Lord,
in the face of the immense challenges of our time, do not let us retreat into a bygone past that is
illusory and supposedly better, but inspire us with the wisdom to create a world in harmony with your
creative plan: that humankind may live in harmony with one another, that the earth may yield its fruit, each according to its kind, and
that animals and creatures may thrive in all their diversity. We want to dream alongside the Bible so that
this time may come, and to help you bring it about!
In the name of Jesus Christ, who desires a good and abundant life for all!

At a time when thousands of hectares of forest and arable land are going up in smoke,
we know we can pray to you, Jesus, the man of agricultural parables…
Pray for the firefighters and all the volunteers battling the blaze.
May they know that you stand with them in their fight to save their fellow citizens and the land that sustains them.
To pray to you for our farmer friends who, throughout the year, through their expertise and hard work,
prevent the land from returning to wasteland and desertification.
To pray to you for all those living in parts of the world where climate change has already
wreaked havoc and is causing the displacement of starving populations.
To pray to you for the dreamers, the utopians, the courageous, who are fighting against the degradation of
the environment, and come up against conflicting financial interests.

When we run towards nowhere,
when we search in the distance for illusory treasures that will leave us unsatisfied,
bring us back to our field.
So often we squander these hours, these days, these daily treasures that are given to us.
So often we are consumers of the fleeting.
In the frantic race for ever more, which speeds up our world,
stop us for your sake, stop us for our own sake,
stop us now for this moment of prayer,
in its truth,
in its selflessness.

Jesus, Yeshua, every morning I repeat your Name, and bless you.
I repeat your Name like the light that dispels the night, and bless you.
I repeat your Name like living water in our deserts, and bless you.
I repeat your Name like a seed promising all growth, and bless you.
To repeat your Name like a gentle breath, more enduring than our weariness, and to bless you.
To repeat your Name as the One who will open to us the heart of God, your Father and our Father.

God our Father, as this day draws to a close, we may feel that nothing of significance has taken place in our hearts. Remind us that your Kingdom begins each day and that, quietly but tirelessly, you guide us through your Spirit along the path of your Love – a path of grace, a path of joy. Fill us this evening with that joy through Jesus, our brother and friend.

Lord Jesus, you spoke to us of the mustard seed that grows into the largest plant in the garden, and of the
leaven that a woman hid in her flour, causing the whole batch to rise. For the Kingdom that is already present amongst us and
in our hearts, we give you thanks; and for whatever within us—and therefore for others—has stood in the way of your
coming, we ask your forgiveness.

n the midst of this world thrown out of balance by so many forces that divide, we wish to bear witness to you,
Lord our God. You who have given us life, who sustain us at every moment
and entrust us to be, for others, your heart, your hands, your living water… May your grace bridge the gap
between your expectations and our feeble responses, and grant us the grace to commit ourselves with joy and determination to
your work of creation and renewal through Jesus Christ.

Thank you, our God, for those whose kindness speaks of You.

Thank you for those whose hope breaks through the walls of fate.

Thank you for those who know how to forgive and offer a fresh start.

Thank you for those who, without making a fuss, perform acts of kindness.

Thank You for those whose zest for life and light-heartedness bear witness to the fact that Your Kingdom is already here…

Once upon a time, there was a man, as simple as a reed, purer than a spring; he was the
light. The true light that shines in the darkness. He came so that all might have life. He spoke
so that all might be soothed by human patience. He spoke to give a voice to the voiceless of the
earth. He spoke to call for peace amidst our merciless wars. He spoke to set free the hope buried
in sorrow. Through his voice, through his breath, he drew mankind from the shackles of sin; he opened up
the infinite horizon of love to them.
God, blessed be you for Jesus! Thanks to him, we know that you are a Father full of tenderness and
mercy, always ready to forgive us and to set us on our way once more towards Freedom.

Jesus, our Lord,
grant us a share in the faith you found in the humble among your people, that faith which saves.
What do we know of your welcome as long as we do not lay our burdens at your feet, as long as we do not
entrust our weaknesses to you, who came to bear them?
Teach us to free ourselves from the powerful grip of all that is non-essential, which so often invades
our daily lives or clouds our judgement. Lead us towards inner contemplation, where the
true believer may be born, in the authenticity of their being.

God our Father,
how can we give thanks to you for Jesus of Nazareth, that man after your own heart
in whom you reveal your face?
He is your Beloved Son, your very Word.
But where can we find Him in our present day, how can we discern the mystery of His Presence?
When He says to us, as He did to the rich young man: ‘One thing you lack’
Would we be prepared to leave everything behind, to give not from our surplus, but from what is essential?
When he says to us, as he did to his disciples: ‘Come and see’,
are we ready to take off our sandals before the poor man,
to recognise that blessing comes to us not from the temple built by human hands,
but through the outstretched arms of the Crucified One…?
God our Father, you who are our Future, we welcome you!

Jesus, our Lord,

who walked amongst us doing good, your path never ceases to inspire new beginnings:

we pray to you, awaken us to our humanity.

