Category Archives: Prayer

Faith is a personal act — the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith. ~ Catholic Catechism, Paragraphc 166

Lord, Make me an instrument of Your love. When I am tempted to be rude, help me be patient. When I am tempted to be selfish, help me to be kind. In all circumstance, help me to give You the glory and to grow in Your love. May I then take this love to other people. Amen.

There is an old poem called Invictus that says “I am the captain of my unconquerable soul.” In meditating on that idea, I saw an image of a carrier battle group like this one, the USS Abraham Lincoln battle group (2000).

Each ship in the group (including the ones more properly called boats, the ones “that go underwater”) has its own captain, but the group also has a captain that directs the overall mission, sets the course for the group and for each member of the group.

It’s so easy to see how the Church Militant can only function effectively if the ship (and boat) captains (each of us) listen carefully to, trust and follow the directions of the group captain (God).

If even one captain in the group in the photo decided to change course, at best, he’d veer off and be useless to the mission and , at worst, he’d crash into someone else and ruin the mission.

Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your laws, and I will obey them at all times.

Explain your law to me and I will obey it; I will keep it with all my heart.

Give me the desire to obey your laws rather than to get rich.

Keep me obedient to your commandments, because in them I find happiness.

(From Psalm 119 loosely)

“Faith seeks understanding”: it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. The grace of faith opens “the eyes of your hearts” to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God’s plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the center of the revealed mystery. “The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.” In the words of St. Augustine, “I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.” Catholic Catechism, paragraph 158

Help us, God our savior, on account of the glory of your name.

Deliver us, pardon our sins for your name’s sake.

Turn back sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors

the insult with which they insulted you, Lord.

Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 79:9, 12, 13 (Revised New American translation)

Believing is possible only by grace and the interior helps of the Holy Spirit. But it is no less true that believing is an authentically human act. Trusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed is contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason. Even in human relations it is not contrary to our dignity to believe what other persons tell us about themselves and their intentions, or to trust their promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion of life with one another. If this is so, still less is it contrary to our dignity to “yield by faith the full submission of… intellect and will to God who reveals”, and to share in an interior communion with him.  From the Catholic Catechism, Paragraph 154.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

REMINDER: The fate of our great nation will be decided in FOUR DAYS. Please pray and fast for an honest election in which each citizen’s one and only one vote is counted as it was cast and that each and every individual who attempts to defraud We the People by voting illegally and/or cheating the count is exposed promptly and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Galatians 5:13-14

LORD, By Your Revelation, from the fullness of Your love, You address us as friends, and move among us, in order to invite and receive us into Your own company. Bless us today with the graces we need to give ourselves completely, in the obedience of faith, to You, the author of revelation.

Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation.

Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked. Psalm 43:1

Let us, young and old, join together, as did the First Continental Congress, in the first step, in humble heartfelt prayer. Let us do so for the love of God and His great goodness, in search of His guidance and the grace of repentance, in seeking His blessings, His peace, and the resting of His kind and holy hands on ourselves, our nation, our friends in the defense of freedom, and all mankind, now and always. (Ronald Reagan)

Bonus:

Catholic Catechism: Section V

Sacred Scripture in the Life of the Church

131 “And such is the force and power of the Word of God that it can serve the Church as her support and vigor, and the children of the Church as strength for their faith, food for the soul, and a pure and lasting fount of spiritual life.” Hence “access to Sacred Scripture ought to be open wide to the Christian faithful.”

132 “Therefore, the study of the sacred page should be the very soul of sacred theology. The ministry of the Word, too — pastoral preaching, catechetics and all forms of Christian instruction, among which the liturgical homily should hold pride of place — is healthily nourished and thrives in holiness through the Word of Scripture.”

133 The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful… to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3

Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: “Use power to help people.”

For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it, Lord.

The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us; so that He may incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways… that all peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

-George H. W. Bush, Inaugural address, January 20, 1989

Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercession, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. ~1 Tim 2:1-3

Lord, Our nation needs Your guidance and direction. We humbly ask that Your Spirit intercede with the leaders of the nation, giving them the wisdom to make decisions that will honor You. We pray fervently for peace both here and abroad. Let us live with reverence for You and with peace in our hearts for our fellow man. We know this is your desire. May we always remember that You are our God and Savior. Amen.

The LORD says,
I will honor those who honor me,
but those who despise me shall be cursed.
I Samuel 2:30
The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall slide.
Psalm 37:30-31

Father, True wisdom is a gift that only You, Father, can give. May we always be in right standing with You. Let the words we speak honor You, and let us never speak Your name in vain. Let us stay steadfast and live in such a way that Your light will shine through us wherever we go. Thank You, Father, for Your mercy and love. Amen.