homes and families,
And extend the same to all corners of the world.
Reader 6 AMERINDIAN
O Great Spirit,
I raise my pipe to you,
to your messengers the Four Winds,
and to Mother Earth, who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect,
And to be kind to each other, so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all the good things that you provide for us on this earth.
Reader 7 JEWISH
O Lord in heaven,
Give peace to the earth.
Give well being to the world.
Establish tranquility in our dwellings.
And let us say, "Amen!"
CHRISTIAN
Our Father, our Mother, who art in heaven…
Peace Prayer of St. John of the Cross – from the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which offers additional prayers
O blessed Jesus, give me stillness of soul in You. Let your mighty calmness reign in me. Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace.
Let the rain come and wash away
the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds
held and nurtured over generations.
Let the rain wash away the memory
of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and
fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us
wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that
we can see each other clearly.
So that we can see beyond labels,
beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness
of the sun melt our selfishness.
So that we can share the joys and
feel the sorrows of our neighbors.
And let the light of the sun
be so strong that we will see all
people as our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished by rain,
bring forth flowers
to surround us with beauty.
And let the mountains teach our hearts
to reach upward to heaven.
Amen.
Prayer for Peace – Mian Ashraf, New England Islamic Center, Sharon, MA (on the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful:
Guide us on the straight way, the way of those whom thou has blessed.
Help us so that we do not transgress
the bounds of what is right and lawful.
Take us out of deep darkness into light.
Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear.
Help us bring about mutual affection and understanding between us.
Grant us Thy forgiveness and blessings, O Our Sustainer,
for with Thee is all journeys' end.
Amen.
Prayer for Peace – Rabbi Herbert Bronstein, Northshore Congregation Israel, Glencoe, IL (on the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Sustain together in undiminished hope, O God of hope,
those who continue to labor with undiminished determination
to build peace in the land from which, of old,
out of brokenness, violence and destruction,
nevertheless hope emerged for so many of faith.
Bless all the spiritual seed of Abraham together
with the light of your Presence.
For in the light of your Presence
we have found a way of justice and mercy
and a vision of Peace.
We praise you O God, Giver of Peace,
who commands us to Peace.
Amen
More Prayers for Peace from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
A Prayer for Simplicity and Peace, by Michael Leunig, Australian poet/cartoonist and Quaker
Dear God,
We give thanks for places of simplicity and peace.
Let us find such a place within ourselves.
We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty.
Let us find such a place within ourselves.
We give thanks for places of nature’s truth and freedom,
of joy, inspiration, and renewal,
places where all creatures may find acceptance and belonging.
Let us search for these places in the world,
in ourselves, and in others.
Let us restore them. Let us strengthen and protect them,
and let us create them.
May we mend this outer world
according to the truth of our inner life
and may our souls be shaped
and nourished by nature’s eternal wisdom.
Amen
Peace Prayers of Different Religious Traditions from the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Reader l BUDDIST
May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be free:
May the powerless find power,
And may people think of befriending one another.
Reader 2 HINDU
May God protect us.
Common be our resolution.
Alike be our feeling towards our fellow beings.
United be our hearts.
Perfect be our unity for peace.
Reader 3 JANIST
I forgive all creatures.
And let all creatures forgive me.
Know that violence is the root cause
of all miseries in the world.
Reader 4 MUSLIM
Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe.
The Mercy-Giving, the Merciful!
You do we worship and You do we call on for help.
Guide us along the Straight Road.
Reader 5 AFRICAN
Almighty God,
You are the One who does not hesitate to respond to our call:
You are the Cornerstone of Peace.
We pray for world peace.
Let peace reign in the Vatican.
Grant peace to Africa.
Grant peace to individuals, to homes and families,
And extend the same to all corners of the world.
Reader 6 AMERINDIAN
O Great Spirit,
I raise my pipe to you,
to your messengers the Four Winds,
and to Mother Earth, who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect,
And to be kind to each other, so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all the good things that you provide for us on this earth.
Reader 7 JEWISH
O Lord in heaven,
Give peace to the earth.
Give well being to the world.
Establish tranquility in our dwellings.
And let us say, "Amen!"
CHRISTIAN
Our Father, our Mother, who art in heaven…
Peace Prayer of St. John of the Cross – from the website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which offers additional prayers
O blessed Jesus, give me stillness of soul in You. Let your mighty calmness reign in me. Rule me, O King of Gentleness, King of Peace.
Peace Prayer Service from the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, IN (exerpt -- Adapted from The Way of Peace by Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild, and from the writings of Pope John Paul II on a visit to Hiroshima, Japan
Response: In the name of peace, may we grow in courage to challenge injustice.
To you, Creator of nature and humanity, of truth and beauty, we pray: Hear our voices, for they are the voices of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations.
(Response)
Hear our voices, for they are the voices of all children who suffer and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war.
(Response)
Hear our voices when we beg you to instill into the hearts of all human beings the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of being together.
(Response)
Hear our voices, for we speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace.
(Response)
Hear our voices, for they are the voices of the multitudes who look to their leadership for peaceful and just conditions in their countries.
(Response)
Hear our voices and grant insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.
(Response)
Hear the voices of all our sisters, associates and those who minister with us as we strive to be bearers of God’s peace and hope to the world.
Response:
O God, hear our voices, and grant the world your everlasting peace.
Amen.
Prayer for Protection – by James Dillet Freeman
The light of God surrounds you,
The love of God enfolds you,
The power of God protects you,
The presence of God watches over you.
Wherever you are,
God is.
La luz de Dios de rodea,
El amor de Dios te abraza,
La fuerza de Dios de protégé,
La prescencia de Dios te vigila,
Donde tu eras,
Alli Dios esta.
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of Charity of New York
There is a longing in the hearts of all who follow the Charity way to become the peace we yearn for. Vincent, Louise, Elizabeth Ann lived lives of amazing peace in the midst of turmoil, strife, war. What was their secret? They included everyone and everything within the circles of their lives. They were peace to all they encountered.
