Angel Alphabet Prayer

We begin the Sunday Creed delighting in God who has created things - visble and invisible. This means we acknowledge an angel world. Here is an Ethiopian Church ceiling filled with busy angels, looking in all directions. Perhaps they are scoping out their jobs and realms of influence.

So I wrote an alphabet prayer for today's late September angel feast: Michael, Raphael, Gabriel - grateful for their presence; asking for their inspiration and enlightenment.


Angel of the Americas ~ North, Central and South, pray for us.
Angel of breakfast, blueberries and bread, pray for us.
Angel of Christmas! the Christ Child's cradle, pray for us.
Angel of dear ones departed, pray for us.
Angel of my energy and efforts, pray for us.

Angel of forgiveness, ferns, and frozen things, guide us.
Angel of goodness and gardens, guide us.
Angel of happy times, helpers and health, guide us.
Angel of icy hearts, guide us.
Angel of job-seekers and the joyless, guide us. 

Angel of kisses and all human affection, inspire us.
Angel of lupine and lilies, inspire us.
Angel of Mary, mourners and good manners, inspire us.
Angel of non-believers, inspire us.
Angel of opposites and obstruction, inspire us.

Angel of poetry, prayers and popes, enlighten us.
Angel of questions, quizzes and quackery, enlighten us.
Angel of road rage-ers, robins and  relaxation, enlighten us.
Angel of sunflowers and snow, enlighten us.
Angel of thunder and thankfulness, enlighten us.

Angel of our understandings, protect us.
Angel of violence and vitriol, protect us.
Angel of windy wintertime, protect us.
Angel of my anxieties, protect us.
Angel of yellow finches, school buses and taxicabs, protect us.
Angel of Ground Zero, zygotes and life's zigzags, protect us. 

Even The Pope's Hands Teach

While watching the Pope's motorcade from the White House to Saint Matthew's Cathedral this past Wednesday I paid close attention to his hands. As he drove by the crowds he made small crosses in the air, he raised his hands up and down just a little (his gestures are not grand) and at times he gently drew his hand back and forth over the people palm down. Then, maybe when he got tired, he switched to using his left hand.

In a number of media interviews, priests were asked, "What do you think the Holy Father will say to the assembled bishops?" And almost always the priests answered, "He won't be finger wagging." 

In speaking to about three hundred bishops, Pope Francis referred to his own hands as, wrinkled with age. He then shook hands with each of those bishops and along the way to wherever he was going next, he picked up children and caressed the faces of the elderly and those with special needs. 

Even as Pope Francis walked along the lined up crowds someone dropped a little souvenir card. The Pope bent down, picked it up, and in great courtesy returned it to the person who'd dropped it. 

Hands matter. Saint Mark tells us five times of Jesus taking people by the hand and leading them or raising them up. 

Hands speak their own language, don't they? Hands can dismiss and object; hands can invite and console. Hands can bless and clap; hands can insult or curse. Hands can give and hands can receive. Hands can twitch and thump, "I'm in a hurry," or hands can rest at peace. 

We might pay attention to our own hands this week and what they're saying. 

Intercessions ~ Twenty Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Early Autumn

Pope Francis said this week:/ "We do not serve ideologies but people."/ We ask God's forgiveness where we forget or consciously ignore this teaching/ and for new hearts to embrace it generously./ We pray to the Lord.

That in a long political season/ we would not be swept up mindlessly in the attraction of personalities,/ that we would be smart and attentive,/ not allowing ourselves to be seized by lies and pandering./ We pray to the Lord. 

For the global religion of Islam to be true to the love of God and neighbor./ For the heart-turning of all who use any religion to cloak hatred,/ terrorism,/ violence and death./ We pray to the Lord.

In the autumn time/ behind each dropped leaf is next springs bud./ We pray to keep life in sight/ and to be freed of cynicism,/ negativity and soul-threatening resentments./ We pray to the Lord.

Thursday is the Feast of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus./ We pray to embrace her gospel way of spiritual childhood:/ simplicity,/ humility,/ trust in God and love for Jesus./ We pray to the Lord.

Let us never forget to pray for the world's children:/ the baby waiting to be born,/ the legions of children who are disappeared,/ some of whom are not even asked about or sought after./ For them to be found and loved./ We pray to the Lord.

Finally we pray for the sick,/ the sorrowing,/ the prisoners and refugees./ We remember those whose sobriety and hope are fragile./ And for those who have died/ to know the merciful and welcoming face of Jesus./ We pray to the Lord.