Give us, Lord, your Spirit of wisdom and understanding
so that the life of the world may receive new lifeblood,
so that we can discern the serious crises and the surface turmoil,
deep distress and fleeting troubles.
so that we can discern the real injustices and the just price to be paid,
so that we resist the fear of necessary change.
so that our eyes can detect the smallest glimmers of life,
so that we become signs for others of a better future,
give us your Spirit!

Lord, you know our land, made up of darkness and light,
of night and fog, of light, sunny mornings and serene evenings,
a land of blood and compassion, of fanaticism and fraternal reunion.
We bless you, Father, for the steps that people know how to take towards one another,
these discoveries beyond borders of brothers and sisters in humanity, these spiritual riches
with which you have filled us. Everything sings of the generosity of your gifts, and of the joy of those who know how to respond to them.
to them. Blessed art thou forever!

Lord, after your resurrection, your disciples recognised you in the breaking of bread.
This gesture opened them to the understanding of your mystery as Son of God and Son of Man.
May all those who seek you today recognise you in their turn,
to break with them the bread of sharing and gratitude.

Jesus Lord, thank you for the grace of walking together,
thank you for the gift of community life,
for supporting and stimulating us on this pilgrimage of faith.
Renew our courage and our strength.
Show us that you are close to each one of us.
And for all men, who without you know not what to do,
be the faithful God, you who were, who are and who will be,
until eternity.

Lord our God, we have come together in your Name.
we come with our distractions, our failures, our joys and our sorrows,
our desires and our good will.
And we believe that in this gathering you are there, in our midst.
We have only one prayer to utter:
grant us the simplest and most wonderful of gifts,
touch our hearts with your grace, grant us your Love,
that we may live it to the full, so that one day all our days
will lead to the one day of your eternal life.

When you give us a prayer that does not hesitate in its heart and that holds fast to what it asks of you,
blessed are you!
When you give us a prayer that embraces much more than just our personal projects and interests, blessed are you!
and personal interests, blessed are you!
When you inspire us to pray in a way that already gives thanks, sure, with that of Jesus,
that you always answer, blessed are you!
When you nurture in us the perseverance of prayer in the day when words grow stale,
and breath, and desire, blessed are you!
When you fill us with astonishment and gratitude for having been welcomed, heard and loved, blessed are you!

Jesus, the leaven of God buried in our human dough, be praised, Lord!
Jesus, light in our darkness, leaven of the Spirit’s freedom in our paralysis, be praised, Lord!
Jesus, hope of the poor, leaven of their expectation of another possible world, be praised, Lord!
Jesus, face of all faces, leaven of eternity in our fragile loves, be praised, Lord!
Jesus, leaven of our prayer, be praised, for with you we can name God our Father!

Blessed are you, Lord, for the peace you offer is like this tree
that grows and spreads its branches wide,
under whose shade multitudes find shelter.
Blessed are you Lord, for the call you offer is like the wind
and no one knows where it comes from
or how far it carries.
It brings forth from on high all those it visits;
Blessed are you Lord, for the love you offer
is like a house built on rock.
Though storms and torrents come, it stands firm.

Lord, today we live in a world that needs fire,
the fire of passion,
the fire of burning love.
We live in a world that needs water, the water of baptism,
the water that allows life to grow and beautify, the water that must be protected.
John the Baptist stands between water and fire, the old and the new.
We need prophets who make the link.
John the Baptist died from burning what needed to be burnt
to allow the freshness of God to come and irrigate our lives.

God, the Living One, you are always on the side of life and those who fight for it. Blessed are you who
call men and women to stand up for the dignity of every human being
and to defend their integrity of mind and body.
Give us the power to take an active part in your work of salvation, and by the power of the Spirit raise up witnesses of peace and dialogue, of peace and justice.

In the beginning, Lord our God, you gave us the marvellous gift of life!
Unceasingly, you maintain in us this permanent miracle of existence.
To experience Life within ourselves and to taste its joy.
Acknowledging this gift and giving you thanks for it also leads us to make it a right for every human being.
Your Word calls us to watch over the fragility of life for those who have no identity and no security,
because only walking in solidarity can lead us to a land of opportunity.

