Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 2/5

For friends who offer good advice
exactly when I need it,
   thank you, Lord...

For folks who understand
without a lot of explanation,
   thank you, Lord...

For those who give the room I need
but never leave my side,
   thank you, Lord...

For those who never fail to be
the friends they truly are,
   thank you, Lord...

For a quiet place and time to pray
whatever most needs praying,
   thank you, Lord...

For You who wait for me
however late I am in coming,
   thank you, Lord...

For You who hear my every prayer
and take it to your heart,
   thank you, Lord...

For You who are my hope and strength,
the deepest peace I know,
    thank you, Lord...

For all good gifts that come my way,
for blessings great and small,
   I thank you, Lord, and praise you...

Amen. 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 2/4

Sometimes, Lord, I see everything so clearly:
    I understand things,
    I see where I've been and where I'm going
        - everything fits and it all makes sense!

And then there are the other times...

Times when everything's fogged in
    and I'm lost in the dark,
reaching, feeling my way forward,
    my steps unsure on an unknown path...

And sometimes, Lord, 

    only a few hours separate

the clear skies in my soul

    from the fog bank in my heart...

 

So, help me weather 

    the cloudy mornings and stormy nights 
to make my way, day by day,
    by your grace, Lord,
through this partly cloudy, mostly sunny life
    I call my own...

 

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. 

 

The Storm is Passing Over by Charles Tindley 

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Take courage my soul and let us journey on

for the night is dark and I'm still far from home

Thanks be to God - the morning light appears.

 

The storm is passing over

the storm is passing over

the storm is passing over

Hallelu!

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Deportation statistics: a comparison

Here's a quick video look at monthly deportation statistics comparing the Biden and Trump administrations. 

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Pause for Prayer: WEDNESDAY 2/4

 

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Two weeks from today: ASH WEDNESDAY!

 

God is about to do something in your life!   

 

It doesn’t matter if you are 7, 17, 27, 37, 47, 57,67, 77, 87 years old  - God is about to do something in your life!  Whether you come to church only occasionally or every week - or not at all - God is about to do something in your life. 

 

Perhaps you're a mom or a dad, busy with a thousand things to do and 10,000 things to worry about; perhaps you are a youngster in the third grade; you might be a middle school or high school student; maybe you’re retired; perhaps you live alone; you might be a young single adult; you might be happy or sad, tired or rested; perhaps you are engaged to be married or you may have been recently widowed; perhaps you are separated or divorced; you might be a single parent; you might love the Church or you might be fed up with the Church; maybe you have forgotten about God, or you might think that God has forgotten about you: whoever you are, God is about to do something in your life.

Do you have an idea, a thought, a notion of how God might want to touch your life this Ash Wednesday (February 18) and in the forty days of Lent that follow? Perhaps you do!  Perhaps you know, sense, intuit, fear or anticipate just what it is God may want to do in your life... OR... perhaps what God might want to do in your life this Lent is a complete mystery to you...  Either way, don’t doubt for a moment that God waits to touch your heart in the holy season ahead of us. As a matter of fact, no day in our lives goes by without the Lord reaching out to touch us, to speak to us, to forgive us, to heal us, to comfort and challenge us. But Lent is a time when we make an extra effort, for 40 days, to listen for God’s word, to ask for his mercy, to open ourselves to his healing touch, and to invite the Lord to enter more deeply into our hearts and lives.  

 

AT LEAST OR A SEASON... for forty days, we make a special effort to be open to God - and you can be sure that God is ready to take advantage of our seasonal readiness!    God is about to do something in your life.

Just what IS Lent, anyway?   

LENT is a season to do some spring-cleaning in the many rooms of our hearts and to ready them for celebrating God’s gift of new life at Easter.   

 

LENT is a season to prepare for Easter by: prayer (with the church and alone); fasting (learning to hunger for God); and generous giving (caring for the poor).   

 

LENT is a time for getting back to basics: to learn again and to practice for forty days how we should live as Christians every day of the year.   

 

LENT is a time for coming home: coming home to the Church community; coming home to prayer; coming home to God.   

 

LENT is spring training for Christians: a time to get in shape, spiritually; a time to strengthen what's weak within us and tone up what's already strong within us.

 

LENT is a time to make the time to begin to actually do the things we so often say we want and hope to do - but just never seem to have or make the time to get around to doing them...   

 

LENT is a time for getting ready to celebrate EASTER (April 5).  Easter is at the heart of our life as Christians and Lent is the way to prepare for Easter joy!

God is about to do something - in my life and in yours!

 

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NIGHT PRAYER: Tuesday 2/3

Lord...

 

Be with me, stay with me,

close by my side... 

Speak to me, hear me

and answer my prayer...

Lead me and guide me

along the right path...

Show me each day

what you want me to do...

 

Calm my anger 

and heal my resentment... 

 

Stand as a guard

at the door of my lips...

 

Give me the grace

to make wise decisions...

 

Save me from harm,

from temptation and sin...

 

Hold me and mold me

as you'd have me be...

 

Fill me with hope

when worry consumes me...

 

Grant me the courage

to speak what is true...

Keep me at peace

with all those I know...

 

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.

 

Be With Me, Lord by Marty Haugen 

 

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Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble,
     be with me, Lord, I pray!

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord most high,
who abide in the shadow of our God,
say to the Lord,  "My refuge and fortress,
the God in whom I trust!"

Be with me, Lord...

No evil shall befall you, no pain come near,
for the angels stand close by your side
guarding you always and bearing you gently,
watching over your life.