We pray in the first decades of a millennium already marked with the blood of countless victims of terror, famine, genocide:
“Blessed Peacemaker, come to our aid as we struggle with all the ways we lack peace in our own hearts and homes. Guide us to that place deep within where you wait for us in the silence; where your gift of peace resides. Lamb of God, dona nobis pacem!”
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of Mercy – by Pat Kenny, RSM
Loving God, you inspire us with love for all persons
and concern for the well-being of all creation.
Give us today the strength and courage
to transform the compassion of our hearts
into acts of peace, mercy, and justice.
Forgive us for desires for vengeance and retaliation.
Help us to renounce all forms of violence:
prejudice, unfair allegations, intolerance, and injury.
Give us the courage to resist
all actions that threaten the lives and livelihoods of innocent people.
Empower us to live out the caring presence
of the merciful and generous persons we claim to be.
Make us channels of your peace, bearers of healing,
women and men who hear and respond with alacrity
to pleas for justice in our world.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus
Who came among us to show us the way.
Response: In the name of peace, may we grow in courage to challenge injustice.
To you, Creator of nature and humanity, of truth and beauty, we pray: Hear our voices, for they are the voices of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations.
(Response)
Hear our voices, for they are the voices of all children who suffer and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war.
(Response)
Hear our voices when we beg you to instill into the hearts of all human beings the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of being together.
(Response)
Hear our voices, for we speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace.
(Response)
Hear our voices, for they are the voices of the multitudes who look to their leadership for peaceful and just conditions in their countries.
(Response)
Hear our voices and grant insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.
(Response)
Hear the voices of all our sisters, associates and those who minister with us as we strive to be bearers of God’s peace and hope to the world.
Response:
O God, hear our voices, and grant the world your everlasting peace.
Amen.
Prayer for Protection – by James Dillet Freeman
The light of God surrounds you,
The love of God enfolds you,
The power of God protects you,
The presence of God watches over you.
Wherever you are,
God is.
La luz de Dios de rodea,
El amor de Dios te abraza,
La fuerza de Dios de protégé,
La prescencia de Dios te vigila,
Donde tu eras,
Alli Dios esta.
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of Charity of New York
There is a longing in the hearts of all who follow the Charity way to become the peace we yearn for. Vincent, Louise, Elizabeth Ann lived lives of amazing peace in the midst of turmoil, strife, war. What was their secret? They included everyone and everything within the circles of their lives. They were peace to all they encountered.
We pray in the first decades of a millennium already marked with the blood of countless victims of terror, famine, genocide:
“Blessed Peacemaker, come to our aid as we struggle with all the ways we lack peace in our own hearts and homes. Guide us to that place deep within where you wait for us in the silence; where your gift of peace resides. Lamb of God, dona nobis pacem!”
Prayer for Peace of the Sisters of Mercy – by Pat Kenny, RSM
Loving God, you inspire us with love for all persons
and concern for the well-being of all creation.
Give us today the strength and courage
to transform the compassion of our hearts
into acts of peace, mercy, and justice.
Forgive us for desires for vengeance and retaliation.
Help us to renounce all forms of violence:
prejudice, unfair allegations, intolerance, and injury.
Give us the courage to resist
all actions that threaten the lives and livelihoods of innocent people.
Empower us to live out the caring presence
of the merciful and generous persons we claim to be.
Make us channels of your peace, bearers of healing,
women and men who hear and respond with alacrity
to pleas for justice in our world.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus
Who came among us to show us the way.
Guided Intercessory Prayer for Person or Place or Situation – Fr. Philip Cover
Take a moment to be mindful of the presence of God present in all things around you, through you, in you.
If there is a person or place or situation in your life or in the world that draws you into intercessory pray, be mindful of it in God’s presence. If there is no specific person or place or situation, ask God to bring forth into your heart the presence of someone, place for situation for whom God would have you pray.
Enter into intercession with these prayers addressed to God in a stance of holy listening.
1. God, what is your prayer for this person/place/situation?
2. What is your prayer in me for this person/place/situation?
3. What do you want my prayer to be for myself in this regard?
4. How would you have me be with this person/place/situation?
5. Is there anything I need to surrender in order to join more fully and freely in your prayer for this person/place/situation?
6. How would you have me see this person/place/situation?
7. Is there anything for me to say or do on your behalf? in regard to this person/place/situation?
8. How would you have me hold this person/ place/ situation in my heart?
End with a deep desire for a continual yielding to God’s prayer at work in you.
The Long View – by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, Michigan in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero
It helps now and then to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts. It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our life time only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which another way of saying that the Kingdom always likes beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession fully accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goal and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about…
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something and do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but its a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers not master builders. Ministers, not messiahs. We are all prophets of a future that is not our own.
Rules of Thumb for Change Agents – by Herbert Shepard
[This wasn’t written as a prayer. But it has helped me to shape my prayer since Bob Snipes first gave it to me in the 1970s.)
What they did yesterday afternoon (excerpt) - by Warsan Shire
later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.
Christian Peacemaker Teams’ Litany of Resistance (excerpt) – by Jim Loney (1991)
One: With the help of God's grace
All: We will struggle for justice
One: With the compassion of Christ
All: We will stand for what is true
One: With God's abiding kindness
All: We will love even our enemies
One: With the love of Christ
All: We will resist all evil
One: With God's unending faithfulness
All: We will work to build the beloved community
One: With Christ's passionate love
All: We will carry the cross
One: With God's overwhelming goodness
All: We will walk as pilgrims of peace
One: With Christ's fervent conviction
All: We will labour for truth
One: With God's infinite mercy
All: We will live in solidarity with all people
One: In the end there are three things that last
All: Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love
One: Let us abide in God's love
All: Thanks be to God.
Christian Peacemaker Teams’ Call to Worship – in their prayer service on Divine Obedience, Part 1 – by Ched Myers (1983)
[L – leader; P – people]
L: Come! And trust that which brought you here.
P: Come! Riding on the grace of the wind.
L: Come! Floating on the river that feeds your soul.
P: Come! Walking on the path that unfolds before you.
L: Come! Be present in this sacred moment.
All: You are welcome in this holy place.
