Friday is the Feast of St. John Vianney,/ the patron saint of parish priests./ Awaken the clergy with gifts of conversion,/ creativity and a new love of the Gospel./ Heal the priests who are weary,/ spiritually dry,/ un-evolved,/ troubled or broken/ We pray to the Lord.
During the month of July,/ Pope Francis asks us to pray for lapsed Christians./ For those who have given up on the life of faith,/ who have turned away from the Gospel,/ or who no longer care to love God and neighbor./ We pray to the Lord.
The word crisis is appearing in American politics these days./ Restore and guide this land in the way of honesty and humility./ Forgive the nation where we are sorely divided,/ inhospitable,/ bitter or self-seeking./ We pray to the Lord.
Deepen our prayer./ Fill us with spiritual awareness and a love of praise and gratitude./ Free us from prayer that is superficial,/ bored or selfish./ We pray to the Lord.
Reassure those who are mourning,/ living in emotional or physical pain,/ desperate or fleeing for their lives./ Teach us continually the way of presence,/ careful listening and generosity./ We pray to the Lord.
Every two minutes/ a child dies somewhere in the world due to unsafe drinking water or poor hygiene./ We pray to think rightly/ and to re-order our priorities/ so to be pleasing to God./ We pray to the Lord.
We pray for those who have died this week,/ mindful of those who die terrible deaths in wars or because of exploitation,/ neglect,/ disaster or carelessness./ And that we would be given all we need for our own salvation./ We pray to the Lord.
