Prayer

Loving Creator,

With our Jewish colleagues entering Rosh Hashanah, we give thanks for the gift of creation and rejoice in new beginnings. May this be a blessed year for us all, as we acknowledge our faults while making every effort to align our words and deeds with your heart of love for humanity. Help us protect and defend your image in all those we encounter each day, speaking life to each other with the breath you have given. Amen.

Prayer

Merciful God,

Today we lift up our voices in gratitude for the Sisters of Mercy and the inspiring life of their founder, Catherine McAuley. May we, as Bon Secours Mercy Health, be enlivened by Catherine’s legacy and follow her example, serving our patients and families, neighbors and communities with tender compassion and merciful love. We pray in your name, fountain and source of all mercy. Amen.

Prayer

Source of our unity,

Sadly, we know that backbiting and blaming can be as prevalent in ministry as anywhere else. It is all too human of us to indulge in rumor and chatter. Idle talk that tears down while neglecting the real purpose that brings us together. Remind us today that there are better ways to bide our time and to keep the day moving. May we be inspired instead to unite as a people on mission, so that our words and our deeds would reflect the vision that draws us together. We pray in your name, Amen.

Prayer

Life-giving God,

The experience of desolation leaves us feeling more tired than we should. Open our hearts today to the simple little things that bring us consolation and remind us of the joy in living. Whatever inspires our hearts and brings us gladness, let us stay close to that source as we serve others in need. Free us to lift-up others among us, especially those who are downcast in spirit, that we might encourage them to rediscover their own source of life-giving joy. Let us be that source for each other! Amen.

Prayer

Spirit of Peace,

We set this day aside every year as the International Day of Peace. Yet we know and we grieve that it is not a day of celebration. Real and authentic progress towards peace is an ever-present burden that we are each called to carry, from age to age and down generations. May we be healed more today, of egoism and selfish concern, so that we may find the joy of turning outward in love to our neighbors, cultivating peace with each other as you have called us to do. Amen.

Prayer

God,

It’s not always easy and it’s not often safe to embody your mission. You often call us out beyond our usual places of comfort. We pray, therefore, that as we strive to exercise courage, your protection and love would cover and guide us as we follow you in the service of those who are vulnerable, marginalized, and oppressed. We ask this especially on behalf of those associates who so courageously serve in locations and environments that can frankly be dangerous, if not simply uncomfortable. Shelter them and us, that we all may learn better how to carry your ministry into the places where the needs are the greatest. Amen.

Prayer

God of my neighbor,

They are deluded who think they can do it all on their own. We need each other, and not just to get a job done, but because together we are more than a collection of individuals. This one human family, which you have called and are still calling into being, is destined to live in harmony. Like a symphony where everyone’s gifts are brought forth for the common good and a shared experience of flourishing. May it be so, through us, today! Amen.