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| The Jordan River entering the Sea of Galilee |
Pope Francis has announced that he will make a pilgrimage to the Middle East this Spring./ We ask the blessings of safety as he travels/ and for his presence and message to advance the most recent initiatives for peace in the land where Jesus was born and baptized/ We pray to the Lord.
During that trip to the Holy Land/ Pope Francis will meet with Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Constantinople./ We ask for that meeting to be received joyfully by the Christians of East and West,/ and for the healing of ancient divisions - a new unity of love./ We pray to the Lord.
In his Jordan River Baptism,/ Jesus stepped down into the water/ and God began to reclaim and sanctify anew all of creation./ We ask to be good stewards of the earth-paradise given to us/ and for a new reverence for the essential gift of water./ We pray to the Lord.
In his Baptism/ Jesus joined sinful humanity at the river bank./ We pray for our consciousness to be raised,/ so to become aware of the greater sins of the Church,/ the nation and the world./ And for our personal transformation away from entitlement,/ waste and greed./ We pray to the Lord.
We stand in the prayer of friendship with the many who are sick,/ cold,/ hungry,/ alienated or afraid./ We ask for the blessing of consolation/ found in being lifted up and helped./ We pray to the Lord.
And finally we remember the dead/ asking for them the forgiveness of sins/ and entrance into God's land of light,/ healing and wholeness./ We pray to the Lord.
We stand in the prayer of friendship with the many who are sick,/ cold,/ hungry,/ alienated or afraid./ We ask for the blessing of consolation/ found in being lifted up and helped./ We pray to the Lord.
And finally we remember the dead/ asking for them the forgiveness of sins/ and entrance into God's land of light,/ healing and wholeness./ We pray to the Lord.