More Prayers from Christian Peacemaker Teams
Ploughshares Prayer for Peace 2 – by David Tonghou Ngong
Also posted on the Lakeshore Baptist Church website
Dear God, we hear of peace only as a faraway dream;
we long for it in our lives, in the lives of our families,
our friends, and our countries.
But with each passing day
the prospect for peace
seems to be increasingly tantalizing.
Restlessness seems to be
the order of our present existence:
our inner restlessness rooted in various anxieties,
our societal restlessness rooted in
the evils that go on around us,
the restlessness of our world
plagued by conflicts of all sorts.
Dear God, we hear of peace only as a dream;
a dream we would love to be part of,
a dream we long to have in our hearts, in our neighborhoods,
in our countries, and even in our churches.
We pray that we may experience that peace
that passes all understanding,
we pray, O God, that we may experience You,
the Peace of the world.
Penetrate the grieving heart,
accompany the lonely one,
remember the forgotten,
reclaim the strayed,
make music out of the
disharmony of conflict and chaos.
Let our restless hearts rest in you, O God.
This we pray in the name of the Christ,
who beckons us into the vision of Peace. Amen.
More Ploughshares Prayers for Peace
Take a moment to be mindful of the presence of God present in all things around you, through you, in you.
If there is a person or place or situation in your life or in the world that draws you into intercessory pray, be mindful of it in God’s presence. If there is no specific person or place or situation, ask God to bring forth into your heart the presence of someone, place for situation for whom God would have you pray.
Enter into intercession with these prayers addressed to God in a stance of holy listening.
1. God, what is your prayer for this person/place/situation?
2. What is your prayer in me for this person/place/situation?
3. What do you want my prayer to be for myself in this regard?
4. How would you have me be with this person/place/situation?
5. Is there anything I need to surrender in order to join more fully and freely in your prayer for this person/place/situation?
6. How would you have me see this person/place/situation?
7. Is there anything for me to say or do on your behalf? in regard to this person/place/situation?
8. How would you have me hold this person/ place/ situation in my heart?
End with a deep desire for a continual yielding to God’s prayer at work in you.
The Long View – by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, Michigan in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero
It helps now and then to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts. It is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our life time only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which another way of saying that the Kingdom always likes beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession fully accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goal and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about…
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something and do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but its a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers not master builders. Ministers, not messiahs. We are all prophets of a future that is not our own.
Rules of Thumb for Change Agents – by Herbert Shepard
[This wasn’t written as a prayer. But it has helped me to shape my prayer since Bob Snipes first gave it to me in the 1970s.)
What they did yesterday afternoon (excerpt) - by Warsan Shire
later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.
Christian Peacemaker Teams’ Litany of Resistance (excerpt) – by Jim Loney (1991)
One: With the help of God's grace
All: We will struggle for justice
One: With the compassion of Christ
All: We will stand for what is true
One: With God's abiding kindness
All: We will love even our enemies
One: With the love of Christ
All: We will resist all evil
One: With God's unending faithfulness
All: We will work to build the beloved community
One: With Christ's passionate love
All: We will carry the cross
One: With God's overwhelming goodness
All: We will walk as pilgrims of peace
One: With Christ's fervent conviction
All: We will labour for truth
One: With God's infinite mercy
All: We will live in solidarity with all people
One: In the end there are three things that last
All: Faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love
One: Let us abide in God's love
All: Thanks be to God.
Christian Peacemaker Teams’ Call to Worship – in their prayer service on Divine Obedience, Part 1 – by Ched Myers (1983)
[L – leader; P – people]
L: Come! And trust that which brought you here.
P: Come! Riding on the grace of the wind.
L: Come! Floating on the river that feeds your soul.
P: Come! Walking on the path that unfolds before you.
L: Come! Be present in this sacred moment.
All: You are welcome in this holy place.
More Prayers from Christian Peacemaker Teams
Ploughshares Prayer for Peace 2 – by David Tonghou Ngong
Also posted on the Lakeshore Baptist Church website
Dear God, we hear of peace only as a faraway dream;
we long for it in our lives, in the lives of our families,
our friends, and our countries.
But with each passing day
the prospect for peace
seems to be increasingly tantalizing.
Restlessness seems to be
the order of our present existence:
our inner restlessness rooted in various anxieties,
our societal restlessness rooted in
the evils that go on around us,
the restlessness of our world
plagued by conflicts of all sorts.
Dear God, we hear of peace only as a dream;
a dream we would love to be part of,
a dream we long to have in our hearts, in our neighborhoods,
in our countries, and even in our churches.
We pray that we may experience that peace
that passes all understanding,
we pray, O God, that we may experience You,
the Peace of the world.
Penetrate the grieving heart,
accompany the lonely one,
remember the forgotten,
reclaim the strayed,
make music out of the
disharmony of conflict and chaos.
Let our restless hearts rest in you, O God.
This we pray in the name of the Christ,
who beckons us into the vision of Peace. Amen.
More Ploughshares Prayers for Peace
Here’s What to Do During War – Maxine Hong Kingston (The Fifth Book of Peace, 2003) (from World Prayers for Peace and Healing)
Children, everybody, here's what to do during war:
In a time of destruction, create something.
A poem.
A parade.
A community.
A school.
A vow.
A moral principle.
One peaceful moment.
Lao Tse on Peace (Chinese philosopher, 6th century BCE)
(from World Prayers for Peace and Healing)
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
More World Prayers for Peace and Healing
Prayer for Leadership – Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister
Give us, O God,
leaders whose hears are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.
In seeking a leader, let us seek
more than development for ourselves--
though development we hope for--
more than security for our own land--
though security we need--
more than satisfaction for our want--
though many things we desire.
Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world.
Give us leaders
who lead this nation to virtue
without seeking to impose our kind of virtue
on the virtue of others.
Give us a government
that provides for the advancement
of this country
without taking resources from others
to achieve it.
Give us insight enough ourselves
to choose as leaders those who can tell
strength from power,
growth from greed,
leadership from dominance,
and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.
We trust you, Great God,
to open our hearts to learn from those
to whom you speak in different tongues
and to respect the life and words
of those to whom you entrusted
the good of other parts of this globe.
