Virtue – Page 9 – Smitten With Goodness

As we enter the season of Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that gratitude is more readily on my mind! A photo of God’s love message to me above on a silent retreat. Grateful for the silence in order to hear our Lord’s voice and see the blessings.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on my life. You have provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. You have surrounded me with people who always look out for me. You have given me family and friends who bless me every day with kind words and actions. They lift me up in ways that keep my eyes focused on you and make my spirit soar.

Also, thank you, Lord, for keeping me safe. You protect me from those things that seem to haunt others. You help me make better choices and provide me with advisors to help me with life’s difficult decisions. You speak to me in so many ways so that I always know you are here.

And Lord, I am so grateful for keeping those around me safe and loved. I hope that you provide me with the ability and sense to show them every day how much they matter. I hope that you give me the ability to give to them the same kindness they have provided to me.

I am extremely grateful for all of your blessings in my life, Lord. I pray that you remind me of just how blessed I am and that you never allow me to forget to show my gratitude in prayer and return acts of kindness.

Thank you, Lord.

– By Kelli Mahoney

Teach Us To Pray

Serenity God Provides

November 7, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

As we complete the stressful election cycle in the United States, let’s remember and be thankful that Christ offers us peace. Through Him by accepting reality and seeking wisdom, we walk the path of serenity.

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.
Amen

Reinhold Niebuhr (1926)

Teach Us To Pray

For Our President

November 6, 2024November 6, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

We have exercised our right to vote for a leader of our nation and to have our voices heard with our ballot. What a gift to have the freedom to do so. Despite our politics and our agreement with the elected candidate, it is our duty to be united for the health of our country. Let’s pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our leader!

We pray O God of might, wisdom and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the president of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.

Excerpt from Archbishop John Carroll’s a “Prayer for our Government” in 1791.

Teach Us To Pray

Ungrateful

October 25, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

God has never stopped being good. We have just stopped being grateful.

God isn’t just a beacon of hope; He is the very essence of it. And He generously pours it out, desiring to fill us completely with joy and peace. The key? Trusting Him. It’s like presenting our empty cup – the more we trust, the more He fills it.

But it doesn’t end there. This promise assures us that we’ll be so filled with hope that it overflows, impacting everyone around us. The source of this abundant hope? The Holy Spirit working within us.

Lord, no matter where I find myself or what I am facing, make me remember by trusting in You my reservoir of hope can always be replenished. Let Your hope overflow in my life, consuming me with gratitude. Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Virtue of Gratitude

October 15, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Gratitude is a virtue we need to always strive to cultivate in our lives. We are called to always be grateful to God for all that He has given us, even when we don’t understand what He is doing in our lives.

Our entire lives and all that we have are from God. He is the source of all gifts, of grace, of our happiness, and of our salvation. There is a lot to be grateful for.

Are you making a special effort to thank God daily? We can offer our gratitude when He has given us what we have prayed for, when He has answered our prayers in unexpected ways, or when He has given us what we needed before we even asked.

Over the next nine days, we will pray the Novena of Gratitude, giving thanks to God for all the blessings we see from Him and for those we do not see.

Lord, help us grow hearts of gratitude. Heal us from our lack of gratefulness, especially in light of Your faithfulness. Amen

Teach Us To Pray

Prayer of Gratitude

October 14, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Heavenly Father,

We come before You with hearts full of gratitude. In a world filled with chaos and uncertainty, we thank You for Your constant presence and unwavering love. Your Word reminds us to give thanks in all circumstances, for this is Your will for us in Christ Jesus.

Lord, we acknowledge that true gratitude comes through the victory of Jesus on the cross. We cannot be grateful in everything by our own strength, but through Your Spirit, we can develop hearts inclined toward thankfulness. Help us to consistently express appreciation for both the big and small blessings in our lives.

As we face fears and stressors, remind us that our gratitude stems from Jesus’ triumph over sin and death. May we always see Your goodness, count our blessings, and endure tough times with a thankful heart. Let our lives overflow with thankfulness, focusing on Your goodness regardless of our circumstances.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

Amen

Teach Us To Pray

All We Need

August 27, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Intercessory Prayer for Provision

Heavenly Father, I intercede for those who are in need of material or financial provision. Supply all their needs according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon them that they may not have room enough to receive it. Lord, be their provider and protector, their source and sufficiency. May they seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness and trust that You will add all these things to them. May they be content with what they have and share generously with others as You have blessed them. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

This prayer is based on Philippians 4:19, which assures us that God will supply every need of ours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Teach Us To Pray

Work of Peace

July 17, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

Open our hearts and minds Lord to see as you do and the courage to act as you would.

For Courage to Do Justice

O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others,
Open my ears that I may hear their cries;
Open my heart so that they need not be without succor;
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong,
Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.
Show me where love and hope and faith are needed,
And use me to bring them to those places.
And so open my eyes and my ears,
That I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee.

– Alan Paton, South Africa, United Methodist Hymn

Teach Us To Pray

Glory Be

July 8, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

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 His Holy Name.

Blessed be Jesus Christ, True God and True Man.

Blessed be the Name of Jesus.

Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

Blessed be the Great Mother of God, Mary Most Holy.

Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.

Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.

Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.

Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most Chaste Spouse.

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.

Teach Us To Pray

Getting Beyond Myself

June 14, 2024 Smitten With Goodness

The love of God is linked with the love of neighbor. “Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness” (1 Jn 2:9). Christianity is not strictly a personal salvation story; such a faith can fall into self-centeredness and disdain for the world. We are called to be leaven in the world, to bring light to the darkness. Jesus wants us to be his arms and legs and voice in the world.

Am I content to say prayers and make weekly Mass―but do little else? Might God be asking me to get more involved in the parish? In school? In some kind of charity work? How can I get beyond myself today?

Lord, help me live according to the New Testament. Amen

Tag: Virtue

A Simple Prayer of Gratitude

Serenity God Provides

For Our President

Ungrateful

Virtue of Gratitude

Prayer of Gratitude

All We Need

Work of Peace

Glory Be

Getting Beyond Myself