Author name: admin8206

Dear Lord,
our world trembles before an uncertain future. With a whole people moving forward with difficulty,
our faith raises questions, sometimes destabilises, and sets hearts on fire.
In our midst, it inspires witnesses to a living faith and encourages us to persevere in Hope.
When we feel out of breath, when we can no longer see the signs and the fire flickers within us and around us, may your look of tenderness, Father, make us lift our eyes to the promised Peace.
When we feel poor, empty, with nothing to share, awaken in us the memory of the gift received and renewed every day.
When we become aware that we are full of ourselves and that our selfishness is overflowing,
come and rekindle in us that flame of happiness that comes from elsewhere and that nothing and no one can take away from us.

Spirit of God,
You whom a long tradition before us invokes as the Father of the poor,
the Defender, the Comforter,
you heal the wounded, you straighten the bent.
Putting people on their feet, again and again, stronger than fate,
that’s what you’ve been doing since the beginning!
You are the Wind that blows where we least expect it,
subversive and free,
you displace and dispossess,
you fill empty hands,
you who prepare the Day of God, we’re waiting for you!

At the beginning of this Advent season, we want to keep watch, with all those who are waiting and also and above all
and especially with those who are no longer waiting.
We know that keeping watch is not a natural attitude, but a spiritual one that opens us up to the memory of the One who is coming. Strengthen the Spirit of fidelity within us!
We know that keeping watch is an attitude of solidarity by which we express the fact that no one lives and dies alone. Strengthen in us the Spirit of brotherhood!
We know that keeping watch is an attitude of hope, through which we anticipate the joy of the arrival of the One who will tear the darkness apart. Strengthen in us the Spirit of trust!
We know that watching is the love that crosses all distances to welcome the other. Strengthen in us the Spirit of communion!

God who loves us,
we stand before you on this new day,
hands open, outstretched like beggars, thirsting for true life,
And if together we can be simple witnesses to your love, we can be witnesses to your love.
And if together we can be simple witnesses of your goodness on the road to our neighbour,
then, Lord, be blessed!

Jesus, Lord, thank you for being present where two or three are gathered in your Name.
Teach us to live in the unity of your Spirit so that we can work to build a world of peace.
Lord, give us roots to remind us of where we come from,
so that we can draw on our deepest strength and hold on in the storm…
Lord, give us a trunk so that we can soar towards the light, standing tall and reaching out towards you,
to carry the sap, to transmit life…
Lord, give us branches to offer shelter, to support with love, to carry far and wide
and sow to the four winds in a united hope…
Lord, give us fruit to give you glory, to nourish others,
to offer the joy and taste of your love in unshakeable faith…

Lord, we have endangered your creation.
Infuse in us, day after day, the grace of your Spirit
to have the courage to repair and care for what is damaged;
to have the courage to resist everything that violates animals and plants;
to have the courage to work for a city where we are all one.
Make us friends of the earth, allies of your creation, now, tomorrow, always.

Praise be to you Lord our God, for the mountains and all the hills,
to see your heaven, the work of your fingers, what is man that you have given into his hands
your creation, planet earth, our common home…
Praised be you through Jesus Christ, He has reconciled the world with your Fatherly heart
and he attracts all those who put their trust in him.
Praise be to you through the Spirit of his Passover. We walk in faith to move from the predation of the living to the
to repairing its integrity.
Praise be to you for humanity, at once one and many, and too often disfigured by the blind violence
of war, when it was created capable of offering an open hand, the provider of peace…

God our Father,
with Jesus in our midst, the leaven of communion,
we want to hold together: thanksgiving and intercession,
praise and solidarity,
joy and compassion.
We want to stand on the rampart of Hope
watching for your Day: the Day of great Shalom for all peoples.

Jesus, Lord, you gave your life so that ours might be possible.
So that the Gospel may become the leaven of a new humanity,
strengthen us in the hope of a world to be built with you.
Those who are not against you are with you: help us to see the good
that is accomplished in silence and selflessness,
all the initiatives that prevent us from giving up
and keep our hope alive for the world to come.
Bless all human solidarity,
bring fruit to the actions of so many men and women
who tenaciously try to fight poverty, disease and ignorance.
Give reason to their hope in a world yet to be born.
Send your Spirit upon the Church
that she may have the courage to reform herself in the light of the Word she proclaims
and which never ceases to work in her.
Strengthen her in the hope of the world to come.

God our Father,
who is this man after your own heart who has inspired so many men and women to follow him
to the point of leaving everything behind?
Who is He, the One who spoke with such authority the astonishingly new words of the Beatitudes, demanding and liberating at the same time?
Who is He who gives new hope to the unloved and the wounded along the way?
Who is He, the One who takes so much liberty with the prescriptions of the law, in the name of respect for God and love for others?
Who is He, the One who accepts rejection, misunderstanding, contempt and even death, out of love?
May our lives give Him thanks!