We beg you, Great God,
give us the vision as a people
to know where global leadership truly lies,
to pursue it diligently,
to require it to protect human rights
for everyone everywhere.
We ask these things, Great God,
with minds open to your word
and hearts that trust in your eternal care.
Amen.
A Prayer by Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ – on the website of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana – God of Compassion, You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust. Expand and deepen our hearts so that we may love as You love….
Sisters of Providence Litany of Nonviolence -- – on the website of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana – Provident God, aware of our own brokenness, we ask the gift of courage to identify how and where we….
God of Providence Prayer – by the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana -- God of Providence, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into fruitfulness, lead us, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit….
Sisters of Providence Daily Prayer for Justice and Mercy – on the website of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana -- Jesus, united with the Father and the Holy Spirit, give us your compassion…
A Prayer of Presence – by Sister Ann Casper – on the website of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana – O Provident God, You send me to serve the needs of others….
More prayers by the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana
Children, everybody, here's what to do during war:
In a time of destruction, create something.
A poem.
A parade.
A community.
A school.
A vow.
A moral principle.
One peaceful moment.
Lao Tse on Peace (Chinese philosopher, 6th century BCE)
(from World Prayers for Peace and Healing)
If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
More World Prayers for Peace and Healing
Prayer for Leadership – Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister
Give us, O God,
leaders whose hears are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.
In seeking a leader, let us seek
more than development for ourselves--
though development we hope for--
more than security for our own land--
though security we need--
more than satisfaction for our want--
though many things we desire.
Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world.
Give us leaders
who lead this nation to virtue
without seeking to impose our kind of virtue
on the virtue of others.
Give us a government
that provides for the advancement
of this country
without taking resources from others
to achieve it.
Give us insight enough ourselves
to choose as leaders those who can tell
strength from power,
growth from greed,
leadership from dominance,
and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.
We trust you, Great God,
to open our hearts to learn from those
to whom you speak in different tongues
and to respect the life and words
of those to whom you entrusted
the good of other parts of this globe.
We beg you, Great God,
give us the vision as a people
to know where global leadership truly lies,
to pursue it diligently,
to require it to protect human rights
for everyone everywhere.
We ask these things, Great God,
with minds open to your word
and hearts that trust in your eternal care.
Amen.
A Prayer by Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ – on the website of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana – God of Compassion, You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust. Expand and deepen our hearts so that we may love as You love….
Sisters of Providence Litany of Nonviolence -- – on the website of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana – Provident God, aware of our own brokenness, we ask the gift of courage to identify how and where we….
God of Providence Prayer – by the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana -- God of Providence, lead us, lead us in your wisdom; Into fruitfulness, lead us, lead us together, lead us to freedom in your Spirit….
Sisters of Providence Daily Prayer for Justice and Mercy – on the website of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana -- Jesus, united with the Father and the Holy Spirit, give us your compassion…
A Prayer of Presence – by Sister Ann Casper – on the website of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana – O Provident God, You send me to serve the needs of others….
More prayers by the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana
Blessings from the Epistles
May the God of hope bring you such joy and peace in your faith that the power of the Holy Spirit will remove all bounds to hope. (Romans 15:13)
Let everything you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
We wish you happiness. Try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11)
This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name:
Out of God’s infinite glory, may God give you the power through the holy Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth, until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.
Glory be to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory be to God from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
I give thanks to my God each time I think of you,
praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you,
because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you
will continue to complete it
until the day of Christ Jesus.
*It is right that I should think this way about all of you,
because I hold you in my heart,
you who are all partners with me in grace,
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer:
that your love may increase ever more and more
in knowledge and every kind of perception,
to discern what is of value,
so that you may be ready for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of goodness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.
(Philippians 1:3-13)
No one has ever seen God.
But if we love one another,
God lives in us
And God’s love is complete in us.
(1 John 4:12)
Winter Winds – by Betty Thompson
All through the night
wild winter winds
shook the windows,
scoured the streets,
stripped the dead wood from the trees,
and shredded the clouds in the dark sky.
I stayed snug inside.
O great God,
give me the courage to walk in the wind!
Let it shake my comfortable balance!
Let me see and feel the precarious strength
of tall old trees, the fragility
of weak branches.
Let me walk in the wind
and be cleansed of all illusions
that sturdy walls grant separateness.
Let the wind wipe from my eyes
the clouded view that my blindness
to weak limbs and ill-fed roots
has no cost. I thank you for the wind
that lets me hear the trees.
Blessing for Those I Name Now – by Betty Thompson
Some people
Precious to me
Are at a fragile
Moment in
Their lives.
May they have
Wisdom
Strength
Integrity
Courage
Stamina
Skills
Kindness
Support
And all they need.
Protect them
From all harm.
Give them grace
To find peace
Even in ambiguity,
To find hope
In fragility,
To find wisdom
In community,
To let You
Guide them.
Give me grace,
To accompany them
And to see them
With your loving eyes.
Prayers from the Old Testament
This is what God requires of you,
only this:
to live justly,
to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)
Add more
Daily Blessing – by Betty Thompson
May you wake soaked in blessings
as if they were dew.
In each moment of this day
may you accept grace,
create grace,
rely on grace,
as if it is the air you breathe,
the home of your heart,
the ground under your feet.
May sleep caress you
like the gentle hand of God
until you wake again
in blessings.
Holy Wisdom Prayer for Wisdom and Courage – by Betty Thompson
O You Who are Wisdom and Courage,
What would you like us to courageously unlearn?
What would you like us to courageously imagine?
What would you like us to courageously propose?
What would you like us to courageously reject?
How would you like us to combine courage and love?
What is the first step you’d like us to take?
May we have the wisdom and courage
to let your Holy Mystery be revealed among us.
The Children of the Earth are Starving – from a poem by Alice Walker
The children of Earth
Are starving
For the sight
Of something
Real
Dying for the sound
Of something
True.
Pray for us
To know
That nothing
Stops a lie
Like being
Yourself.
Psalm 23 - adapted by Nan Merrill
O my Beloved, you are my shepherd,
I shall not want;
You bring me to green pastures for rest
and lead me beside still waters
renewing my spirit,
You restore my soul.