Through your welcome at the table of sinners and tax collectors, through your presence to all who drew near to you,

we pray to you, awaken us to our humanity.

Through your silence of truth and forgiveness towards those who have been unable to resist evil and who

suffer because of it, and towards those who condemn,

we pray to you, awaken us to our humanity.

Through your freedom in the face of the law, and your constant choice in favour of the life and dignity of everyone,

we pray to you, awaken us to our humanity.

Through your willingness to receive everything from the Father and to pursue the work of the Spirit to the very end along

unknown and unpredictable paths,

we pray to you, awaken us to our humanity.

We give thanks to you, God our Father, for Jesus, the prophet after your own heart,
who has established your Kingdom amongst us,
where love permeates our relationships,
where the joy of living overcomes gloom,
where friendship becomes the foundation of our life together
Like the widow in the Gospel, we too cast ourselves into trust,
leaning on one another.
May your Spirit set us on the path of Christ, in his freedom and trust,
He who leads the dance of the liberated peoples…

It is for a new world that you came amongst us, Jesus, our Lord!
This new world that you wish to build with us.
Grant us the flame of the Gospel!
It is for a new justice that you came!
So that the marginalised may be invited to the banquet table.
Grant us the flame of the Gospel!
It is for peace that you gave your life!
So that there may be no more room for hatred amongst brothers.
Give us the flame of the Gospel!
You came for a revolution in values!
So that the least may be first, all loved freely, madly.
Give us the flame of the Gospel!

God our Father,
when enemies reach out to one another, when they recognise that they belong to the same race,
to the same land, it is your Spirit at work.
When mistrust is healed by the warmth of tenderness, when harshness gives way to gentleness
and mercy fills the heart of the violent, it is your Spirit at work.
We give you thanks for this, Father.
And we join our voices with those of all the victims, all the torn families,
all the peoples at war, to cry out to you:
Save the humanity within us; put an end to fear and to the spiral of hatred.
Disarm them, disarm us through Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One, the Living One,
with us for all time and beyond.

Lord Jesus, your Church needs love, because it comes from you.
It is not, first and foremost, an institution.
It is a transmission, a transmission of love, a transmission of the Spirit.
Without it, what would we know of you today?
Beyond its grave sin and its worldliness,
grant us the grace to love it and to help others love it in its depth,
to bear witness to it in such a way that You may be recognised in it
and that the multitude of those
whose daily lives radiate an undeniable love—Yours—may be recognised in it…

We pray to you, Father of Jesus Christ and our Father:
may the joyful news of the Resurrection burn brightly within us.
May it accompany us like a persistent word and melody,
so that, as it renews our lives,
it may reach all our brothers and sisters on the journey
and encourage them in their patient pilgrimage
through each day.
We pray this through Jesus Christ,
who, by his passage through death, directs our human paths
towards the life that is eternal.

towards the Life that is eternal.

We praise you, Lord Jesus, you are the Way!
The way by which God came to us,
the way that leads us to the Father.
You are the Way through your life given,
through your love never withdrawn,
through the hope that your Spirit places within us.
You do not leave us to walk in darkness,
you accompany us even in our wanderings
and you set our paths afresh towards the Light.

God, who is so generous in love and grace,
do not abandon us as we slowly come to embrace our freedom. So many forms of bondage keep us
on our knees. We ask you to walk with us, that we may come to cherish the freedom of heart
and speech, following the example of the free Man of Nazareth, your Son Jesus.

Where, then, are you, God of our faith?
Where, then, must we stand so that your Word may be spoken to us
and so that we may live in your Presence?
And here it is:
in the hand that comforts, in the gaze of tenderness, in the welcoming smile,
God, we recognise your Face.
And here it is:
in the words of love, in the words of forgiveness, in the words of kindness,
God, we recognise your Word.
And behold:
in the silence of prayer, in the music and the songs, in the gathered community,
God, we sense your Presence.
And behold:
You stand where the living stan

Come, Holy Spirit, visit us!
We are breathless, Lord.
In the confines of our homes, amidst our barricades, let your Pentecost burst forth,
that it may give us a new lease of life.
Help us to discern your radiant presence in the face of the stranger,
who comes to shake up our routines.
Help us to welcome the other in their truth, in their language, in their darkness and in their faith
which broadens our horizons.
Teach us how to let this inner fire burn, which comes to us from on high,
how to let the trust blossom that drives us to the greatest deeds.

Ask in my name’
To dare to ask
to dare to acknowledge that we are not self-sufficient
that there is a lack within us and things left undone
To dare to ask, to dare to trust that we will be heard.
Lord, if you have told us to ask, is it not because you love us
and because love delights in giving?
But is it not also to love that to dare to ask?
With the whole Church, and far beyond it, we ask for the Spirit.
He who is the Life of our life
and in faith we repeat: Come, Lord, come!

