Author name: admin8206

You have made known to us, O our God, what you expect of us,nothing other than to do justice, love kindness, and walk faithfully with you.

We pray, give us a whole heart!

Where concern for appearances prevents any true encounterfree us from our pride.

We pray, give us a whole heart!

Where the power of weapons takes precedence over human life,free us from our tyrannies.

We pray, give us a whole heart!

Where poverty dehumanises and erodes the hope of entire populations,free us from our indifference.

We pray, give us a whole heart!

Jesus Lord,
perhaps it would have been simpler to be servants…
servants have set hours, they have ‘limited responsibility’
whether they are useful or not is up to their employer.
But you did not call us servants
you dared to call us your friends
and that changed everything.
A friend is a full-time job.
We share our wildest hopes with our friends,
our deepest sorrows, our doubts, and our plans.
Friendship has nothing to do with usefulness.
Friendship can only exist freely.
It is a pure gift.
And that is why we come to praise you tonight,
freely, for the joy of a friend’s presence to a friend…
Blessed be you, Jesus, for daring to do this crazy thing: taking us as your friends…

God our Father, in Jesus your Son, you have revealed your heart to us. Through him you give us drink from the fountain
of living water, and through him you also tell us of your thirst to draw water from our well. In him we recognise
your Envoy, your Beloved Son, who is also the First among the multitude of brothers and sisters.
May your Spirit give us the courage to follow Jesus and continue his work of
peace, to embody in the most concrete way a little of that mercy that would revolutionise the world….

To your question, ‘Who am I to you?’ How can I answer you except with a song of praise, Jesus Lord!
Jesus, You are the One who speaks of God as a Father who is full of tenderness for all.
Praise be to You!
You are the One who weeps at the death of your friend and brings him back to life.
Praise be to you!
You are the One who prefers the company of sinners to that of the self-righteous,
because you want us to be merciful. Praise be to you!
You are the One who frees the law from its burden and speaks to us of the freedom and joy of the children of God.
Praise be to you!
You are the One who allows himself to be nailed to a cross, among criminals, living to the end the logic of God’s weakness. Praise be to you!
You are the One who gathers us together in prayer and leads us into the freedom of the Spirit.
Praise be to you!

Lord our God,
you who in Jesus became our companion and friend,
you know how dependent,
vulnerable and fragile we are.
We come to you with the weight of the past, that you may purify it,
with our present, that it may be filled with promise,
and our future, that it may be exposed to the breath of life.
May our whole life be the field of your grace,
for harvests of justice and peace.

Lord,
you who look upon every being with kindness and love, teach us to see!
In every face, reveal to us the potential you see,
in every face, reveal to us your own face, and remind us that in serving our brothers and sisters,
it is you we serve.
Blessed be you, Lord, for keeping in us this loving gaze,
this hopeful gaze,
throughout our days
and until the day we meet you face to face in eternity.

You alone, Lord, are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow,
which is why we pray to you with confidence:
When rainy days darken our spirits, when the light dims and
the cold seizes our hearts,
Lord, we call upon you!
When fog obscures our lives, when clouds gather
and the horizon disappears,
Lord, we call upon you!
When fear invades our homes, when the sounds of weapons accumulate
and war breaks out upon war,
Lord, we call upon you!
When our lukewarmness leaves us sitting on our sofas
and indifference blinds us,
Lord, we call upon you!

Lord Jesus, You who suffered for us and, joining us in our distress, freed us,
You who out of love for mankind humbled Yourself, took on the condition of a slave,
raised us up: our Saviour, have mercy on us!
In the madness that pervades this century, send us messengers, prophets,
those who are passionate about your Gospel,
who restore true dignity to all humanity and open paths to peace.
May your Kingdom come, Lord.

God of the Word,
in Jesus you call us to become beings of the Word ourselves.
When we are disappointed by the inflation of empty words,
you restore our confidence in the weight of words,
you who offer yourself to us in a word that does what it says.
When we are tired of speaking amid the noise of our discourses,
you restore our joy in listening, you the fragile Word that is received in silence.
When we are hurt by words that wound and divide,
you restore our thirst for unity, you, the Word that brings us together.
When we are slow to let your Word be spoken in our voices, in our lives,
you revive in us the memory of Jesus, your living Word.
Blessed be you, our God!

What is your name, hidden God that no one can name?
You enter our history and become one of us, blessed are you!
You are the rock that shelters and the stone that is rejected,
You are the thirst that burns and the spring that quenches, blessed are you!
You are the faithful friend and the stranger on our paths,
You are the oil on the wound and the sword of fire, blessed are you!
You are the hunger that gnaws and the bread that nourishes,
You are the desert path and the welcoming home.
You are the unfulfilled desire that grips us and the joy that sets us free,
You are the wound in our flesh and the hand that heals, blessed are you!
You are the Most High, the eternal God,
You are the Lowest who kneels and prays that we love one another.