We pray to you, Lord, that each of us may develop confidence in ourselves, in others and in the future,
in others and in the future.
We pray to you, Lord, that we may go towards our brothers and sisters, guided by sincerity,
moving forward in the light of the spirit and not by the will to take and dominate.
We pray to you, Lord, that the energies of memory may vibrate within us
like so many living springs, and that we never forget where we come from, who we are
and what we owe to others.
We pray to you, Lord, for those who choose a path other than our own, and that our prayers may come together
our prayers for a just world.
We pray to you, Lord, that in the storms, the boat of humanity will move forward, guided by
goodness and trust.
We pray to you, Lord, that every human being will know that they are a living part of humanity, that they will feel
responsible for the future of all.

Living God,
your love wants to transform us so that the face of the world changes.
Give us to believe that this love comes to us in the concrete of our lives
and asks for our consent.
In the Spirit we praise you for this gift you give us at every moment.

Jesus, Lord,
You are the way of hope for an uncertain humanity.
Reveal to us once again the Face of God’s love
and deepen our desire to make it known, following in your footsteps, by becoming brothers and sisters to all,
brothers and sisters to all. In your name, blessed for ever and ever.

Jesus, Lord, even today you look down on the weary and bewildered crowds.
Even today, you fill men and women with your compassion, and you send them out,
without power or security, rich only in the Good News of your Love,
which is a hand stretched out towards each person and the meaning offered to all life.
You send two by two, because faith is communion,
and before it is proclaimed to those far away, it binds brothers together
and makes them companions in destiny.

Living God,
you have written a desire on our hearts,
it is unique,
it is the same for everyone :
To know you.
To know You, the All Other, whom no one has ever seen,
and yet whose features we can make out on every human face.
To know You, the Silent One?
so often heard in the words of our sisters and brothers.
A word that calls us to silence, a word that calls us to be.

Remember, Jesus, Lord, the day you looked for a well to stop at…
In the scorching midday sun, you spoke of living water that satisfied as well as quenched thirst.
And we, this evening, come to prayer as we come to the well,
We seek Your Presence as we seek the spring.
With Elijah, whose desire drove him to the torrent of Kerith, with Mary, whose eagerness to meet Elizabeth
set out through the mountains of Judea,
we too come to You.
May our very thirst be the impetus that moves us
may it set us on our way again and again, daring to believe that you are waiting for us, that you are the first to thirst,
thirsting to meet us.

Holy Spirit, whose imprint, like a mysterious seal on our hearts, we have carried since our baptism, no river, no great waters can extinguish the love with which God, in You, loves the world, come and irrigate our prayer!

• Our time needs to be healed of its violence, Spirit of peace, put the strength of your gentleness within us.
• We think we satisfy our thirst with so many easy diversions, Spirit of interiority, reveal to us the constancy of our true desire
• It is so easy to build walls, to erect barriers, Spirit of conciliation, help us to find ways of living together that welcome beneficial otherness.
• The lack of prospects for the future clouds the general atmosphere, Holy Spirit who gives us the experience that ‘hope does not disappoint’, help us to bear witness to this around us.
• Spirit placed in our hearts so that we may continually learn to pray, help us to enter into the prayer of Jesus who brings us together as sons and daughters of the same Father.

God of all wisdom, we beseech you in the name of your Son Jesus Christ.
Help us to break down the walls we constantly build,
the walls of our hearts and the walls that generate hatred, violence, fear and indifference
between men and between peoples.
By your Spirit of strength and life, give birth to trust and love in us and in this world,
springing from the cross and resurrection of your Son Jesus, whom you give us as our brother…

Our God,
in Jesus, you have given us your boundless love.
His Word awakens and shakes us at every stage of our lives.
No one knows better than he does how to tell us who to worship
and what gestures and signs of solidarity you expect from us.
May your Spirit make us permeable to this Light that leaves nothing in the shadows,
and may our actions match our words…

Dear Lord,
Hear our voice when we ask you to breathe into the hearts of all men the wisdom
the wisdom of peace, the determination of justice.
Hear our voice when it echoes from the multitudes in every country
and under every sky do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace
and conciliation. May we too be ready, and for this we ask you
with the strength of your Spirit, the courage to disarm our hearts.
Hear our voices, Father, and in them, the voice of Jesus. Through him, grant the world peace,
in this time and for all eternity.

Lord God,
Like Jeremiah, we stammer when we have to open our mouths.
Like Jeremiah, we step aside when your Word comes upon us
and, like Elijah, we want a hollow in the rock where we can hide our face.
You know us completely and we still know you so little.
Your mystery, God, belongs to you, as do the many ways in which you come to us.
Give us this respectful prayer that does not fear the dark, but remains alert,
trusting that your Word carries within it the light of a plan of Love.

