I saw these beauties on my way to church this morning. I won't be here to see them in full bloom but I'm grateful for this preview of what's to come!
6/28/25
Headin' west!
On Monday, June 30, I'll be heading west to Georgetown, Colorado to spend two months with my sister and bro-in-law. That's Georgetown Lake in the photo - just one of the many beautiful spots in this little valley in the Rockies.
I'll be celebrating mass each Saturday afternoon at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Georgetown and posting audio of my homilies. I'll be posting my daily prayers, too, but between now (late Saturday night) and Monday, I'll be busy wrapping things up here, packing and traveling - so don't expect a post until sometime on Tuesday.
Please keep me in your prayers and as always, you'll be in mine!
Pause for Prayer: SUNDAY 6/29
Just to know
I'm not alone in this, Lord
- that's a help...
Just to know
so many are praying with me
- that's a grace...
Just to know that others, too:
call on your name,
seek you out,
rest in your presence,
nap in your arms,
reach for your hand,
lean on your shoulder,
open their hearts,
cry out in pain,
plead their cause,
tell you their stories,
implore your assistance,
thirst for your kindness,
long for your comfort,
hunger for your wisdom,
pour out their grief,
share their joy,
appeal to your mercy,
advocate for others,
long for your healing,
trust in your strength,
listen for your word,
search out your counsel,
depend on your grace,
hunger for your blessing,
wait for your answer,
hope in your promises,
pray for your Spirit
and trust in your love...
Just to know, Lord,
that I'm not alone in prayer
- that's a gift, Lord...
Just to know that others are with me,
right at this moment,
joining me in my prayer...
Just to know, Lord,
that I'm not alone in
believing that you're there,
trusting that you hear me,
leaning on your mercy,
counting on your goodness,
waiting on your faithfulness,
sure that you will answer me
with grace, in peace,
and all in your good time, Lord,
all in your good time...
Just to know this is already
an answer to my prayer...
Amen.
6/27/25
Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 6/28
I have a list, Lord:
war,
political hostility,
ugly public discourse,
lies upon lies upon lies,
greed, graft and corruption,
the brutal and cruel treatment
of human beings,
contempt for the poor...
I have a list, Lord,
of so many reasons
to ignore and miss the glory,
the warmth and beauty,
the sweaty, seductive summer
who wants so much
to have her way with us
in a shady grove
you've provided,
a gift of your pure grace...
I can't let go the list, Lord,
I can't deny, can't pretend away
the wounds on your body,
our body,
the wounds you gently tend
with sweet anointings
of your Spirit
in a hidden leafy grove
where summer, like a siren,
warmly bids us come...
Amen.
NIGHT PRAYER: Friday 6/27
In this month of the Sacred Heart we celebrate, today, the Solemnity of the Heart of Jesus. Tonight's prayer speaks to all the many ways in which we're loved by and held in the heart of Jesus... The artwork is by Ron Rabb, CSC, a friend from my days many decades ago at Notre Dame.
 |
| Sacred Heart by Ron Raab, C.S.C. |
I love you, Lord,
for your Shepherd's heart,
leading me safely home
for your holy heart,
opened for me on your Cross
for your gentle heart,
pierced by the lance of my sins
for your wounded heart,
bleeding the mercy I need
for your loving heart,
hiding me in its chambers
for your healing heart,
soothing my broken spirit
for your patient heart,
waiting for me to come 'round
for your tender heart,
strength for me in my weakness
for your engaging heart,
reaching to draw me in
for your generous heart,
overflowing with kindness and blessing
for your just heart,
my font of wisdom and truth
for your divine heart,
refuge for my humanity
for your gracious heart,
source of my song and my joy
for your timeless heart,
at home in my finite world
for your selfless heart,
emptied for me in compassion
for your boundless heart,
filling my soul with praise and prayer
for your redeeming heart,
making me whole once again
for your forgiving heart:
my pardon, my peace and my hope
for your cosmic heart,
dwelling in my human frame
for your centered heart,
still point for my anxiety
for your robust heart,
empowering me in my fear
for your liberating heart,
undoing all that binds me
for your penetrating heart,
settling deep in my thoughts
for your creative heart,
sparking my dreams and desires
for your seductive heart,
sweeping me off my feet
for your saving heart,
delivering me from evil
for your consoling heart,
balm for my sorrow and grief
for your peaceful heart,
safe place in my troubles,
for your risen heart,
the promise of everlasting life...
O holy, patient, healing heart of Jesus,
I place my trust, my hope, in you;
O robust, gentle, cosmic heart of Christ,
accept my praise and prayer as this day ends...
Protect me, Lord, with a Shepherd's heart
in your sheepfold keep me while I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch for you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
Psalm 23 by Bobby McFerrin
performed by The Stellar Singers
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The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need,
He makes me lie down in green meadows,
Beside the still waters he will lead.
He restores my soul, he rights my wrongs,
He leads me in a path of good things,
And fills my heart with song.
Even though I walk through a dark and dreary land,
There is nothing that can shake me,
He has said he won't forsake me,
I'm in his hand.
He sets a table before me in the presence of my foe,
He anoints my head with oil,
And my cup overflows.
Surely, surely goodness and kindness will follow me,
All the days of my life,
And I will live in his house,
Forever, forever and ever.
Glory be to our Father, and Brother,
And to the Holy of Holies,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
Life, without end. Amen.
Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 6/27
The inscription on this icon translates: Here is the heart which has loved us so much! In this month of the Sacred Heart we celebrate, today, the Solemnity of the Heart of Jesus...
