Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 10/3

The first reading for mass today is an ancient text but at the same time so contemporary in its message... 

During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles prayed:
"Justice is with the Lord, our God;
and we today are flushed with shame,
we people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem,
that we, with our kings and rulers
and priests and prophets, and with our ancestors,
have sinned in the Lord's sight and disobeyed him…

"For we did not heed the voice of the Lord, our God,
in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us,
but each one of us went off
after the devices of his own wicked heart,
served other gods,
and did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God."

 

Baruch 1:15-18, 21-22

 You reign over all the nations, Lord:
    lift our eyes from our self-destructive paths
to see, as you do, that there is one world,
    one human family, one life given to each of us,
deserving of reverence and respect
    of care and compassion,
because that life is your gift to each of us
    and to all of us, your beloved children...

Come and wrap our world in the reign of your love:
exercise your rule over 

    our thoughts and desires,

    our lust for power, 
    our dreams and schemes;

    our jealousy and envy,
    our grudges and resentments;
come and rule our hearts 

    with your word, your truth, 

        your law and your justice...

 
Let your rule over us be the measure 

    of our compassion, 
    our generosity,

    our gentleness and mercy... 

With divine power,

    mend and make peaceful the sad divisions

        in the global family,

        in the nations of the world,

        in our cities and towns,

        our neighborhoods and parishes,

        in our families

        and where we work and play... 

 

Be our justice, Lord,

    and let our work and efforts yield

        a harvest of your peace...

 

Amen. 

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