Monday is National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day./ May we love our planet/ with care for the smallest of God's creatures,/ all of which play a part in sustaining life and wellbeing./ We pray to the Lord.
Tuesday is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi,/ who (perhaps shockingly) said to his religious brothers,/ "Better for you to go out into the street and kiss donkey dung than to even touch money."/ May we be a rightly prioritized people/ who try to live in the simplicity of the gospel,/ keeping far from power and money-love./ We pray to the Lord.
Wednesday is the Jewish Feast of Yom Kippur,/ the Day of Atonement./ We join the Jewish people in asking for the forgiveness of the world's sins:/ the atrocities of war,/ the distribution of increasingly destructive and easily gotten weapons,/ the exploitation of the world's resources,/ the leaving behind of so much of the world in poverty,/ the myriad ways in which we fail the world's children./ We pray to the Lord.
At the start of October we pray for those who celebrate birthdays,/ anniversaries,/ and other days of remembrance./ We ask good health for our relatives and friends/ and strength in the challenges,/ changes and difficulties they contend with./ We pray to the Lord.
Sunday Mass (Eucharist) is an answer to the alienation and polarization we experience these days./ Not only do we believe in/and receive the life of Christ hidden under forms of bread and wine,/ but we do so together./ Mass is the Sacrament of Unity./ May we know,/ experience and value this./ We pray to the Lord.
We make a mistake when we reduce Christianity to being simply a way of believing,/ when it is all the more a way of the heart,/ an inner path of becoming alive and whole./ May we experience a kind of heart-dilation,/ a waking up in awareness,/ listening and seeing deeply and truly,/ friendship/ and even the possibilities for growth through the suffering we experience./ We pray to the Lord.
We pray for the many who suffer through the destructive hurricane this week over Florida and other states:/ evacuees,/ the displaced,/ and those whose property is destroyed./ For helpers and rescuers./ For the healing of the ruined environment./ We pray to the Lord.