Lord, give me a heart
to love as you love...
give me a heart
to see as you see...
give me a heart
to forgive others freely...
give me a heart
as deep as your own...
give me a heart
at peace with your word...
give me a heart
for serving the poor...
give me a heart
both generous and kind...
give me a heart
of strength and conviction...
give me a heart
of gentle compassion...
give me a heart
as pure as fresh snow...
give me a heart
courageous and bold...
give me a heart
both simple and humble...
give me a heart
healed by your mercy...
give me a heart
filled with trust, filled with hope...
give me a heart
to welcome the outcast...
give me a heart
steeped in your wisdom...
give me a heart
that hungers for truth...
give me a heart
to welcome your Spirit...
give me a heart
where you are at home...
give me a heart
at home with your own...
and give me a heart, Lord,
to love as your love...
Amen.
6/26/25
NIGHT PRAYER: Thursday 6/26
How patient you are, Lord!
You're patient with me
and my whims and mood swings,
the vagaries of my emotions,
my sudden impulses
and all the times I just check out...
the vagaries of my emotions,
my sudden impulses
and all the times I just check out...
So often I can be all over the place
but you never lose sight of me,
never lose track of me;
you're always at my side,
you always have my back,
you're always leading the way
even, and especially, when it's fairly clear
- I have no idea of where I'm going...
How patient you are with me, Lord:
how faithful and generous,
how kind and understanding,
how merciful and consoling,
how gracious and caring...
O Lord, my God,
how patient and great you are,
how great you are, my Lord and God!
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.
How Great Thou Art
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Pause for Prayer: THURSDAY 6/26
Open wide our eyes, O Lord!
Open wide the eyes of all of your people!
Open wide the eyes of all of your people!
Let none presume
that we always see clearly,
that we see without bias,
that discerning the truth
comes naturally to us...
that discerning the truth
comes naturally to us...
Let none of us think
that we're smarter than all,
that we're never in error,
that our view of the world
that our view of the world
always mirrors your own...
Let us never condemn
a thought or idea
simply because
simply because
a) it's new and it's different
b) it's retro, passé
c) we don't understand it
d) we do it this way
e) it's surely too odd,
too hard or too easy
f) or possibly all the above!
b) it's retro, passé
c) we don't understand it
d) we do it this way
e) it's surely too odd,
too hard or too easy
f) or possibly all the above!
Open wide our eyes, O Lord!
Open wide the eyes of all of your people!
Open wide the eyes of all of your people!
Neither let us be fooled
- nor play the fool...
May we not be suckered
by some razzle-dazzle...
by some razzle-dazzle...
Don’t let us get burned
by our own selfish pride...
May we never be conned
by sweet talk and blarney…
by sweet talk and blarney…
Don’t let us be duped
by the grifter's scam...
by the grifter's scam...
May we not be deceived
by our own delusions...
by our own delusions...
Don’t let us be snowed
by some fairy tale...
by some fairy tale...
May we not be tricked
by some sleight-of-hand...
by some sleight-of-hand...
Let us not be seduced
by desire for fame...
by desire for fame...
Don’t let us be used
by those who'd play us...
May we not be beguiled
by the bright and the shiny...
Let us not be misled
by our own lazy thinking...
Keep us alert
to hogwash and guff…
Help us quickly discern
the wolf in sheep's clothing...
Don't let us be led
like lambs to the slaughter...
Don’t let us buy into
what has no promise,
no purpose, no meaning,
no godly end...
Reveal yourself, Lord,
lest we be deceived;
help us recognize you
and the good news you bring...
You're the good shepherd
who cares for his own:
you are the way,
the truth and the life...
Yours is the wisdom
we pray to find:
you are the way,
the truth and the life...
Yours is the Spirit
who fills our hearts:
you are the way,
the truth and the life...
You are the One
who claims our souls:
only you are the way,
the truth and the life...
Open wide our eyes, O Lord!
Open wide the eyes of all of your people!
Open wide the eyes of all of your people!
Amen.
Open The Eyes of My Heart
by Paul Baloche,
performed by
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Open the eyes of my heart Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see you
I want to see you
To see you high and lifted up
Shining in the light of your glory
Pour out your power and love
As we sing holy, holy, holy
6/25/25
NIGHT PRAYER: Wednesday 6/25
I posted this a few years ago - but I need to pray this tonight - and I've added a new stanza...
I don't know how I'd get by without you, Lord:
without your being there for me to turn to,
without your listening to all my troubles,
without your Spirit to guide my steps,
without your Word to light my way,
without your arms to pull me close,
without your grace to lift my spirits,
without your mercy to set me free...
I don't know how I'd face tomorrow, Lord,
without your promise to be with me,
without your pledge to see me through,
without your always reassuring me:
indeed, all shall be well...
I don't know how I'd face the daily news
without knowing you, the Prince of Peace,
without trusting you're still with us,
without counting on your mercy,
without relying on your strength,
without my hope and faith in you, my God,
without believing that your wisdom,
your faithfulness and power
will save us from ourselves
and that one day, by your grace
all shall be well, all shall be well...
Deepen my faith in your promise, Lord,
in all the ways you're there for me
and help me trust, from day to day
that all shall be well, all shall be well,
that all manner of thing shall be well...
Protect me, Lord, while I'm awake
and watch over me when I sleep
that awake, I might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
All Shall Be Well by Barbara Bridge
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All shall be well. All shall be well,
and all manner of thing,*
all manner of thing shall be well.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
from where shall come my help?
My help will come from God,
my creator, from God who made heaven and earth.
God will keep your feet from stumbling
and guard you as you rest;
for God never slumbers nor sleeps.
God is with you by day and by night.
For God will always guard you from evil
and keep your soul from harm;
and God will guard your coming and going,
both now and forever more.
*The refrain is a well known, much loved quote from Julian of Norwich who died in the early 15th century. In the language of her time "All manner of thing" was an acceptable figure of speech.
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