A Step Along the Way: Dedicated to Archbishop Oscar Romero

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“It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.”



On This Day . . .

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“Mend a quarrel
Search out a forgotten friend
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust
Write a love letter
Share some treasures
Give a soft answer
Encourage youth

Manifest your loyalty in a word or deed
Keep a promise
Find the time
Forego a grudge
Forgive an enemy
Listen
Apologize if you were wrong

Try to understand
Flout envy
Examine your demands on others
Think first of someone else
Appreciate, be kind, be gentle
Laugh a little more.
Deserve confidence

Take up arms against malice
Decry complacency
Express your gratitude
Worship your God
Gladden the heart of a child
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth

Speak your love
Speak it again
Speak it still again
Speak it still once again....
Amen.”

 ~Author Unknown

A Prayer Before Falling Asleep by John Calvin

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“O Lord God, who hast given man the night for rest,
....as thou hast created the day
....in which he may employ himself in labour,
grant, I pray, that my body may so rest during this night
....that my mind cease not to be awake to thee,
....nor my heart faint or be overcome with torpor,
....preventing it from adhering steadfastly to the love of thee.

While laying aside my cares to relax and relieve my mind,
....may I not, in the meanwhile, forget thee,
nor may the remembrance of thy goodness and grace,
which ought always to be deeply engraven on my mind,
....escape my memory.
In like manner, also, as the body rests may my conscience enjoy rest.

Grant, moreover, that in taking sleep
....I may not give indulgence to the flesh,
but only allow myself as much as
....the weakness of this natural state requires,
to my being enabled thereafter to be more alert in thy service.

Be pleased to keep me so chaste and unpolluted,
not less in mind than in body,
and safe from all dangers,
that my sleep itself may turn to the glory of thy name.

But since this day has not passed away
without my having in many ways offended thee
....through my proneness to evil,
in like manner as all things are now covered
....by the darkness of the night,
so let every thing that is sinful in me lie buried in thy mercy.

Hear me, O God, Father and Preserver, through Jesus Christ thy Son.”

- John Calvin


  • Found at Jesuit Resources


A Godly Prayer by John Knox

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“Honour and praise be given to thee, O LORD God Almighty, most dear Father of heaven, for all thy mercies and loving-kindness showed unto us, in that it hath pleased thy gracious goodness freely and of thine own accord to elect and choose us to salvation before the beginning of the world.

And even like continual thanks be given to thee for creating us after thine own image; for redeeming us with the precious blood of thy dear Son, when we were utterly lost; for sanctifying us with thine Holy Spirit in the revelation and knowledge of thine holy word; for helping and succouring us in all our needs and necessities; for saving us from all dangers of body and soul; for comforting us so fatherly in all our tribulations and persecutions; for sparing us so long, and giving us so large a time of repentance.

These benefits, O most merciful Father, like as we acknowledge to have received of thine only goodness, even so we beseech thee, for thy dear Son JESUS CHRIST's sake, to grant us always thine Holy Spirit, whereby we may continually grow in thankfulness towards thee, and be led into all truth, and comforted in all our adversities.

O LORD, strengthen our faith; kindle it more in ferventness and love towards thee, and our neighbours, for thy sake. Suffer us not, most dear Father, to receive thy word any more in vain; but grant us always the assistance of thy grace and Holy Spirit, that in heart, word, and deed, we may sanctify and do worship to thy name.

Help to amplify and increase thy kingdom; that whatsoever thou sendest, we may be heartily well content with thy good pleasure and will. Let us not lack the thing - O Father! - without the which we cannot serve thee; but bless thou so all the works of our hands, that we may have sufficient, and not be chargeable, but rather helpful unto others.

Be merciful, O LORD, to our offences; and seeing our debt is great, which thou hast forgiven us in JESUS CHRIST, make us to love thee and our neighbours so much the more. Be thou our Father, our Captain and Defender in all temptations; hold thou us by thy merciful hand; that we may be delivered from all inconveniences [i.e. hardships], and end our lives in the sanctifying and honouring of thine holy name, through JESUS CHRIST our Lord and only Saviour. Amen.

Let thy mighty hand and outstretched arm, O Lord, be still our defence;

thy mercy and loving-kindness in Jesus Christ, thy dear Son, our salvation;

thy true and holy word our instruction;

thy grace and Holy Spirit our comfort and consolation, unto the end and in the end.

O Lord, increase our faith.”

- John Knox


  • Found at Jesuit Resources


Help Us Enter the New Year by Vinita Hampton Wright

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“God of all time, help us enter the New Year quietly,
thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others,
mindful that our steps make an impact
and our words carry power.
May we walk gently.
May we speak only after we have listened well.
Creator of all life,
help us enter the New Year reverently,
aware that you have endowed
every creature and plant, every person and habitat
with beauty and purpose.
May we regard the world with tenderness.
May we honor rather than destroy.
Lower of all souls,
help us enter the New Year joyfully,
willing to laugh and dance and dream,
remembering our many gifts with thanks
and looking forward to blessings yet to come.
May we welcome your lavish love.
In this new year, may the grace and peace of Christ bless us now and in the days ahead.”