Christ,
as you leave us, you leave us a treasure: your Gospel.
Will we know how to receive it with empty hands, as a gift, as a promise?
Will the revelation of the mystery of the Kingdom, of the Father’s infinite love, revealed to the little ones, cause us too to tremble with joy?
Lead us to the simple source of trust,
let us be reborn from above, by your Spirit.
Christ, guide us along this path which you were the first to tread,
so that, unburdened by ourselves, we may have no other recourse,
no other certainty and no other risk,
than to believe in Love and to build our lives upon it.
Yes, grant that we may welcome the Love of God,
your Father and our Father, with our whole lives.

Blessed be you, Breath of God, for whispering to every human being
that they are God’s beloved,
called by name, raised up to life.
We stand before you with the diversity of our stories,
yet all filled with that ‘something’ that binds us to hope.
There are those whom your fire consumes, those who shield a modest glimmer with their hands,
those who have nothing left but the memory of it. Those whom you enlighten
and those who have no hearth left, those whose hearts are in tatters,
and in their innermost being a great abyss. But there is not one,
Breath of Love, to whom, through the night, you have not spoken the Good News
and who does not know his soul shaped by your infinite tenderness.
It is bearing this inexpressible gratitude that we come to prayer,
to say to you for all, with all: Be blessed forever!

You are leaving without leaving us, you say,
but we are left to believe it;
we are always left to believe
that what passes does not leave us,
but becomes engraved within us more deeply.
You are leaving to prepare a place for us, you say,
and we, this evening, would like to prepare a place for you,
a place within us.
To make room for you amongst us and in this world that so utterly ignores you.
You are leaving, but we want to keep a place for you
so that on the day you return
you will still find faith alive on earth,
that faith which you bring to life,
by leaving us.
Your Passover continues, in this Ascension, we believe,
Jesus our Lord.

Lord our God,
when your Word frightens us because it demands everything of us,
grant that it may also be the strength that sets us free from ourselves
and enables us to do more than we ever dared to imagine.
Grant that, moment by moment, we may grow towards true freedom,
for which Christ has shown the way,
He who goes before us as our universal brother,
drawing us through his Easter towards the Life that has no end.

Lord our God, who came into this world to share with us the fullness of your life,
open our hearts to receive the signs you offer us.
You offer us the sign of weakness: a newborn baby lying in a manger.
Open our hearts to this presence of fragility.
You offer us the sign of humility, by washing the feet of your friends.
Open our hearts to service.
You offer us the sign of bread.
Open our hearts to sharing.
You offer us the sign of the cross, a crucified God who dies outside the city between two criminals.
Open our hearts to your friendship with all.
You offer us the sign of fraternal community,
open our hearts to gathering together without exclusion.

Living God,

we believe in the life that leads to eternal life,

but help our lack of faith.

May your Word, in the Scriptures, in others, and in your many signs,

illuminate our paths, which are still so dark…

until the day begins to dawn

and the Morning Star rises in every heart.

We pray this through Him, your Son, Jesus Christ,

who lives with you in the communion of the Spirit.

for ever and ever.

Jesus, standing on our shores in the early morning,
when the night has been long and fruitless,
we dare not ask you,
but we know it is You!
Jesus, speaking suddenly from the open Book,
when questions have remained unanswered for so long,
we dare not ask you,
but we know it is You!
Jesus, present in the brotherly word and hand,
when loneliness weighed heavily on our shoulders,
we dare not ask you,
but we know it is You!
Jesus, sharing bread, aid and care,
through so many lives given,
when endless wars overwhelm so many peoples,
we dare not ask you,
but we know it is You!
Jesus, bringing peace, standing as the architect of reconciliation,
when the cycle of violence seemed hopeless,
we dare not ask you,
but we know it is You!

Risen Christ,
the tomb is empty, the stone has been rolled away,
yet our gaze remains fixed on the past, prisoners of memory.
We seek You among the dead, You, the Living One!
Christ, come and roll away the stone from our hearts,
free us from the false security of knowledge that seeks to control everything,
unleash within us the desire to create a new world,
in joy, in dance, in acts of brotherhood…
Open us to the surprises of your grace, Risen Lord!

Stay with us, Lord, just as you chose to stay,
as evening fell, with those two pilgrims who longed for your presence to linger.
Stay with us to guide us through the light and shadow of our journeys,
and do not abandon us in the face of our world’s troubling realities.
Stay with us, open the Book once more to enlighten us with this Word,
inexhaustible, so rich in humanity.
Stay with us, for we live through relationships and from them receive meaning,
hope, light,
just as you, you live only through the Father’s Love
given without measure by the Spirit.

God our Father,
at the brand-new dawn of your Promise,
Mary, in faith, though she could see nothing, sang her Magnificat.
In you, she rejoiced with joy.
Standing at Cana, standing at the foot of the cross,
she watched for the signs of the Kingdom to come.
Inspired by her example, may we become people of praise,
delighted to serve You by serving our sisters and brothers,
through Jesus, the Firstborn of the new creation.

Lord Christ, may your call to life still ring in our ears and in our hearts.

May our eyes be opened to your light,

and may the power of your Resurrection permeate our very being,

so that we may already live that eternal life which you promise

and bring comfort and hope to the world.

All things may be reborn through the Breath of your Spirit,

in communion with the Father, in You, the Resurrection for ever and ever.