Lord our God,
to guide us on the path where you yourself come to meet us, you give us a single word
that contains all the others: “You will love”. Let it be the lamp of our steps.
Your Word is like bread. Give us the gift of savouring it, of sharing it
and draw strength from it for our journey.
Your Word is like water. May it irrigate in us all that is barren or dried up
and lead us to its source.
Your Word is like fire. May it enlighten us and warm us,
may it burn us with the desire for communion.
Your Word is like the earth. Root us in it so that we may experience
the solidity and constancy of everything you give, demand and promise.
Lord God, your Word has taken on for us a face and a name; in Jesus Christ we have recognised your infinite nearness and your goodness.
your infinite closeness and goodness. May his life as a man of brotherhood and solidarity, linked to you with all his being, be
the trail of light that guides our journey in humanity. It is through him that we pray to you, God our Father
Father, in the Spirit that unites you for all eternity.

Unique God,
God who blesses all that lives and breathes, we praise you.
Your Name is inscribed in the depths of every human being,
in that secret place where he knows he is made in your image: unique.
Your Name can only be deciphered through the eyes of love.
Your Name can only be spoken with respect for others,
however poor they may be.
One God,
before whom our hearts cannot be divided,
teach us the unity of love,
the unity of our own hearts, which cannot be divided,
to love you and to love our brothers and sisters.
Return us unceasingly
by the unique and unifying breath of your Spirit,
given to us all in Jesus Christ.

Faithful God,
may your Spirit be given to us,
bearer of that love which harmonises what ours has put out of tune.
May it work in us, deeply, and help us to recognise
the divine seed germinating within us.
We ask this in communion with all humanity,
invited to choose the path of the Beatitudes,
through Jesus Christ, who through us shares in the fullness of your Life.

Jesus, you say: your faith has saved you!

But the faith that saves, who could we ask if not you?
The faith that enabled the woman to return home healed, just because she touched your garment. The faith that enables the father not to fear for his child, despite the waiting time imposed on him.
The faith that is at the heart of all our prayers, Lord,

the faith that enables us to go forward without seeing, to hope beyond our wildest dreams,

the faith that moves the mountains of our fears and uncertainties.

Who can we ask for faith, Lord? It is you, and you alone, who save us in it,

Lord Jesus, and we can only return it to you, in infinite gratitude, this faith that you place in us.

Lord, we think we know our life and here we are without strength, swept away by the raging waves…
For your silent Presence that soothes and revitalises, we thank you.
Lord, we think we know our life, but we close the door with our reasoning…
For your calls that invite us to make room for others, we thank you.
Lord, we think we know our life but so often we miss out on true joy,
the joy of serving those who are sick, those who have no strength…
For your mercy in putting us back on the path of life, we thank you.
Lord, we think we know our life but so quickly we come up against our limits,
we who do not know how to go to the extremes of love…
For your trust that hopes for us and gives us new strength, we thank you.

Jesus, son of man,
you have nowhere to lay your head; the impatience of the Spirit is driving you on the roads:
You must proclaim the Kingdom of God to everyone!
Ever since your voice resounded, we have been pilgrims
watching for a trace of your passage.
You are there where hands are stretched out to carry with them,
where mutual service creates a way of living together on a human scale.
You are there where a few share their goods, share their bread,
where people fight poverty and disarm hatred.
Jesus, son of man,
burn with the fire of your Spirit what still holds us back
and make us servants of your Kingdom.

Jesus, a free man, a man inhabited by the Spirit,
your actions are a sign of the Kingdom to come.
In you the finger of God touches the dusty ground
to bring forth a new man in the likeness of the Father.
Your actions are a sign of the Hope to come,
because you descend to the lowest depths, where despair obscures the horizon
and holds people captive.
Jesus, you want to need us on the world’s human construction sites,
to be relays of your Hope, peacemakers
who work alongside the abandoned.
May your Breath lift us up and inspire us to do as you have done?
Jesus, our Saviour.

In the depths of the night, there are embers that keep watch,
It doesn’t take much for the ashes to ignite.
In the depths of suffering, hope lies dormant,
it takes so little for its strength to awaken.
In the midst of our confusion, there is a silence that beckons,
it takes so little for its peace to flow like a river.
In the midst of our noise, our sterile words, there is a silence that listens,
it takes so little for its truth to burst forth.
In the depths of our solitude, there is a trace of light,
it takes so little to recognise the passage of the Friend.
Breathe into our lives, Spirit of God!