Responsive Readings and Prayers For The New Year

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Responsive Prayer:
“Gracious God,
You are Everlasting Love and Forever Faithful.
Grant us so to pass through
the coming year with faithful hearts,

that we may be able in all things
to please Thy loving eyes.
(Mozarabic, 700 A.D.)

Bless us, O Lord,
and bless the time and seasons
yet to come.
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
And fill this new year with your kindness,
that we may be glad and rejoice
all the days of our life.
Amen.
(Fr Victor Hoagland, C.P.)

Responsive Reading:
Let us praise the Lord of days and seasons and years, saying:
Glory to God in the highest!
And peace to his people on earth!

Our lives are made of days and nights, of seasons and years,
for we are part of a universe of suns and moons and planets.
We mark ends and we make beginnings and, in all, we
praise God for the grace and mercy that fill our days
.

Responsive Prayer:
Remember us, O God;
from age to age be our comforter.
You have given us the wonder of time,
blessings in days and nights, seasons and years
.
Bless your children at the turning of the year
and fill the months ahead with the bright hope
that is ours in the coming of Christ.
You are our God, living and reigning, forever and ever.
Amen.



Christmas Prayer by Lama Surya Das

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May the lamp of love
which eternally burns above
kindle divine fire
in our hearts
and fan that innate spark
of divinity
into flame-
illumining all, opening our eyes
and consuming our differences,
driving the shadows
from our faces.

As love dawns
on the horizon, may our community
awaken in the Kingdom
of true communion
which is at hand
always.

May we recognize ourselves
in each other
each in each-
fellow pilgrims on this infinite
journey-
in truth
in that light.

May we learn to love
one another
better even
than we love ourselves.

May joy radiate.

Amen.

A Prayer of General Thanksgiving (Lutheran Book of Worship)

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“Almighty God,
Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks
for all your goodness and loving-kindness
to us and all whom you have made.

We bless you for our creation, preservation,
and all the blessings of this life;
but above all for your immeasurable love
in the redemption of the world
by our Lord Jesus Christ,
for the means of grace,
and for the hope of glory.

And we pray,
give us such an awareness of your mercies
that with truly thankful hearts
we may show forth your praise,
not only with our lips,
but also in our lives,
by giving up ourselves to your service,
and by walking before you in holiness
and righteousness all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory throughout all ages.


  • (Taken from Lutheran Book of Worship (Augsburg, 1978)


Prayer Of Commendation

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I am nearly finished with my first unit of Clinical Pastoral Education, where I have had the opportunity to serve as a Hospital Chaplain Intern.

The other day, I was called to perform “Last Rites” for a patient. Upon arriving to the room, I discovered that the patient was already deceased. After informing the family that 01: The Roman Catholic tradition only performs rites for the living, and, quite relevant, 02: I am not Roman Catholic and couldn’t do it even if it were such a thing. They said neither were they; they just wanted someone to perform a prayer.

I looked for a non-Roman Catholic Prayer of Commendation and couldn’t quite find what I was looking for, so I wrote one. It’s a little long for what I’d like to use it for and I will probably make some edits, or rewrite it completely, but I thought I’d pass it along in its current form if anyone’s interested (feel free to use and edit as helps you).

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Saving and Sustaining Creator
hear us as we gather
in the quiet remembrance of death.
From dust we came
and to dust we shall return. 
As our dear one has departed this realm,
some day, so shall we.

Creator who saves, and sustains,
help us make the most our days. 
May we carry your blessing of Love to all we meet,
for our days our few and the needs are many
Show us that Your Love sustains.

We commend our dear sister/brother ____________ to the journey ahead,
To them we say:

may you return to the God who formed you, 
may the angels and the saints; 
all those who have gone ahead
guide you as you go forth from this life to the next. 

Dear sister/brother ____________
May the God who created, saves, and sustains,
bring you freedom from your suffering, 
and peace of spirit,
welcome you with open arms 
into the garden of paradise, 

and may you hear those words we all long to hear:
“Well done, my good and faithful servant,”
Find your rest in that heavenly home
where there is no more disease,
no more sickness,
no more sadness,
no more tears,
and no more suffering; 
remember us as you take your place in the eternal.”

Creating, Saving, and Sustaining God
guide this dear one and us to our eternal home,
Give us the courage to continue our lives in sacrifice for others,
following the path of peace,
guided by Love. 

We pray with humble confidence
knowing our shortcomings
and your abundant mercies. 

Hear our prayers, 
guide our hands, 
heal our hearts. 
Amen.