Pause for Pra6yer: FRIDAY 3/6

Image source: Communio

In Lent we prepare to remember the suffering and death of Jesus, preparing to celebrate his resurrection.  From the moment he was conceived in Mary's womb, the heart of Jesus beat for us in love, compassion and mercy until that same heart stopped when he sacrificed everything that we might have life and have it to the full.  Even now, the heart of the Risen Jesus beats for us and will for all eternity.

The first Friday of every month is a day on which Catholics have a custom of praying to the Heart of Jesus.

For your 10 minutes of Lenten prayer today, spend some time with this beautiful Litany of the Sacred Heart.

In the first section of the litany, you might ponder which attributes of Jesus' heart are the ones you need the most right now in your life...

In the next seven sections of the litany are a number of titles or names for the Heart of Jesus: which of these names reaches out to your heart and its needs today?

In the next to the last section are phrases that speak of Christ's love for us, especially in his suffering and death:  how might those phrases have Lenten meaning for you this year?

And in the last section, we pray to love as the Heart of Jesus has taught us to love...

Find a place for prayer...  sit in the silence... be still... and know that the Heart of Jesus is with you...


Let us pray...

Litany of the Sacred Heart

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

So loving
So humble
So gentle
So compassionate
So faithful
So wise
So patient
So steadfast
So tender
So spacious

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

God’s joy
God’s shalom
Harp of the Trinity
Wingbeat of the Spirit
Breath of God
Five-petaled rose

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Womb of justice
Birthplace of peace
Our dearest hope
Longing of our lives

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Freely flowing fountain
Spring of grace
Freshet of forgiveness
Merciful river
Mystical dew

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Warmth of our hearts
Transforming fire
Cosmic furnace
Enflamer of hearts

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Heart of evolution
Beginning and ending
Center of all

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Garden of virtues
Mystical dew
Table and food

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Our refuge
Our shelter
Our comfort
Our rest
Our welcoming breast

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Wounded by love
Pierced by our cruelty
Broken by our hardness
Mystic winepress
Poured out as gift

Heart of Jesus, hear our prayer!

Have mercy, gracious heart,
Give us gratefulness
Teach us tenderness
Let us learn to love.

Hear our prayer!

- Wendy Wright

Let us pray...

Lord of all our hearts,
open wide your Heart of mercy
and refresh us in this season of Lent
with the peace that flows from the font of your love.
Gracious Lord,
hear and answer our prayer.
Amen.

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NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 3/5

I was thinking today, Lord, 

    of a disappointment I recently experienced...

 

Well, I wasn't so much thinking about it 

    as much as I was dwelling on it, 

        stewing over it, not letting it go...

 

And then, in a moment of grace, 

    I realized how small was my disappointment, 

        small and even minute, when weighed 

            with the all the blessings and joys, 

    I can count as gifts from your generous hand...

          

In that moment of grace I was able to see 

    how much I have to be grateful for:

        my many reasons to thank you, Lord...

 

My cup runneth over, again and again,

    and the jug of blessings from which you pour 

        seems always full - and full to the brim...

 

Even, Lord, in the hardest of times, 

    there's always a reason - and more than one - 

        for me to give you my praise and thanks...

 

There's always, always, always, Lord, 

    something for me to be grateful for...

 

Even upon the loss of a gift, 

    even the loss of a precious gift, 

there's the gift itself to remember and cherish, 

    to dwell on and treasure with gratitude,

for the blessing and grace it brought to my life, 

    to my heart and my soul - and my memories...

 

All good gifts come from you, O Lord, 

    given, freely, from your hands to mine: 

on loan to me as signs of your love, 

    entrusted to me to care for and keep 

        in the mystery of your great mercy...

 

Help me see beyond my disappointments,

    beyond my losses, large and small,

help me see with eyes of faith and love

    how kind and generous you are to me

        and have been and will always be...

 

And help me remember, Lord:

    there is always, always, always

        something for me to be grateful for... 

        

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake

    and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

    and asleep rest in your peace...

Amen. 