You lead me in the path of goodness
to follow Love's way.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow and of death,
I am not afraid;
for you are with me forever;
your rod and your staff they guide me,
they give me strength and comfort.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of all my fears;
you bless me with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the heart of the Beloved
forever.
Blessing – by John O’Donohue from Eternal Echoes
May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart that something good is going to happen to you.
May you find a harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing which lives at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May your angel free you from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment, and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, mind you, and embrace you in belonging.
Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
May the God of hope bring you such joy and peace in your faith that the power of the Holy Spirit will remove all bounds to hope. (Romans 15:13)
Let everything you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
We wish you happiness. Try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Corinthians 13:11)
This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name:
Out of God’s infinite glory, may God give you the power through the holy Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth, until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.
Glory be to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory be to God from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)
I give thanks to my God each time I think of you,
praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you,
because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you
will continue to complete it
until the day of Christ Jesus.
*It is right that I should think this way about all of you,
because I hold you in my heart,
you who are all partners with me in grace,
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer:
that your love may increase ever more and more
in knowledge and every kind of perception,
to discern what is of value,
so that you may be ready for the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of goodness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.
(Philippians 1:3-13)
No one has ever seen God.
But if we love one another,
God lives in us
And God’s love is complete in us.
(1 John 4:12)
Winter Winds – by Betty Thompson
All through the night
wild winter winds
shook the windows,
scoured the streets,
stripped the dead wood from the trees,
and shredded the clouds in the dark sky.
I stayed snug inside.
O great God,
give me the courage to walk in the wind!
Let it shake my comfortable balance!
Let me see and feel the precarious strength
of tall old trees, the fragility
of weak branches.
Let me walk in the wind
and be cleansed of all illusions
that sturdy walls grant separateness.
Let the wind wipe from my eyes
the clouded view that my blindness
to weak limbs and ill-fed roots
has no cost. I thank you for the wind
that lets me hear the trees.
Blessing for Those I Name Now – by Betty Thompson
Some people
Precious to me
Are at a fragile
Moment in
Their lives.
May they have
Wisdom
Strength
Integrity
Courage
Stamina
Skills
Kindness
Support
And all they need.
Protect them
From all harm.
Give them grace
To find peace
Even in ambiguity,
To find hope
In fragility,
To find wisdom
In community,
To let You
Guide them.
Give me grace,
To accompany them
And to see them
With your loving eyes.
Prayers from the Old Testament
This is what God requires of you,
only this:
to live justly,
to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8)
Add more
Daily Blessing – by Betty Thompson
May you wake soaked in blessings
as if they were dew.
In each moment of this day
may you accept grace,
create grace,
rely on grace,
as if it is the air you breathe,
the home of your heart,
the ground under your feet.
May sleep caress you
like the gentle hand of God
until you wake again
in blessings.
Holy Wisdom Prayer for Wisdom and Courage – by Betty Thompson
O You Who are Wisdom and Courage,
What would you like us to courageously unlearn?
What would you like us to courageously imagine?
What would you like us to courageously propose?
What would you like us to courageously reject?
How would you like us to combine courage and love?
What is the first step you’d like us to take?
May we have the wisdom and courage
to let your Holy Mystery be revealed among us.
The Children of the Earth are Starving – from a poem by Alice Walker
The children of Earth
Are starving
For the sight
Of something
Real
Dying for the sound
Of something
True.
Pray for us
To know
That nothing
Stops a lie
Like being
Yourself.
Psalm 23 - adapted by Nan Merrill
O my Beloved, you are my shepherd,
I shall not want;
You bring me to green pastures for rest
and lead me beside still waters
renewing my spirit,
You restore my soul.
You lead me in the path of goodness
to follow Love's way.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow and of death,
I am not afraid;
for you are with me forever;
your rod and your staff they guide me,
they give me strength and comfort.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of all my fears;
you bless me with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the heart of the Beloved
forever.
Blessing – by John O’Donohue from Eternal Echoes
May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart that something good is going to happen to you.
May you find a harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing which lives at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May your angel free you from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment, and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you, mind you, and embrace you in belonging.
Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.
Patient Trust – by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, excerpt from Hearts on Fire
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Prayer from the LCWR presidential address of Sister Doris Gottemoeller, RSM
Despite the winds buffeting us, we too can set our direction.
Our compass is Christ,
our sails are woven of faith and hope, courage and love.
We can only face forward,
to the new leaders and creative deeds in our future.
There was no golden age of the church.
There were only women and men, human as we are,
who loved God, cared for persons in need, and
dared to dream.
We are as human, as flawed and gifted as they were,
and still in touch with the dream.
Let us end by invoking the wind that comes from another direction,
the breath of the Spirit which blows where it wills.
Sometimes a zephyr, sometimes a mighty gale –
God’s Spirit can nudge our timid choices,
strengthen our frail resolve,
reverse any misdirected course….
Spirit of God, fill us and send us forth with the power and passion of your Word!
(From Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times, LCWR's 2014 book of presidential addresses - also at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, other bookstores)
Prayer for the LCWR Assembly by Judith Sholes
Loving God,
We ask that you shower you grace over those participating in the LCWR Assembly so they might:
A poem by Christopher Fry (From A Sleep of Prisoners)
The human heart can go the lengths of God.
Cold and dark, it may be
But this is no winter now.
The frozen misery of centuries cracks, breaks, begins to move.
The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the up-start spring.
Thank God, our time is now
When wrong comes up to face us everywhere
Never to leave until we take
The greatest stride of soul that people ever took.
Affairs are now soul-size.
The enterprise is exploration into God.
Called to Hope – Adapted from Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, “Called to Hope,” in Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times, page 132
Ours is a mission of hope, healing, creativity, and prophecy.
Embedded as we are in the present, we are creatures of the future.
Great God, you are faithful and innovative.
My sisters, my brothers, my friends – let us be reverent stewards of these holy energies of prophecy, creativity, healing and love.
Let our charity give impetus to an unreasonable willingness to believe in and taste the future; to act together so that others might know and feel our love for the Gospel.
