Daily Prayers Monday, 1 August 2022
Teach us to number our days
by Rita Dove
In the old neighborhood, each funeral parlor
is more elaborate than the last.
The alleys smell of cops, pistols bumping their thighs,
each chamber steeled with a slim blue bullet.
Low-rent balconies stacked to the sky.
A boy plays tic-tac-toe on a moon
crossed by TV antennae, dreams
he has swallowed a blue bean.
It takes root in his gut, sprouts
and twines upward, the vines curling
around the sockets and locking them shut.
And this sky, knotting like a dark tie?
The patroller, disinterested, holds all the beans.
August. The mums nod past, each a prickly heart on a sleeve.
Welcome to Prayers for the Day.
We light a candle…
Lord, may this candle be a light for you to enlighten me in my decisions,
And may it be a fire for you to purify me from all pride and selfishness.
May it be a flame for you to build warmth into my heart towards my family,
my neighbours and all those who meet me.
In leaving this candle, I wish to give you something of myself.
Help me to continue this prayer into everything I do this day.
Amen.
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;
let us pray with one heart and mind.
Silence is kept.
As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set our hearts on fire with love for you;
now and for ever.
Amen.
Presence
I slow myself down for a moment, and try to realise that God is present.
To me. Here and now. He is in present in what I do,
in the people that I meet, and the situations I find myself in daily.
How can I make this reality real for myself?
Freedom
What most often stops me achieving freedom is my tendency
to be caught up in fears and expectations about what I ‘ought’ or ‘should’ be.
My usual automatic responses tie me down and inhibit me from exploring new areas of growth. I ask and pray for a greater sense of inner freedom and that I might reach the fresh and challenging possibilities that God wishes me to realise.
Consciousness
Jesus, You are always there waiting for me.
Grant that I may be still more often.
That I may always desire to spend time in your presence.
To know Your peace, Your love.
THE WORD OF GOD
Psalm 119:89–91
Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Solanus could meet people where they were in their spiritual life and draw them closer to God. When non-Catholics came for help, he respected their position and faith. Certainly “ahead of his time,” he was able to reach out to people of other faiths in a simple, friendly way long before Catholics discovered ecumenism. Yet he sometimes might suggest gently that they investigate the claims of the “Mother Church.”
“Perhaps you are more Catholic than you think you are,” he would say with that little twinkle in his eye and a warm smile. Always grateful for his own Catholic faith, he respected others for whatever faith they had, and he counted several ministers and rabbis as sincere friends.
by Brother Leo Wollenweber, OFM
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord God, we thank you for your Word, greatest and most glorious of all that comes to our human life. Every day we want to find more joy in your help, in what you are doing for us. Again and again we feel and rejoice in the new help, new strength, and new courage for life given by your Word. We seek and seek to find Jesus Christ, the eternal Life. He will surely come to establish your kingdom. Praise to your name, eternal, glorious, almighty God! Be with us poor, lowly people. Strengthen us in spirit, and enable us to persevere until everything is fulfilled that is promised by your Word.
Amen.
THE BLESSING
May God the provider of green pastures and
quiet waters be the peace in our hearts today
May Jesus our guide on mountain top and valley
deep be the hope in our hearts today
May the Spirit of truth and knowledge
comforter and friend be the strength in our hearts today
Amen
Thank you for join us. Have a wonderful day
Revd. Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