Jesus, Lord, you have given us your Name,
as a path to make,
as a seed to grow;
blessed be your Name!
You have given us your Name
as a summons to the best in ourselves?
as a pledge of a transformed future;
blessed be your Name
You gave us your Name
to walk in your light,
to recognise you in every human face;
blessed be your Name
You gave us your Name
to free us from our fears,
to tame the unfathomable;
blessed be your Name
You gave us your Name
as a password between brothers and sisters,
as an invitation to walk in solidarity;
blessed be your Name.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Lord our God, you have placed everything in our hands: love, peace, the future of the world.
For your trust that hopes for us, praise be to you!
For the earth to be human, every person must have his or her daily bread.
For the ways of sharing that you propose to us, praise be to you!
For a world to be human, deadly conflicts must end.
For your peace that disarms hearts, praise be to you!
For a world to be humane, justice must be embodied in structures
that reduce the gap between rich and poor.
For your solidarity that awaits us, praise be to you!
For a world to be human, violence and hatred must be banished.
For your weakness that sows love without exclusion, praise be to you!

O Lord, God of our fathers, you who keep your covenant and shower your blessings
from generation to generation, we ask you to give us the grace to enter into this covenant
with all the sincerity of our hearts and to remain faithful to it. Keep us in the confidence
of your faith in us because of Jesus, who became our brother and companion on the way,
for time and eternity.

In the story of a tiny people,
you reveal to us, Lord, that the infinite love that dwells in the heart of man
is like the trace of an encounter, that of man with his creator.
You entrust us with an unfinished world, to be respected for the work of giving birth.
We were made for happiness,
in relationships, in healing, in forgiveness,
in the breath of life that animates all creation.
By contemplating the smallest gestures of love and solidarity,
you show us, Lord, the power of this breath, Yours, ours…

Father, give us strength every day to believe that life is stronger than evil.
That there is a way out and light beyond every dead end, every night.
That love already delivers us from death.
Give us the gift of listening to the source of true happiness, to the disconcerting
and inexhaustible calls of life, of what rises from the immense inner spaces
within us.
Give us the ability to recognise the new that is happening,
to marvel at it, to help it grow,
with a passion for love and hope that never lets us rest.
Give us the ability to move forward into the open sea, clear-sighted,
agreeing not to restrict the gift we have made of ourselves
so that your Kingdom may come.
Give us faith in what we do together,
by welcoming others’ differences,
becoming freer of ourselves every day.

Lord our God,
we give you thanks for Jesus, the brother of all those who seek God,
may his Name bring us together, may the beauty of his Gospel be our strength
in the fight against the forces that divide,
may the beauty of his Gospel be our strength in the fight against the forces that divide, the fight that makes us brothers and sisters and in solidarity,
following in the footsteps of Jesus, who tirelessly awakens us to a responsible humanity…

Blessed are you, God our Father, for Jesus,
sent to serve and not to be served.
Blessed are you, God our Father, for Jesus
who came to be with us in our suffering and our fears.
Blessed are you, God our Father, for Jesus,
passionate about you, passionate about people, respecting each one.
Blessed are you, God our Father, for Jesus
He gave his life like bread; his weakness is stronger than all powers.

Lord our God,
we bless you for your beautiful and good creation,
but we have hijacked it in our greed to devour its resources,
we have diverted the purpose for which you created this world to our own comfort.
Ecological awareness reminds us that saving the planet is in our hands.
And you continue to entrust it to us to make it beautiful,
with our love, our conversion, our sharing…
God, who loves and seeks man down to the depths of his misery,
blessed are you for the One who is forever reaching out to us, Jesus Christ!
In Him we are co-creators of the new earth, and for that we thank you.

Lord, how long is the road to knowledge.
Will it take us all eternity to know you and to know ourselves?
Today we see only a pale reflection, but in the mirror of your Love
it is your warm, welcoming light that gradually reveals us to ourselves.
At the beginning of the world you said: “Let there be light” and there was light.
And that was good. So that your light may be in our lives, keep us in your Name
so that we may enjoy the benefits of your presence,
from now until eternity.

