El Greco ~ St. Matthew ~ 1610-1640
Wednesday is the Feast of the Apostle and Evangelist,/ St. Matthew./ We pray for our lives to be marked by knowledge of Christ in the Gospels,/especially conscious of Jesus' teachings found in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in St. Matthew's Gospel./ We pray to the Lord.
We pray for the sick,/ the wounded,/ the disabled,/ those who receive no medical attention./ We ask blessings for doctors,/ nurses,/ technicians and rescuers,/ all who bravely and generously put themselves in harms way for the life and well-being of others./ We pray to the Lord.
The Jewish Holidays are observed soon:/ Rosh Hashanah — celebrating that God re-invests Himself in Creation/ and Yom Kippur — the Jewish Days of Atonement./ May they be days of safety,/ peace and renewal./ We pray to the Lord.
Pope Francis has said,/ How good it is for us when the Lord unsettles our lukewarm and superficial lives./ May we believe this/ and possess that kind of religion which even invites God's new direction and purpose./ We pray to the Lord.
We pray for the world where there is great suffering caused by fire,/ flood,/ drought,/ famine, and war./ Grant that those who are in positions of authority would be wise servants/ who have foremost in mind, not profit, but the protection and wellbeing of those they govern./ We pray to the Lord.
It has been said that with the death of Queen Elizabeth/ we have witnessed the end of an era of courtesy and grace./ We pray for the restoration of decency and respect where it has been lost./ May we understand even more deeply that each human person is a child of God,/ possessing a unique dignity,/ even if they are unaware of it themselves./ We pray to the Lord.