And may the world find in us what it is looking for.
Amen.
Prayer for Wisdom at the Assembly
Loving One who is closer to us than we are to ourselves, we thank You for Your presence among us today.
As we move toward the LCWR Assembly, we ask You to pour out Your wisdom on LCWR members and staff and on all women religious. Please give each of them all she needs to welcome Your Holy Mystery and to discern what Your wisdom and love ask in this moment. Move among them in ways that inspire and encourage and heal. Help them to lean, with great confidence, on our solidarity with them, our confidence in them, and our appreciation of them.
At the same time, please pour out Your wisdom on Cardinal Muller, Archbishops Vigano, Sartain, and Blair, and Bishop Paprocki. Bless them with fresh awareness of Your holy mystery, beyond all certainties. Please give each of them all he needs to welcome Your Holy Mystery and to discern what Your wisdom and love ask of them in this moment.
Please lure all of us to a solution that brings grace for all and enlivens the vitality of the People of God.
We ask this in faith, in hope, and in love.
Amen.
Prayer of St. Clare of Assisi – Third Letter of Clare to Agnes
Place your mind in the mirror of eternity;
Place your soul in the splendor of glory;
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance;
And, through contemplation, transform your entire being
into the image of the Divine One himself,
So that you, yourself, may also experience
what his friends experience when they taste
the hidden sweetness that God alone has kept from the beginning
for those who love him.
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
Prayer from the LCWR presidential address of Sister Doris Gottemoeller, RSM
Despite the winds buffeting us, we too can set our direction.
Our compass is Christ,
our sails are woven of faith and hope, courage and love.
We can only face forward,
to the new leaders and creative deeds in our future.
There was no golden age of the church.
There were only women and men, human as we are,
who loved God, cared for persons in need, and
dared to dream.
We are as human, as flawed and gifted as they were,
and still in touch with the dream.
Let us end by invoking the wind that comes from another direction,
the breath of the Spirit which blows where it wills.
Sometimes a zephyr, sometimes a mighty gale –
God’s Spirit can nudge our timid choices,
strengthen our frail resolve,
reverse any misdirected course….
Spirit of God, fill us and send us forth with the power and passion of your Word!
(From Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times, LCWR's 2014 book of presidential addresses - also at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, other bookstores)
Prayer for the LCWR Assembly by Judith Sholes
Loving God,
We ask that you shower you grace over those participating in the LCWR Assembly so they might:
- face the challenges that confront them with prayer, courage, commitment, and openness;
- hear the still, small voice leading them to an emerging future; and
- trust in that future, knowing that You will lead them where You want them to be.
A poem by Christopher Fry (From A Sleep of Prisoners)
The human heart can go the lengths of God.
Cold and dark, it may be
But this is no winter now.
The frozen misery of centuries cracks, breaks, begins to move.
The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the up-start spring.
Thank God, our time is now
When wrong comes up to face us everywhere
Never to leave until we take
The greatest stride of soul that people ever took.
Affairs are now soul-size.
The enterprise is exploration into God.
Called to Hope – Adapted from Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, “Called to Hope,” in Spiritual Leadership for Challenging Times, page 132
Ours is a mission of hope, healing, creativity, and prophecy.
Embedded as we are in the present, we are creatures of the future.
Great God, you are faithful and innovative.
My sisters, my brothers, my friends – let us be reverent stewards of these holy energies of prophecy, creativity, healing and love.
Let our charity give impetus to an unreasonable willingness to believe in and taste the future; to act together so that others might know and feel our love for the Gospel.
And may the world find in us what it is looking for.
Amen.
Prayer for Wisdom at the Assembly
Loving One who is closer to us than we are to ourselves, we thank You for Your presence among us today.
As we move toward the LCWR Assembly, we ask You to pour out Your wisdom on LCWR members and staff and on all women religious. Please give each of them all she needs to welcome Your Holy Mystery and to discern what Your wisdom and love ask in this moment. Move among them in ways that inspire and encourage and heal. Help them to lean, with great confidence, on our solidarity with them, our confidence in them, and our appreciation of them.
At the same time, please pour out Your wisdom on Cardinal Muller, Archbishops Vigano, Sartain, and Blair, and Bishop Paprocki. Bless them with fresh awareness of Your holy mystery, beyond all certainties. Please give each of them all he needs to welcome Your Holy Mystery and to discern what Your wisdom and love ask of them in this moment.
Please lure all of us to a solution that brings grace for all and enlivens the vitality of the People of God.
We ask this in faith, in hope, and in love.
Amen.
Prayer of St. Clare of Assisi – Third Letter of Clare to Agnes
Place your mind in the mirror of eternity;
Place your soul in the splendor of glory;
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance;
And, through contemplation, transform your entire being
into the image of the Divine One himself,
So that you, yourself, may also experience
what his friends experience when they taste
the hidden sweetness that God alone has kept from the beginning
for those who love him.
The Search – by Dominican Sister Kaye Ashe
The search –
for self,
for wisdom,
for love,
for truth,
for justice,
for God –
is strenuous and unending.
We need good companions
in order to persevere in it.
In good company,
in a community of conviction,
the quest never loses its relevance,
its urgency,
or its savor.
+Kaye Ashe, OP. Sister Kaye Ashe died on February 15, 2014. She was a former Prioress of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, and a founding member of the History of Women Religious Conference and of Mary's Pence. She had a Ph.D. in European History from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and was the author, among other things, of Today's Woman, Tomorrow's Church (1983), and Feminization of the Church? (1997).
To Abide in You – by Betty D. Thompson
For ourselves and for LCWR, we pray:
O Holy Mystery who abides in us,
Give us the grace to abide in You,
not as in an impregnable cave but rather
to abide in You as life-giving Breath in our bodies,
to abide in You as the solid, though sometimes rocky.
Ground that our feet feel in every step,
to abide in You as the Light and Shadow
that are our cosmic mantle in every moment,
to abide in You as the Paschal Mystery
of ultimate transformation into Love.
We ask this in the name of Christ Alive.
Amen.
The search –
for self,
for wisdom,
for love,
for truth,
for justice,
for God –
is strenuous and unending.
