“This is the fast that pleases me:
to break unjust fetters,
to let the oppressed go free,
to share your bread with the hungry
and shelter the homeless poor.
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness.
Amen.”
Found at ucc.org
Lothar Schreyer
“Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds hide me.
Permit me not to be separated from you.
From the wicked foe, defend me.
At the hour of my death, call me
and bid me come to you.
That with your saints I may praise you.
For ever and ever.
Amen.”
Attributed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Found at at Jesuit Resources
“May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness;
May all be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow;
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless;
And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives.”
Found at Jesuit Resources
“We are a link in Amida's golden chain of love that stretches around the world, we will keep our link bright and strong.
We will be kind and gentle to every living thing and protect all who are weaker than ourselves.
We will think pure and beautiful thoughts, say pure and beautiful words, and do pure and beautiful deeds.
May every link in Amida's chain of love be bright and strong, and may we all attain perfect peace.”
- Buddha
Found at Jesuit Resources
“O God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference;
living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next.”
Found at Jesuit Resources
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu ::
“May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”
“May the sweet light of change shine in the darkness,
May the first breath of each morning begin life again,
May the memories unfold as prayers for life,
May the love continue to fill the silence.
(Attributed to Zenju)
Found at Jesuit Resource.org
“Strive that your actions day-by-day may be beautiful prayers.
Turn towards God and seek always to do that which is right and noble:
enrich the poor,
raise the fallen,
comfort the sorrowful,
bring healing to the sick,
reassure the fearful,
rescue the oppressed,
bring hope to the hopeless,
shelter the destitute!
Strive!”
(“Based on a talk given in 1911 by Abdu’l Baha, Baha’u’llah’s eldest son and appointed successor” and taken from the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)
“One breath to let go.
One breath to be present.
One breath to ask, “Now what?”
(Credited to Thich Nhat Hanh and found in the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile with joy.
Dwelling in the present, this is the only moment.”
(Credited to Thich Nhat Hanh and found in the Interfaith Ministry Handbook)
Gracious, Heavenly Creator and Sustainer,
We confess that we do not love as we ought.
We love ourselves more than you
and more than our neighbors.
We cling to our opinions as truths
and we feed the politics of division,
hungry for power and full of comfort.
Wake us from our slumber, Gracious God.
You tell us in the Scriptures that
If we speak in the tongues of men or angels,
but do not have love,
We are nothing more than resounding gongs or clanging cymbals.
God, turn our noise into music.
If we have the gift of prophecy or can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if we have faith that can move mountains,
but do not have love,
We are nothing.
God, remind us that no one cares how much we know until they know how much we care.
If we give all we possess to the poor,
and give our bodies to hardship that we may boast,
but do not have love,
We gain nothing.
God, help us to listen to you. For you have told us what Love is like:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
God, help us to be people made and shaped by Love.
God, help us to make your priorities our own.
For where there are prophecies,
they will cease;
where there are tongues,
they will be stilled;
where there is knowledge,
it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
When we were children, we talked like children,
We thought like children and reasoned like children.
But as we matured, we put they ways of childhood behind us.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror,
but someday we will see face to face.
For now, we only understand in part
But someday we will know fully,
even as we are known.
And now, these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
Gracious God, we give ourselves to You,
to be remade in the image of Love.
We ask for the power of the Holy Spirit
that we may be transformed into your image.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.