Let’s pray that God reveals his peaceful heart to us today and we can see justice through His eyes revealing the precious nature of each soul.
A Prayer for Peace
We are moulded, each one of us, in the image of God, and within our souls there is a fingerprint none can erase. We pray for those who have no regard for anyone but self, who put no value on human life. For nations and individuals who abuse and kill. We are not called to be judge or jury, but we are called to be agents of change, and if the butterfly that flaps its wings should be our attitude to others then so be it, Lord, and may the hurricane this generates somewhere within the world reach into the hearts and souls of those for whom we pray, and reveal to them how precious are those for whom they have no love, and how precious are they who now bring tears to the eyes of God.
Lets pray for a culture of nonviolence and a society where our needs are met and our desires are right ordered. This prayer by the late Benedictine Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, a poet and peace activist, provides words of hope and inspiration for us all.
Prayer for the Decade of Nonviolence
I bow to the sacred in all creation. May my spirit fill the world with beauty and wonder. May my mind seek truth with humility and openness. May my heart forgive without limit. May my love for friend, enemy, and outcast be without measure. May my needs be few and my living simple. May my actions bear witness to the suffering of others. May my hands never harm a living being. May my steps stay on the journey of justice. May my tongue speak for those who are poor without fear of the powerful. May my prayers rise with patient discontent until no child is hungry. May my life’s work be a passion for peace and nonviolence. May my soul rejoice in the present moment. May my imagination overcome death and despair with new possibilities. And may I risk reputation, comfort, and security to bring this hope to the children.
Lord, Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth. Lead us from despair to hope, from fear to trust. Let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe. Let us dream together, pray together and work together, To build one world of peace and justice for all.
Prayer for Peace
On This Day….
Mend a quarrel Search out a forgotten friend Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust Write a love letter Share some treasures Give a soft answer Encourage youth
Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed Keep a promise Find the time Forego a grudge Forgive an enemy Listen Apologize if you were wrong
Try to understand Flout envy Examine your demands on others Think first of someone else Appreciate, be kind, be gentle Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence
Take up arms against malice Decry complacency Express your gratitude Worship your God Gladden the heart of a child Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth
Speak your love Speak it again Speak it still again Speak it still once again….
Do you need a boost of faith? I think we all do. Faith is the key that puts every other truth into its proper place. Triumphs become opportunities for gratitude instead of pride. Tragedies become opportunities for growth instead of despair. Life just makes more sense and our faith in God gives us joy even when we face what can feel like insurmountable trials. We all need healing and miracles in our lives. Let’s pray:
Padre Pio’s Prayer for Trust and Confidence:
O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in Your divine mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of Your Church.
Help us to love You with a pure and contrite heart, and to humble ourselves beneath Your cross, as we climb the mountain of holiness, carrying our cross that leads to heavenly glory.
May we receive You with great faith and love in Holy Communion, and allow You to act in us as You desire for your greater glory.
O Jesus, most adorable Heart and eternal fountain of Divine Love, may our prayer find favor before the Divine Majesty of Your heavenly Father.
Come Holy Spirit, light a fire in the hearts of your people. Help our faithlessness turn into faithfulness allowing us to be more like you. Your faithfulness is never ending. I pray for all your people who have lost hope, or who need the seed of faith you planted in their heart to grow big and wild like a mustard seed. I’m standing in the gap for them today. Amen.
In a world with so much suffering it is only in true surrender to God that we can accept the gift of peace. Surrender is not a destination, a place where we arrive at some point but a life practice. A practice where we explore the places in our life and ultimately our heart and have the realization we need God. In the constant lifting of the veil of my heart, I invite God in to take the lead in those areas I’ve protected and kept to myself. As I fall more deeply in love with the King of the Universe, I surrender in love through love.
There is a prayer by St Ignatius of Loyola that we can pray often to help us on our way.
Suspice
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
My memory, my understanding, and my entire will.
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; dispose a bit, holy, according to your will.
All glory needs to be given to its proper source. In a world that wants to be relevant, it is easy to take our lives for granted thinking this is our only life. But true living is living a life of authenticity and love which is understood by having an eternal perspective. This lens draws us to glorify God who is love. This posture is right and just our duty and salvation. When our hearts realize this truth, nothing can hold back our divine praises.
The Divine Praises Litany
Blessed be God.
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, True God and True Man.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, True God and True Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the Great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy.
Blessed be the Great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most Chaste Spouse.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most Chaste Spouse.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.
May the Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen.
God insists that we ask, not because He needs to know our situation, but because we need the spiritual discipline of asking. We need to wrestle with knowing our needs, wants and desires in Christ free from the pull of the secular world in which we find ourselves.
An omniscient God must know what we desire before we ask. God knows that what we really need most is reliance on Him. And how do we develop reliance? Like most other things, by practicing.