Be with me, Lord...

Those who cling to the Lord live secure in God's love
lifted high those who trust in God's name
Call on your Lord who will never forsake you,
God will bring you salvation and joy.

Be with me, Lord...

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Pause for Prayer: TUESDAY 2/3

  

Snow is God's reminder of what grace looks like.

It doesn't pick and choose where it will fall:

    it covers everything... 

 

Especially now, Lord, 

    in the middle of winter 

        when it's snowing all around us... 

 

Especially now, when,

    at every twist and turn,

        the snow is piled high...

 

Especially now, when

    the brilliant silver-blue

        fills our senses with your beauty...

 

Especially now, remind us

    how you blanket us with grace, Lord,

        how you cover us with mercy...

 

How your grace falls from the heavens

    down on us and all our neighbors,

        on our country and the world... 

 

How we're snowed in by your kindness, 

    not by flakes and not by flurries

        but in drifts of your compassion,

            your mercy and your grace...

 

Amen. 

  

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NIGHT PRAYER: Monday 2/2

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.  Today's gospel tells the story of Mary and Joseph presenting the child Jesus in the temple, as was Jewish law, and their encounter with Simeon and Anna who greet the child as the "light that shines" in darkness and shadows of every human being. You can read the story here. 

On the dark days, Lord,
   when thick clouds shade my heart,
      shine your guiding light upon my steps...

 Be the light that burns within me,
   in my corners of confusion...

Be the light upon my path
   to show the way when I am lost...

Be a light to search me out
   when I'm huddled in the shadows...
   
Draw me out of my own darkness
   to the light your presence brings...

Be the midday sun and share with me
  the warmth of your embrace...

Be the moon's light in my night sky,
   aglow in all my dreams...

Be a light of truth and wisdom
   in my random, foolish thoughts....

Be my light of hope and trust, Lord,
   when sadness fills my soul...

And when I choose the darkness, Lord, 

    or close my eyes in fear

then shine your light upon me

    with your mercy, grace and peace...

Brighten the darkness around me, Lord,

   illumine the darkness within me;

shine through the darkness that hides me,

   burn in the darkness that chills me;

shimmer in shadows that dull me,

   gleam in the shade that shrouds me;

pierce the darkness that clouds my hope

    and warm me with rays of grace...

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.

 

About tonight's song...  The Liturgy of the Hours is the church's daily prayer and the last "hour" each night always includes the Canticle of Simeon, found in today's gospel.  That canticle is preceded by and concludes with an antiphon - which is also the last stanza in each of my daily Night Prayer posts here on my blog.  Here's a beautiful setting of Simeon's song, composed by Steve Warner, an old friend from my days at Notre Dame.

 

Canticle of Simeon by Steven Warner

   - performed by University of Notre Dame Folk Choir

 

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Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake,

watch over us as we sleep

that awake, we may keep watch with Christ

and asleep, rest in his peace...

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace,

your word has been fulfilled

my own eyes have seen the salvation

which you have prepared in the sight of every people:

a light to reveal you to the nations

and the glory of your people Israel

Glory be to the Father and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit

as it was in the beginning, is now

and will be forever.  Amen.

Protect us, Lord, as we stay awake,

watch over us as we sleep

as awake, we may keep watch with Christ

and asleep, rest in his peace...

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Lenten Pocket Crosses!

This will be the 15th year that I've had small Lenten pocket crosses made to send to my readers.  Each year, the cross is engraved with a few words, usually from scripture.  (There's no charge for receiving a cross - you just need to send me a self-addressed stamped envelope (3 first class stamps!)  Here are some samples from the past:

 I'm about to order this year's crosses - but I'm not sure about what words to have engraved on them...

I'd be happy to receive your suggestions! 

Just leave a comment on this post with your idea.  As you can see above, 3 lines is the maximum!

 I need to order these crosses soon - Ash Wednesday is February 18! - so don't delay in sending a suggested text. 

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Monday Morning Offering: 2/2

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

I'm stuck on Saint Paul's words from yesterday's mass: that I'm wise by no one's standards - human or divine and that those I count as foolish - may be wise beyond my dreams...

Foolishly, I sometimes think - I know it all! And you, Lord, know so well - I don’t!

Keep me from the pretense that I know more than most - at least much more than anyone around me...

Keep me from thinking I know it all - and have nothing left to learn...

Keep me from thinking I know enough - especially when I hardly know enough to just get by...

Keep me from thinking I know myself so well - when I'm often such an easy mark 

for my own self-deceit...

Keep me from thinking -  and over-thinking: too much, too often and all to no avail...

Keep me from thinking that others don't think... open my mind to others' thoughts, Lord...

  

Keep me from self-doubt and thinking all my thoughts are foolish - but help me know when they are!

 

Keep me from thinking you’d ever fail to forgive my foolish thoughts and ideas and plans...

Keep me from thinking I know better than you, Lord, the difference between what's true, what's false... what good, what's bad... what's right, what's wrong...

Keep me from always thinking: The worst will happen!  And help me always to hope for the best…

Keep me from thinking, Lord, that you don't understand - you who dwell in the depths of my heart...

Keep me from thinking I can do it alone - especially when I need all the help I can get…

Keep me from thinking it's always my fault - and help me to trust in the good that I do...

     

Keep me from thinking I know all there is to know  - about you and your love…

And keep me from thinking there's ever a moment when you're not thinking of me...

 

Such is my prayer for wisdom, Lord, offered this Monday morning: make me wise in your ways - in your word and your truth -  in all that I say and do...

Amen.

  

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