Early in May we pray for those who will celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries and other days of remembrance./ We ask for them,/ gifts of good health,/ safety,/ well-being and growth in the good things of God./ We pray to the Lord.
Bombed,/ shelled/ and turned into a cemetery,/ the Ukrainian city of Mariupol,/ is named after the Virgin Mary ~ Mother of Jesus, Lord of Life./ At the start of Mary's month of May,/ we pray for the turning of hearts which destroy,/ causing havoc,/ despair,/ pain and death./ We pray to the Lord.
Our lives are supported by many people/ known and unknown to us./ With grateful hearts/ we pray for those who grow and prepare our food,/ who provide us with safety,/ water,/ medicine,/ clothing,/ power,/ transportation and the countless things we buy./ May they be treated well,/ paid fairly,/ and given the rest to which they are entitled./ We pray to the Lord.
Friday is the Feast of the 14th century English Mystic Blessed Julianna of Norwich/ whose great literary work is titled Revelations of Love./ As the plague raged through Norwich three times,/ Julianna maintained,/ "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."/ May we be built up in faith,/ hope and love./ We pray to the Lord.
It is the season for the birthing of lambs and calves/ and the wild animals./ It is the time for nest building/ and the hatching of eggs./ The time of leafing out and flowering./ We ask for something new of Christ-life to be born or renewed in us./ May we have some fresh sense of what Christ hopes for from us./ We pray to the Lord.
