A New Year Prayer
May God make our new year one in which he is found at the centre of all
that is sought and is done.
Not by shielding us from all sorrow and pain,
But by strengthening us to bear whatever may come.
Not by making our path simple, easy and smooth,
But by strengthening our will to invoke the call of love.
Not by keeping us and the burdens of hardship apart,
But by removing the demons of fear and angst from our hearts.
We make this and all our prayers in Jesus’ name.
Amen
A prayer for the beginning of term
Lord God,
at the beginning of this new term teach us to be your hands and feet where we are,
at the beginning of this new term teach us to love as you love us,
at the beginning of this new term teach us to pray for those in need,
so that You are honoured and glorified.
Amen.
By Annie Barnsdale
John 6: 22-29
‘Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God
wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in
the one he has sent.’
A Prayer of Thanks for all God’s Children
Lord our God,
We thank you that you made each one of us in your image and likeness, and that we
are all your beloved children.
At the beginning of this term we pray for the pupils at St. Richard’s.
We pray for pupils who:
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make us smile;
challenge our way of thinking;
test our patience;
we find easy to like;
we find difficult to like;
are bright;
are hardworking;
find learning tough;
get on our nerves;
are a delight;
like to laugh;
always look sad;
always look lost;
talk all the time;
never say a word;
are easily overlooked;
are impossible to ignore;
remind us of ourselves when we were younger!
We thank you for all the pupils who have an impact on our lives and for the privilege
of having an impact on their lives.
Lord, help us not to label pupils or fall into the trap of thinking we have got them
sussed. Help us to be open to new revelations and the work of your Holy Spirit in
each of their lives.
Lord, use those we teach to teach us. Help us to be Christ-like at all times; seeing each
one with your eyes and valuing them with your heart of love.
We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus the teacher.
Amen
CAFOD Prayer for Syria
God of mercy,
Pour out your peace upon us all.
Watch over our brothers and sisters in Syria,
especially those who have fled their homes.
Lead them to a place of safety
and bring comfort to those who mourn.
Inspire us all to share the light of your hope,
and to reach out in a spirit of compassion.
Make us channels of your peace,
so all your children may live
free from fear, conflict and pain.
We ask this through Christ our Lord, Prince of Peace, Amen.
Catherine Gorman/CAFOD
Live Simply Prayer
Compassionate and loving God,
you created the world for us all to share,
a world of beauty and plenty.
Create in us a desire to live simply,
so that our lives may reflect your generosity.
Creator God,
you gave us responsibility for the Earth,
a world of riches and delight.
Create in us a desire to live sustainably,
so that those who follow after us
may enjoy the fruits of your creation.
God of peace and justice,
you give us the capacity to change,
to bring about a world that mirrors your wisdom.
Create in us a desire to act in solidarity,
so that the pillars of injustice crumble
and those now crushed are set free.
Amen.
Prophets of a Future Not Our Own
This is what we are about:
We plant 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 effects 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 God'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.
~ Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero ~
Pax Christi Daily Prayer
Thank you loving God
For the gift of life
For this wonderful world which we all share
For the joy of love and friendship
For the challenge of helping to build
your kingdom.
Strengthen
My determination to work for a world
of peace and justice
My conviction that, whatever our
nationality or race,
we are all global citizens,
one in Christ
My courage to challenge the
powerful with the values of the Gospel
My commitment to find nonviolent
ways of resolving conflict
- personal, local, national and international
My efforts to forgive injuries and to love those I find it hard to love.
Teach me
To share the gifts you have given me
To speak out for the victims of injustice
who have no voice
To reject the violence which runs
through much of our world today.
Holy Spirit of God
Renew my hope for a world free from the cruelty and evil of war so that we
may all come to share in God's peace and justice. Amen
Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of my understanding.
Take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity
of sin and ignorance.
Give me a keen understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp
things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations and the ability to
express myself with thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion. I ask
this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP (patron of scholars)
Prayer for a Diverse Community
Creator of all races and ethnicities,
help us see that a diverse community is the way
to deepen our lives and to know you more deeply.
Guide us to see that entering into a vital and just relationship
with others who are different from us
is the way to make ourselves whole.
Guard us from fear of the other,
from the fear that our own security is threatened
if we become truly willing to make a place at the table for all.
Open us to live out what we profess to believe:
That our true security is in You and in your call to justice and peace,
That we are a part of your global family,
That, because of your Incarnation, the human dignity of everyone is sacred,
And that we are constantly called to conversion and inclusive community.
We pray that you help us recognize any forms of racism in our hearts,
And in our legal systems and social structures.
Forgive us our sins of exclusion.
Heal our souls and spirits.
Ground us in compassion for all through your grace.
Help us take the steps you call us to take
To build a more just community,
Where difference is respected
And where we can all join hands
And rejoice in the common good.
Through the mercy of God, we pray.
Amen.
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
Prayer of St Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body now but yours,
no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks
compassion on this world,
yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
yours are the eyes,
you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which he looks
compassion on this world,
Christ has no body now on earth but yours (x 2)
Some Definite Service
By Blessed John Henry Newman
God knows me and calls me by my name.…
God has created me to do Him some definite service;
He has committed some work to me
which He has not committed to another.
I have my mission—I never may know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
Somehow I am necessary for His purpose.
I have a part in this great work;
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection
between persons.
He has not created me for naught. I shall do good,
I shall do His work;
I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth
in my own place, while not intending it,
if I do but keep His commandments
and serve Him in my calling.
Talk To Me
I want to hear you
I am always listening
but My ears are different from yours
you hear all the noise of life
you are deafened by words
loud
quiet
kind
cruel
true
false
loud
whispers
all tangled up in
dreams
distractions
delights
disappointments
desires
I hear your heart
the beating rhythm that is yours alone
the cadence of your unspoken prayers
the pulse of your daily needs
the confessions you don’t know how to confess
the strengths you don’t know you have
the gifts you have yet to use
your song that only I can hear
step outside the chaos of your world
and into the peace of Mine
and discover they are the same
one reality
in everything that lives
one God
connect
bring me your deepest needs
say nothing
talk to Me
Words © Paul Field
Remembrance
I once saw a field of poppies, petals of rich red,
dancing elegantly through the wistful wind. Remembering the blood that was shed.
I can’t remember exactly,
but I think I saw a soul, a soul of a soldier,
still marching through the carpet of rich red.
I still remember that day as clear as clear can be.
The day I saw a field of poppies, petals of rich red,
the memory will always lie with me.
By Maria Crowter and Elisha Edwards, 8R