We need good companions
in order to persevere in it.
In good company,
in a community of conviction,
the quest never loses its relevance,
its urgency,
or its savor.
+Kaye Ashe, OP. Sister Kaye Ashe died on February 15, 2014. She was a former Prioress of the Sinsinawa Dominicans, and a founding member of the History of Women Religious Conference and of Mary's Pence. She had a Ph.D. in European History from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), and was the author, among other things, of Today's Woman, Tomorrow's Church (1983), and Feminization of the Church? (1997).
To Abide in You – by Betty D. Thompson
For ourselves and for LCWR, we pray:
O Holy Mystery who abides in us,
Give us the grace to abide in You,
not as in an impregnable cave but rather
to abide in You as life-giving Breath in our bodies,
to abide in You as the solid, though sometimes rocky.
Ground that our feet feel in every step,
to abide in You as the Light and Shadow
that are our cosmic mantle in every moment,
to abide in You as the Paschal Mystery
of ultimate transformation into Love.
We ask this in the name of Christ Alive.
Amen.
Prayer for the LCWR Assembly by Judith Sholes
Loving God,
We ask that you shower you grace over those participating in the LCWR Assembly so they might:
Loving God,
We ask that you shower you grace over those participating in the LCWR Assembly so they might:
- face the challenges that confront them with prayer, courage, commitment, and openness;
- hear the still, small voice leading them to an emerging future; and
- trust in that future, knowing that You will lead them where You want them to be.
A blessing for the 2014 LCWR Assembly by Rhonda Miska
Oh God ever ancient and ever new,
May your Spirit abide deeply in these Gospel women.
Pour out on them the graces of
deep listening
expansive imagination
extravagant trust
audacious hope
as You call them forward.
Dwell in each of them as the source of love
as holy mystery
as creator
as presence
so together they can
transform and be transformed
create and be created
renew and be renewed.
We ask this trusting in the promise that you make all things new.
Rhonda Miska - Villa Maria, PA, August 9, 2014
Oh God ever ancient and ever new,
May your Spirit abide deeply in these Gospel women.
Pour out on them the graces of
deep listening
expansive imagination
extravagant trust
audacious hope
as You call them forward.
Dwell in each of them as the source of love
as holy mystery
as creator
as presence
so together they can
transform and be transformed
create and be created
renew and be renewed.
We ask this trusting in the promise that you make all things new.
Rhonda Miska - Villa Maria, PA, August 9, 2014
2012 Prayer for LCWR
In this time of pain and promise,
we call on God’s Spirit to bless
the leadership of LCWR, of LCWR
Congregations, and all women religious
who strive to live the gospel in these
uncertain times.
We call on the Spirit of God to reveal
the way forward that is faithful to God’s
dream for us and our lives together.
May all who are called to engage
in prayer and conversation come to
the table with hearts that are open,
transparent, and faith-filled. May their
reflection be marked by a deep listening
to the voice of the Spirit at work in
our world.
May the holy ones who have gone
before us inspire us by their courage
and wisdom and affirm that we are
not alone.
May we continue to faithfully live the
questions of our time and witness to
the people of God that we are women
at home with mystery and filled with
fierce hope for our shared future.
Amen.
Prayer by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM
Spanish, French, and Italian translations, as well as printable cards, available at
https://lcwr.org/media/news/prayer-lcwr
Also:
In this time of pain and promise,
we call on God’s Spirit to bless
the leadership of LCWR, of LCWR
Congregations, and all women religious
who strive to live the gospel in these
uncertain times.
We call on the Spirit of God to reveal
the way forward that is faithful to God’s
dream for us and our lives together.
May all who are called to engage
in prayer and conversation come to
the table with hearts that are open,
transparent, and faith-filled. May their
reflection be marked by a deep listening
to the voice of the Spirit at work in
our world.
May the holy ones who have gone
before us inspire us by their courage
and wisdom and affirm that we are
not alone.
May we continue to faithfully live the
questions of our time and witness to
the people of God that we are women
at home with mystery and filled with
fierce hope for our shared future.
Amen.
Prayer by Chris Koellhoffer, IHM
Spanish, French, and Italian translations, as well as printable cards, available at
https://lcwr.org/media/news/prayer-lcwr
Also:
- Our Prayer Service with the Papal Nuncio for the 2013 LCWR Assembly, and the reflection we offered during the prayer service
- NunJustice prayers and prayer services for free download at
A Litany for Enemies - Sr. Anne-Louise Nadeau, SNDdeN - from Pax Christi
A Litany of Women for the Church - Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister
"Dear God, creator of women in your own image..." Beautiful.
Pray for Syria!
Pope Francis' appeal for prayer for Syria
LCWR's prayerful statement on Syria
Prayer of a 28-year-old Syrian Jesuit
"When it's too big (reflections on Syria)" by Rachel Held Evans
LCWR's prayerful statement on Syria
Prayer of a 28-year-old Syrian Jesuit
"When it's too big (reflections on Syria)" by Rachel Held Evans
Praying the news - Heidi Schlumpf in NCR
"Scripture exhorts us to 'pray always,' and surely this includes praying in response to what's going on in our broader world. Because prayer is so personal, there is a tendency to reserve it only for the goings-on in our own lives. But as the world becomes a global village, with news and relationships spanning time zones and geographic boundaries, I contend that the content of our prayer must grow, too....
"...prayer and action should go together. Prayer is a way of bringing and keeping an intention in your attention, which is likely to lead to the desire and motivation to work for change, healing or growth. Praying the news also can prevent a despair that leads to loss of hope.... The best way to avoid being overwhelmed and numbed by all the bad news in the world is to stay in contact with the bearer of the good news."
"...prayer and action should go together. Prayer is a way of bringing and keeping an intention in your attention, which is likely to lead to the desire and motivation to work for change, healing or growth. Praying the news also can prevent a despair that leads to loss of hope.... The best way to avoid being overwhelmed and numbed by all the bad news in the world is to stay in contact with the bearer of the good news."
