Prayer

Liberating God,

We celebrate today with our Muslim brothers and sisters, as they conclude their fasting throughout Ramadan. May we all give more thought to the way we are or are not training our desires in healthy directions. Inspire us all to become more disciplined in the best sense. Able to enjoy the good things of the world without being enslaved by them. As our Muslim colleagues have just done, lead us to embrace seasons when we can break from our usual habits of consumption, so as to be free of unhealthy attachments. For the sake of loving our neighbors and you more freely and selflessly, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Healing presence,

It’s as if you are magnetically drawn to those whose needs are the greatest. Your ears are tuned to the cries of those who are crushed in spirit. Your presence moves in with those who are brokenhearted. What a God you are! Help us be more like you today. Loving, compassionate, and abounding in kindness to all, especially those who are most desperate to hear some good news. Help us be faithful to extend your good news for all those in need. Drawing close to them, being near them, and working to comfort them with the simple gift of presence. Amen.

Prayer

Author of life,

Mindful that we are still in the season of Easter, we pause today and marvel at your awesome, mysterious ways. You take no pleasure in death and it was not your idea. Yet even death has been transformed by the ever-greater power of your life-giving love. Thanks to your resurrection, we can be people of hope, even amid suffering and pain and the inevitable end of life’s natural course. As healers and caregivers, committed to serving those who are sick and dying, help us embody your hope more and more for their sake. For all our sake, as colleagues and neighbors, and communities together, let life-giving love spring forth. Amen.

Prayer

Humble worker,

We are all prone at times to be quick to take credit yet slow to take blame. Heal us of our self-centered tendencies and help us to see the big picture. Open our eyes to the many hands and voices that are working in sync, each and every day, to extend your healing love to all those in need. Lead us to greater collaboration and innovation so that we can feel rightly proud of the multiple gifts in our midst. The people and talent, skills and ambitions, and the hearts of compassion longing to make of your world something good. Lead us together, in the humble pursuit of a job well done. Amen.

Prayer

All-wise Creator,

In the network of life you designed, no life is useless. Rather all things have purpose and meaning. Even our breath is a gift we can share for the good of the world around us! With hearts full of faith, hope, and love, help us live into our purpose more and more deliberately, with conviction and determination. And when the going gets tough and we start feeling useless, lead us back to a heart of simplicity, grateful for the many opportunities we’ve been given to extend your goodness to others, sometimes without even knowing it! Amen.

Prayer

Merciful God,

We are indeed bewildered and overwhelmed at times by the darkness pervading the world we inhabit. So then today especially, on Divine Mercy Sunday, we ask you to open our hearts so we might be renewed and refreshed by the gift of your mercy. Let mercy transform us and help us to remain steadfast in pursuit of our calling. Together, make us ever more effective agents of your compassionate, healing love to a world in need. Amen.

Prayer

God over all,

Everything you’ve made is woven together in a single “garment of destiny.” We don’t always act like it, but we are nonetheless called to ensure that everything we do and say respects this singular network of life that holds us together, as creatures before you. Help us to grow in wisdom and love as we answer this calling, so we may flourish as stewards of the Earth and all life. For the sake of all the diversity of life and vitality around us, and our own sake as well, we pray. Amen.