 

Grateful For by Natalie Layne 

 

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It’s not always easy to see the good 

When it doesn’t look the way I think it should 

I know, I know what it feels like 

When a smile don’t feel right 

But even the stress of a million cares 

Can’t cover the blessings You put everywhere 

It don’t take rose-colored glasses 

To see the gold in the madness 

 

I just gotta take time 

Slow down 

Take a moment to see it now 

The little things are what it’s all about 

What it’s all about 

 

I’ll take a look around 

There’s something to be grateful 

Something to be grateful for 

It’s waiting to be found 

Underneath the surface 

Everything I’m searching for 

Couldn’t find it in me 

But I found it in you 

I’m learning to see 

'Cause You’re teaching me to 

Take a look around 

There’s something to be grateful 

Something to be grateful 

Something to be grateful for 

Oh, grateful for Oh ,grateful for Oh, grateful for 

 

For Your mercy, the morning light 

For all of the ways that love has changed my life 

I know You’re behind all the goodness 

Don’t let me forget it 

When the sun don’t shine 

In the dead of night 

If the tears keep rolling from my eyes I know 

You’re always by my side 

That’s how I know I'm gonna be alright 

 

 Refrain

 

In the morning, I’ll be grateful 

In the evening, I’ll be grateful 

'Cause I know that You are faithful You are faithful, 

You are faithful In the good times, 

I’ll be grateful In the hard nights, 

I’ll be grateful 'Cause I know that 

You are faithful 

You are faithful, 

You are faithful 

 

 Refrain   

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Tomorrow is a FRIDAY in LENT

 March 6

 is a FRIDAY in LENT 

 - a day of ABSTINENCE.

What does that mean?  

On the Fridays of Lent 

Catholics over 14 years of age

are expected to abstain from eating meat.

 

For more on this topic, 

check out this earlier post.

 

 Note: 

 Individual, personal health concerns and "doctor's orders" 

always take precedence over regulations 

for fast and abstinence!

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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 3/5

 

For another purpose, I was reworking and expanding a prayer I wrote 14 years ago and I realized how appropriate it would be for Lent, a season for asking the Lord to change our hearts...

Some things in my life need changing, Lord,
   - and I wish I could change overnight -
but change comes slowly to me
   - because I come so slowly to change…

So, help me change, Lord!

Open my mind, my heart and my soul

   to see the changes I need to make,

the changes you, Lord, are working to make

   the changes I know you want to make

      in my wounded, mixed-up, broken life…

 

Change me from the inside out:

   reboot my heart till it beats as one

      with your heart, Lord…

Change my thinking

   till my thoughts sync with your thoughts,

      with your wisdom and your word...

 

Change my attitude, Lord:

   when I want to give up

      – make me hopeful;

   when I pity myself

       – help me see your blessings;

   when I want to give in

      – make me strong of heart;

   when I’m down on myself

      – help me know I’m loved;

   when I’m filled with doubts

      – strengthen my faith;

   when I’m giving up

      – renew my resolve;

   when I’m slow to act

      – kick me in the butt;

   when I’m prejudiced

      – open my mind;

   when I’m selfish and greedy

      – open my heart;

   when I’m proud and stubborn

      - humble my spirit;

   when I’m hot with anger

      – cool my rage;

   when I’m losing control

      – reign me in;

   when I’m stupid and foolish

      – smarten me up!

Stretch me, Lord,

   stretch me to be the person

      you created me to be…

 

Open my eyes to see your hand

   helping me change every day of my life…

Open my ears to hear your voice

   guiding me through what I need to change…

        
Open my lips to pray, Lord,

   for the help I need to make the changes

      I find the hardest to make…

 

Open my mind to understand

   how my thinking needs to change…

Open my hands to work for change

   that will serve and lift up others…

 

Open my heart to your Spirit, Lord,

   shaping, shifting and changing me

      in the ways I most need to change…

Heal me and mend me, reform and repair

   what's wounded and torn, broken and bent

my life, in my heart,

   in my words and my deeds…

 

Some things in my life need changing, Lord,
   - and I wish I could change overnight -
but change comes slowly to me
   - because I come so slowly to change…

 

So, give me the grace for change, O Lord:

   the changes I really need in my life,

   the changes that I find hardest to make,

   the changes you want me to make in me,

   the change that will change

      and set me free…

 

Amen.

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 3/4

 

As I look back on this day, Lord,
    I ask that in your mercy
you pardon my sins...

Forgive the sins I remember
    and any that I have forgotten…

Forgive the ways I wronged my neighbor
    and the good I failed to accomplish…

Forgive my weakness
    in the time when I was tempted...

Forgive my stubborn response
    when I was faced with correction...

Forgive the pride I took in myself
    and my failure to praise my neighbor's good work...

Forgive the lies and fibs I told
    and the times I avoided and skirted the truth…

Forgive the harsh judgements I made of others
    and the permissive ways I excused myself...

Forgive the times I ignored my neighbor
    and all the ways I indulged myself...

(Let's each of us take a few moments here
to remember the sins of this day...)

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me:
in your kindness, pardon my sins...

Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace…

Amen.
 

- Adapted from an old Celtic prayer

 

Chris Tomlin offers us a contemporary prayer for mercy

with a refrain drawn from an ancient trope...

Kyrie Eleison by Chris Tomlin

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