Lord Jesus, you say to us: come to me, all you who labour, and I will give you rest.
We pray to you, see the multitude of poor people who count for nothing in the eyes of our societies.
See those who cannot resist evil and who suffer because of it.
Lord, see those whom illness, age, and events have left powerless,
with empty hands.
Lord, you who welcome us as we are, may we in turn know how to
welcome one another and let your light shine through our shadows…
God, you loved the world, but does the world know it?
So often it searches for you in its darkness,
so often it denies all stars.
With those who, at the beginning of Lent,
renew their trust in you, we bless you.
With those who, despite war,
do not give up on a possible tomorrow,
we bless you.
With parents who, despite uncertainty and precariousness,
still choose to give life today,
we bless you.
With those who are committed to the most vulnerable
and who, despite multiple challenges and their powerlessness,
stand firm in their constant presence,
we bless you.
Lord Jesus,
you always precede us in prayer,
even before we gather together, you were waiting for us.
Blessed are you for your Presence that inspires ours.
You are there, without dwelling on our poverty, our distractions,
which so often have made us forget to put on our festive attire.
You are there before our words, more attentive to what we try to stammer out
than to the perfect harmony of our songs.
You lend us your Spirit so that He may breathe into us the Name above all Names,
the right Name, unspeakable without the Spirit, and which makes us sure and brothers.
Thanks be to you, Jesus, Lord, for being here again tonight to receive our prayer.
A long journey begins for us, Lord,
and we do not like what drags on,
we know too well how habits and weariness catch up with us.
Lighten us of all that weighs down our walk,
lead us towards that simplicity of heart,
that fallow ground of the soul that ‘pursues neither grand designs nor wonders beyond our reach’
(Ps 130) but unifies our desire and enables us to find our joy in You,
God, always waiting for our presence.
God of the impossible, you who freed your people from the yoke of slavery,
today, once again, come and open our lives to new possibilities.
From the hardest rock, bring forth water for our thirst,
and may gentleness and kindness once again irrigate our relationships.
God of the impossible, give us a new heart.
In the desert of daily life, when habit and monotony smooth the horizon and lull our vigilance,
come and bring forth something new, open our eyes to the signs of the times.
God of the impossible, reawaken our hope.
Since Moses and the people of the desert, tracing their path by the light of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night,
we are that people journeying towards the promised land.
But when the desert wind erases the tracks in the sand, when the oases recede and water becomes
scarce and slows the progress of us pilgrims, turn our gaze to that rock which
brings forth living water, Christ who went to the end of love.
Blessed are you for the One in whom our hope is anchored, Jesus, your Son.
Through Him we pass from death to life, starting today.
God our Father,
the great Love, towards whom our desire soars, you wanted to reveal him in Jesus, your Envoy.
He lived among us, filled with your Spirit. Through his choices, through his struggle for life, through the cross,
he brought human passion and fragility into the very heart of God. His Spirit accompanies us
and whispers to us that we are children of God, universal sisters and brothers, thus making us
aware of your eternal plan: a reconciled humanity.
Allow us to receive inspiration from this for our life together throughout our days.
Blessed are those, Lord, who discover your loving presence at the heart of their lives.
They are witnesses to your goodness.
Make us attentive to one another, concerned for the daily bread of our sisters and brothers.
Make us witnesses to your goodness.
Make us sensitive to the cries for justice and freedom of so many people, so many nations.
Make us witnesses of your goodness.
In this time of crisis, when so many of our sisters and brothers are driven into misery and unhappiness:
Make us witnesses of your goodness.
May the Spirit mobilise all our energies to proclaim the Good News in praise and
service…and we pray to you:
Make us witnesses of your goodness.
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 this world to be built with you.
Whoever is not against you is with you: grant us to see the good that is accomplished in silence and selflessness, all the initiatives that prevent us from giving up and sustain our Hope for the world to come.
Bless all human solidarity, bring to fruition the actions of so many men and women who tenaciously strive to overcome poverty, disease and ignorance. Justify their hope in the world to come.
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 within her. Strengthen her in the hope of the world to come.
Blessed are you, Jesus, who was not ashamed to call us your brothers and sisters,
and who welcomes us into your Presence again this morning.
Blessed are you, who comes to dwell in our daily lives with your light,
clothing our hearts with your tenderness.
Blessed are you, Jesus, who invites all human beings to your table,
the nameless, the lowly, and even the loveless
that we sometimes are.
Blessed are you, who gives us your Holy Spirit to keep us in your invisible Presence
and strengthen the energies of life within us.
