Lord,
grant us prayer as sustenance to nourish this day.
Grant us prayer as the light needed to bring dawn to us.
Grant us prayer as a seed capable of bringing fruit to all our actions this day.
Grant us prayer as that gentle breath, more enduring than our weariness.
Grant us prayer that grounds us, brothers and sisters who receive life from the same Father.
Jesus, our Lord, risen from the dead,
we too wish to walk on the waters, to reach the other shore
where justice and peace sing your Name!
Grant us the grace of trust that opens its arms at all times.
Grant us the grace of the courage to be, which resists fate and despair.
Grant us the grace of hope that lifts us up to take action.
Grant us the grace of joy that transcends the impossible.
Grant us the grace to encounter the Love that banishes all fear.
Grant us the grace of silence that hears the world to come.
Lord our God,
we give thanks to you for Jesus, the Son of the Promise. Through him the work of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled.
He took our burdens upon himself. He broke the yoke of our bondage, inviting all people to freedom.
He did not judge by outward appearances; he encountered people in the truth of their being.
He steadfastly upheld the requirement that we live together in justice and respect for all, without exception.
Lord,
may your Spirit teach us to look upon the world, just for today, through the eyes of Easter!
To contemplate it with the stirring of the heart,
To love it, whatever its appearance,
To peer beneath the distorted folds for the face to come,
To await the birth beneath the cloak of darkness.
To always hope for the best,
since we have already chosen to set to work
so that your promises may take shape,
persevering in our trust
in You, God of all blessings.
Jesus,
the Spirit you promised is like the wind; we cannot see it.
But we can see the traces of its passage whenever there is peace, faith, love, patience and kindness.
Grant us a share in this life-giving Spirit, we pray, so that we may become sons and daughters
of peace, men and women of the Good News intended for all: the Father loves us all infinitely and
eternally!
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.