Great prayer resources from NunJustice
Some beautiful materials on NunJustice website:
- Prayer Service Honoring St. Clare on Vigil of 2013 LCWR Assembly
- Prayer Service in Honor of LCWR (Laying On of Hands)
- Prayer Service for Women Religious and the Church
- Litany of Sisters' Congregations
- St. Mary of Magdala Celebration Honoring Women Religious
- Prayer Service Honoring St. Clare on Vigil of 2013 LCWR Assembly
- Prayer Service in Honor of LCWR (Laying On of Hands)
- Prayer Service for Women Religious and the Church
- Litany of Sisters' Congregations
- St. Mary of Magdala Celebration Honoring Women Religious
Midday - prayer by Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
Let not the heat of the noonday sun
wither my spirit or lay waste my hopes.
May I be ever green,
a strong shoot of justice,
a steadfast tree of peace.
-- Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
This is part of a beautiful prayer service of confidence in God, our refuge and strength, at Monasteries of the Heart, a site rich in Benedictine spirituality and opportunities for online and face-to-face community. Used with permission.
wither my spirit or lay waste my hopes.
May I be ever green,
a strong shoot of justice,
a steadfast tree of peace.
-- Sister Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB
This is part of a beautiful prayer service of confidence in God, our refuge and strength, at Monasteries of the Heart, a site rich in Benedictine spirituality and opportunities for online and face-to-face community. Used with permission.
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going... - Thomas Merton prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
From Thomas Merton's book Thoughts in Solitude, part II, chapter 2.
From Thomas Merton's book Thoughts in Solitude, part II, chapter 2.
Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, Right Judgment and Courage...
Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding,
enlighten my mind to perceive
the mysteries of the universe
in relation to eternity.
Spirit of Right Judgment and Courage,
guide me to stay firm
in my baptismal decision
to follow Jesus’ way of love.
Spirit of Knowledge and Reverence,
help me to see the lasting value
of justice and mercy
in my everyday dealings with others.
Spirit of God,
spark my faith, hope, and love
into new action each day.
Fill my life with Wonder and Awe
in your presence, which penetrates
all creation.
enlighten my mind to perceive
the mysteries of the universe
in relation to eternity.
Spirit of Right Judgment and Courage,
guide me to stay firm
in my baptismal decision
to follow Jesus’ way of love.
Spirit of Knowledge and Reverence,
help me to see the lasting value
of justice and mercy
in my everyday dealings with others.
Spirit of God,
spark my faith, hope, and love
into new action each day.
Fill my life with Wonder and Awe
in your presence, which penetrates
all creation.
Holy Spirit, we are here before you...
O, Holy Spirit, we are here before you, conscious of our many sins, but united in a special way in your holy name. Come and abide with us, and deign to penetrate our hearts. Be the guide of our actions; indicate the path we should follow and show us what we must do, so that, with your help, our work may be wholly pleasing to you. May you be our only inspiration and the overseer of our intentions. May you, who are infinite justice, never permit us to be disturbers of justice. Let not ignorance induce us to evil, nor flattery sway us, nor moral and material interest corrupt us.
Unite our hearts to you alone, and do it strongly, so that with the gift of your grace we may be one in you and may in nothing depart from the truth. Thus, united in your name, may we in our every action follow the dictates of your mercy and justice, so that today and always our judgments may not be alien to you and in eternity we may obtain the unending reward of our actions. Amen.
Unite our hearts to you alone, and do it strongly, so that with the gift of your grace we may be one in you and may in nothing depart from the truth. Thus, united in your name, may we in our every action follow the dictates of your mercy and justice, so that today and always our judgments may not be alien to you and in eternity we may obtain the unending reward of our actions. Amen.
Patient Trust -
a prayer by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
--Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ (1881-1955) - from Ignatian Spirituality
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
--Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ (1881-1955) - from Ignatian Spirituality
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Finding God's dream when reality is difficult
Impassioned, fundamentally prayerful video of Fr. Ladislas Orsy, SJ, on Vatican II and what we can do. (17:40)
Fr. Orsy attended the council as an adviser to a bishop. He is an eminent scholar of canon law, who taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University during the years of the Council. NCR recently summarized his impressive CV as follows: "Orsy is the Catholic scholar’s idea of a scholar. His licentiate in philosophy is from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; his licentiate in theology from the University of Louvain, Belgium; his doctor of canon law from the Gregorian; and his master’s in law from Oxford University in England. He’s held academic posts at the Gregorian, Washington’s Catholic University of America, New York’s Fordham University, and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., with the past 16 years spent at Georgetown Law."
Fr. Orsy has shared his merry wisdom and immense insight as a guide and companion for the Vatican II study groups that have been active since 2005 in the parish that some of us attend. Beyond his expertise, he's immensely lovable and loving.
You'll find some fine LCWR prayers shown in full on our LCWR Wisdom page. Also:
A "Dangerous Woman Creed" by Lynne Hybels, offered by Sister Mary Lou of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie
A Prayer for Frustrated Catholics by James Martin, SJ
Why we (still) need the Catholic Church by Michael Bayer
Contemplative resources for prayerful reflection on dialog, from the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue
Fr. Orsy attended the council as an adviser to a bishop. He is an eminent scholar of canon law, who taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University during the years of the Council. NCR recently summarized his impressive CV as follows: "Orsy is the Catholic scholar’s idea of a scholar. His licentiate in philosophy is from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome; his licentiate in theology from the University of Louvain, Belgium; his doctor of canon law from the Gregorian; and his master’s in law from Oxford University in England. He’s held academic posts at the Gregorian, Washington’s Catholic University of America, New York’s Fordham University, and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., with the past 16 years spent at Georgetown Law."
Fr. Orsy has shared his merry wisdom and immense insight as a guide and companion for the Vatican II study groups that have been active since 2005 in the parish that some of us attend. Beyond his expertise, he's immensely lovable and loving.
You'll find some fine LCWR prayers shown in full on our LCWR Wisdom page. Also:
A "Dangerous Woman Creed" by Lynne Hybels, offered by Sister Mary Lou of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie
A Prayer for Frustrated Catholics by James Martin, SJ
Why we (still) need the Catholic Church by Michael Bayer
Contemplative resources for prayerful reflection on dialog, from the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue