HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving from all the friars at the Interprovincial Formation House in Ava!   LET US BE GRATEFUL FOR ALL THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US!

SO HELP ME GOD: a 'hands-on' prayer

 

A HANDS-ON PRAYER:

 

"So help me God."  

 

This traditional conclusion to the oath of truthfulness that includes placing the right hand on the Bible can be an ideal prayer reminder.  This short  "hands-on prayer"  has great possibilities for awakening you to an essential and undeniable reality:  your absolute dependence on God.  

 

To help awaken you to this reality, you might try beginning each task that involves your hands by saying,  "So help me God."     Use that four-word prayer as you grasp the steering wheel of your car,   finger the keyboard of your computer  or   place the kitchen pot on the stove for the evening meal.   "So help me God" is both a prayer to God and a reminder to yourself of your absolute dependence on God.

 

(by Fr. Ed Hays,  in  A Book of Wonders)

A PRAYER FOR VETERANS DAY 2013

Prayer for Veterans Day 2013

God of peace,
we pray for those who have served our nation,
who laid down their lives
to protect and defend our freedom...

We pray for those who have fought,
whose spirits and bodies are scarred by war
and whose nights are haunted by memories
too painful for the light of day...

We pray for those who serve us now,
especially for those in harm's way:
shield them from danger
and bring them home,
soon...

Turn the hearts and minds
of our leaders and our enemies
to the work of justice and a harvest of peace...

Spare the poor, Lord, spare the poor!

May the peace you left us,
the peace you gave us,
be the peace that sustains,
the peace that saves us.

Christ Jesus, hear us!
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer!

Amen.

 

(This Veterans' Day prayer is a gift from our favorite pastor from Concord,  MA)

 

PRAYER WALKS

 

Sr. Jose Hobday,  OSF

 

PRAYER WALKS

 

My mother (a Seneca-Iroquois Native American) used to take me on prayer walks.  She would say:  "We won't talk.  We shall just walk and look and thank God for everything beautiful.  Let's think about how God loves us." 

 

My father (a Southern Baptist), much more comfortable with prayer formulas, was somewhat skeptical of this kind of praying.  One day he asked my mother,  "How do you know she is really praying when you go on those walks?"  

 

And my mother answered,   "How do you know she is not?"

 

(This brief personal story about 'PRAYER WALKS' was told by  Sr. Jose Hobday  in an introduction she wrote for the book:  WHO WE ARE IS HOW WE PRAY:  Matching Personality and Spirituality,   by Dr. Charles J. Keating, published by Twenty-Third Publications.)

NOVEMBER and A GRIEVING PRAYER

 

 

Good morning, gracious God...

November wraps its dampened shroud
'round nature's hunched shoulders:
our souls know well the chill
of summer's passing and winter's drawing near...

Bare limbs scratch against gray skies,
and snatch the mourner's veil
from hearts laid bare in shivering loss,
alone, exposed in grief…

November, Lord: no other month
could better claim the name All Souls
or set the scene for weeping, praying,
rememb'ring those before us gone
and marked with signs of faith…

So this November morning, Lord,
I offer you my loved ones:
created from your hand,
claimed by grace and carried now
in your arms' strong embrace...

I lift to you in prayer today
my family members and friends
who've died, for whom I grieve...

(remember your loved ones here, by name...)

I offer you from my heart's depths
the ones I struggle to let go…

I offer you a prayer of tears
for those whose absence fills my silent hours…

I offer from my hands to yours
the ones whose hands held mine
until you called them home…

I offer from a contrite heart
the ones I bruised and hurt:
I pray that all the wounds I caused
your mercy now might heal...

I offer up a prayer
for those who've none to pray for them:
brothers, sisters never met;
sisters, brothers mine,
for all are one in you...

Receive into your arms, O Lord,
receive into your peace and joy
the souls of those who've gone before
who wait to meet you face to face...

I offer you my grief, O Lord,
refresh me in your tender care;
make deep my trust I'll see again
all those I've lost when,
gathered in your kingdom's joy,
your mercy brings us home...

Beneath November's canopy walk others, Lord,
who know as well as I the depths
of this month's memories,
the souls for whom we pray:
keep us gentle with each other, Lord,
and mindful of what binds us in your love…

Accept my mourning offering, Lord,
this day and through the night
until it dies and wakes again, a new day born,
a day that you have made...

Amen.

(This prayer comes from the blog:  A Concord Pastor Comments;  you can access and subscribe to this blog by googling the name.)

FRIARY RETREAT

 

(Fr. Wayne Hellmann, OFM Conv.)

 

Fr. Wayne Hellmann, a Conventual Franciscan,  who is part of the faculty at St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO,   and a noted Franciscan scholar,  was the presenter for the annual retreat here at the Interprovincial Prayer Fraternity held from October 28 to November 2.    The theme of the retreat was "St. Francis and Prayer" and focused on the number of different prayers that are in the Franciscan sources and attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.  

 

Fr. Wayne began by reflecting upon Francis'  Prayer before the Crucifix, mapped out  the developments that we can find in Francis' own prayer as told by St. Thomas of Celano in his LIFES OF ST. FRANCIS, and then he reflected upon a number of different prayers of St. Francis all leading up to the great Canticle of Creatures that was written by Francis shortly before his death in 1226.

 

As a community, we say THANK YOU to Fr. Wayne for the gift that he gave to us and to the three friars who were also present for the retreat.   We wish him grace and blessings upon his ministry to the students at St. Louis University and to his work for Franciscans around the world.