A Christian Prayer In Union With Creation.docx

A Christian prayer in union with creation (Mondays) Father, we praise you with all your creatures. They came forth from your all-powerful hand; they are yours, filled with your presence and your tender love. Praise be to you! Son of God, Jesus, through you all things were made. You were formed in the womb of Mary our Mother, you became part of this earth, and you gazed upon this world with human eyes. Today you are alive in every creature in your risen glory. Praise be to you! Holy Spirit, by your light you guide this world towards the Father’s love and accompany creation as it groans in travail. You also dwell in our hearts and you inspire us to do what is good. Praise be to you! Triune Lord, wondrous community of infinite love, teach us to contemplate you in the beauty of the universe, for all things speak of you. Awaken our praise and thankfulness for every being that you have made. Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined to everything that is. God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight. Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live. The poor and the earth are crying out. O Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us to protect all life, to prepare for a better future, for the coming of your Kingdom of justice, peace, love and beauty. Praise be to you! Amen. * Pope Francis published this prayer in his Laudato Si’ encyclical, and is meant for sharing with all who believe in a God who is the all-powerful Creator.

A Prayer for our Earth (Tuesdays) 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, and is meant for sharing with all who believe in a God who is the all-powerful Creator.

A Prayer for Peace (Wednesdays) Lord Jesus, we come to you in our need. Create in us an awareness of the massive forces of conflict that threaten our world today. And grant us a sense of urgency to activate the forces of goodness, of justice, of love and of peace. Where there is armed conflict, let us stretch out our arms to our brothers and sisters. Where there is abundance, let there be simple lifestyle and sharing. Where there is poverty, let there be dignified living and constant striving for just structures. Where there is selfish ambition, let there be humble service. Where there is injustice, let there be atonement. Where there is despair, let there be hope in the Good News. Where there are wounds of division, let there be unity and wholeness. Help us to be committed to the building of your kingdom, not seeking to be cared for but to care; not expecting to be served but to place ourselves in the service of others; not aspiring to be materially secure but to place our security in your love. Teach us your spirit, for it is only in loving imitation of you, Lord, that we can discover the healing springs of life that will bring about new birth to the earth and hope for the world. Amen. Our Lady, Queen of Peace. Pray for us.

A Prayer for the Priests (Thursdays) O Almighty Eternal God, look upon the face of Thy Son, and for the love of Him who is the eternal High Priest, have pity on Thy priests. Remember, O most compassionate God, that they are but weak and frail human beings. Stir up in them the grace of their vocation which is in them by the imposition of the bishop's hands. Keep them close to Thee, lest the enemy prevail against them, so that they may never do anything in the slightest degree unworthy of their sublime vocation. O Jesus, I pray Thee for Thy faithful and fervent priests; for Thy unfaithful and tepid priests; for Thy priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Thy tempted priests; for Thy lonely priests; for Thy dying priests; for the souls of Thy priests in purgatory. But above all I commend to Thee the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted, and who gave me Thy Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me, or helped and encouraged me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, particularly N. O Jesus, keep them all close to Thy Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity. Amen.

Prayer for Faith (Fridays) Lord, I believe: I wish to believe in Thee. Lord, let my faith be full and unreserved, and let it penetrate my thought, my way of judging Divine things and human things. Lord, let my faith be joyful and give peace and gladness to my spirit, and dispose it for prayer with God and conversation with men, so that the inner bliss of its fortunate possession may shine forth in sacred and secular conversation. Lord, let my faith be humble and not presume to be based on the experience of my thought and of my feeling; but let it surrender to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and not have any better guarantee than in docility to Tradition and to the authority of the magisterium of the Holy Church. Amen. POPE PAUL VI

Prayer for the Family (Saturdays) Heavenly Father, you bless us with the gifts of life and love so powerfully present in our midst through families. In praise of your gifts, we offer you in return our commitment to love and care for one another as family-as our own family, as church family and as part of the great human family. In whatever state of life we find ourselves, whether married or single, widowed or divorced, clergy or religious, young or elderly or in complicated situations, may your love be real and deeply felt. Bestow your blessings on mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. Bless brothers and sisters. Embrace those who are alone and feel that they are abandoned. Make us one family for you are Our Father, and we your children. Make our home a dwelling place of love, respect, understanding, forgiveness and support. In sickness and in health, in poverty and plenty, in joy and in sorrow, may we never give up on each other, may we never give up on our families, extraordinary gift of family life. We ask the intercession of Mary, our mother and Joseph, her spouse, who cared for Jesus in Nazareth who is our Lord, for ever and ever. Amen.