If it weren’t for the need to remind ourselves daily or hourly that all power flows from our Creator, we could just say a quick prayer at the beginning of each week, or each year, and be done with it. Surely God would fill our requests a year ahead of time. But getting our wishes granted isn’t the purpose of prayer. Getting to know God is the purpose. I need to be in touch with my Creator every hour of the day.
Prayer for the Church:
Let’s pray St Augustine’s prayer for all Christian’s to love without measure.
Scattered about the entire earth, your mother the Church is tormented by the assaults of error. She is also afflicted by the laziness and indifference of so many of the children she carries around in her bosom as well as by the sight of so many of her members growing cold, while she becomes less able to help her little ones. Who then will give her the necessary help she cries for if not her children and other members to whose number you belong. Amen
As we celebrate freedom, we must fear what kills the soul more than what kills the body. True freedom is only achieved by rooting out the thoughts and actions that are not in alignment with our beliefs.
In a world that declares itself independent of God, we make ourselves slaves to the world. As we examine our consciences to see how we can change, we will be restored to right order and walk the path as God designed. We must seek the giver of life.
All the nations you have made shall come to bow before you, Lord, and give honor to your name. For you are great and do wondrous deeds; and you alone are God” (Psalm 86:9-10).
Prayer for our Nation God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded. You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people.
Send your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation’s leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will.
Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the “culture of death.” Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Today we celebrate the Fourth of July, our country’s independence, where we let freedom ring. But what is true freedom? I’ve wrestled with what this means over the past few years and the Spirit has helped reframe the way I see dependence and obedience through God’s truth. Let’s pray for freedom and liberty today!
Litany for Liberty
Christ the Lord has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Let us turn to him in humble but fervent petition, seeking the grace to root out from our hearts all trace of darkness, and all that holds us back from walking in the full freedom of the children of God. As Christ is our great model for that inner freedom, which enables us to do the right, let us turn to him with confidence that we, too, may follow him to the fullness of spiritual freedom.
Lord, have mercy;
Christ, have mercy;
Lord, have mercy;
Jesus, victor over sin and death… Free our hearts.
Jesus, fullness of truth and mystery… Free our hearts.
Jesus, teacher of seeking hearts… Free our hearts.
Jesus, healer of body and soul… Free our hearts.
Jesus, bringer of mercy and justice… Free our hearts.
Jesus, who humble the heart and mind… Free our hearts.
Jesus, release of captives… Free our hearts.
Jesus, voice against violence… Free our hearts.
Jesus, courage for the lowly/downtrodden… Free our hearts.
Jesus, origin of all authority and power… Free our hearts.
Jesus, true lawgiver… Free our hearts.
Jesus, unity of order and passion… Free our hearts.
Jesus, freedom of the Spirit… Free our hearts.
Jesus, obedient Son of the Father… Free our hearts.
For the freedom to love… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to believe… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to hope… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to worship… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to serve in charity… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to care for the suffering… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to comfort the sick… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to feed the hungry… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to shelter the homeless…Give us your grace.
For the freedom to proclaim the Gospel… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to walk in chastity… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to live in peace… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to work in good conscience… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to stand in solidarity… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to seek justice… Give us your grace.
For the freedom to reject sin…Give us your grace.
For the freedom to reject coercion… Give us your grace
For the freedom to reject falsehood… Give us your grace
For the freedom to reject evil temptations… Give us your grace
For the freedom to reject injustice… Give us your grace
Closing Prayer
O God, who gave one origin to all peoples and willed to gather from them one family for yourself, fill all hearts, we pray, with the fire of your love and kindle in them a desire for the just advancement of their neighbor, that, through the good things which you richly bestow upon all, each human person may be brought to perfection, every division may be removed, and equity and justice may be established in human society. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen
We are nudged, prompted, and motivated to do what we ought to do because we first have been inspired by the instigator of all good prayer, the Holy Spirit. We are never more like Christ than in prayers of intercession.
One way of laying down our lives is by praying for somebody. In prayer, I’m saying, “my life for yours.” My time, my energy, my thought, my concern, my concentration, my faith – here they are for you. This is my labor of love, no sigh or small prayer is ever lost but rises to the ear of God.
Intercession is giving our very self, our time, strength, energy, and attention to the needs of others in a way that no one but God sees, no one but God will do anything about, and no one but God will ever reward you for.
TIPS FOR INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Still yourself, put yourself in God’s presence
Bring to mind someone you love
Ask Jesus what he wants you to pray for that person
Pray that prayer
Bring to mind someone you don’t know very well
Ask Jesus what he wants you to pray for that person
Pray that prayer
Bring to mind someone you are in conflict with or are struggling with
Ask Jesus what he wants you to pray for that person
Smitten With Goodness 