Dear Lord,
By your Spirit, fashion for us a simple heart that does not relish sadness
By your Spirit, give us a faithful and generous heart that forgets no good but rejects evil
By your Spirit, give us a gentle and humble heart that loves without counting the cost
Through your Spirit, give us a heart that is wide and open, that is not closed by ingratitude,
that no indifference wearies.

Spirit, source of unity,
on this new day, teach us to gather the smallest pearl of happiness
that the dew of your love deposits in the hollow of our hands
as on the corolla of flowers.
Teach us to savour these small joys, these rays of sunshine
and may these sparks of love spread from one to the next
and light up a multitude.

God’s breath that speaks in us more than flesh and blood,
sometimes without our knowing it,
to lead us where we do not know, Praise be to you!
God’s breath that keeps our faith alive, our contemplation of the Scriptures luminous,
hope serene and strong, Praise be to you!
Breath of God, fire that burns away the dross of pride, rekindles the ashes of our discouragement
and dissolve fear, Praise be to you!
God’s breath for our land
that makes us speak each other’s language,
build bridges and crumble the walls of our prejudices, Praise be to you!
Breath of God, never leave us alone,
rekindle in us the impulse to pray,
and the joy of knowing that we are all enveloped in the love of the same Father, Praise be to you!

When two or three are gathered in my name
I am there among them.
We cling to this promise.
Blessed are you for being there,
without looking at our inattentiveness, at our hearts so poorly dressed for the meeting.
You are there, and to your Name we are grafted to pray,
You tame for us the silence of God, your Father,
whom you say is also our Father.
And you lend us your Spirit,
so that in our hearts it breathes the unspeakable Name without Him, without You
Jesus our Brother, first-born, blessed are you to be here
to gather us together in your Name.

Lord,
they were gathered together in the upper room
with some women, including Mary,
they were praying, waiting, as you had told them.
Our upper room this evening is our hearts,
they too are filled with expectation
that our words cannot capture,
a longing that you yourself never cease to explore.
Perhaps God created us this way, beings of lack?
So that we can experience everything
that it is not this, nor that,
in every place, that it is neither here nor there.
So that we may tirelessly seek you,
you who made us for you.
So with them, we too stand in the upper room,
waiting for what you have promised us,
the Breath of Life, of Life in abundance.

God our Father,
we thank you for your Spirit,
that great artisan of communication,
the servant of truth
who encourages listening, respect and dialogue.
May He visit us, speak to us again about You
and speak to You about us who are still on the road.
We pray this through Jesus, the mediator of Your peace for all ages.

Holy Spirit, force of life
Who ignores the frontiers of cultures and religions,
past and present,
come and renew the face of the earth!
Holy Spirit, force of life
Who knows how to open the closed doors of our hearts,
unmask our idols, overthrow the powers,
come and renew the face of the earth!
Holy Spirit, force of life
who frees us from fear and submission to fate
and inspire oppressed peoples
with courage,
come and renew the face of the earth!
Holy Spirit, force of life
Who breaks down the barriers of contempt and racism,
to create links and build bridges,
come and renew the face of the earth!

Jesus, ascend to your Father and our Father,
may the promised Spirit come!
May he keep alive in us the fire of the Gospel,
May it set the earth ablaze!
May men and women of peace arise,
inspired by your breath
to renew the face of the earth
in your Name, blessed for ever!

God, give us to believe that it is good that Jesus is going away
so that we may continue to wait for his Spirit, always present, always to come,
to compel us to take our lives in our hands,
to believe in the living Word of his Gospel,
to bear witness that what is essential is invisible
and that from now on his human face shines only in the secret fire of the Church
which is his body regenerated by the Spirit from age to age.

Jesus, risen from the dead, we give you thanks,
for you call us to share your life to the full.
With you, today we pass from death to life
when we love our brothers and sisters. Blessed are you!
Since Easter, the tombs of fear and hatred
have been opened by the thrust of Hope. Blessed are you!
Those who sow in tears, those who walk without support
will see your face of light. Blessed are you!
All the losers, the victims of our wars and injustices
are the first guests at the Father’s table. Blessed are you!

Lord, you have the words that give life,
words that can turn everything upside down,
words that can raise you from the dead.
But how will the world hear these words
if no one proclaims them?
You count on your Church, you count on us.
With your Spirit in us, there is no longer any fear,
for your strength will be ours and the world will know
that love heals, that love is Peace,
that Love is You, Lord our God.