For the Gift of Diversity in the Church

We pray that the Holy Spirit may help us to recognise the gift of different charisms within the Christian community and to discover the richness of different traditions and rituals in the Catholic Church.

We pray that those with a terminal illness, and their families, receive the necessary physical and spiritual care and accompaniment.

Grant, O Lord of life, That we may savor every season of our lives as a gift filled with promise for the future. Grant that we may lovingly accept your will, and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands. And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes, grant that we may face it with serenity, without regret for what we shall leave behind. For in meeting you, after having sought you for so long, we shall find once more every authentic good which we have known here on earth, in the company of all who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith and hope. Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity, pray for us “now and at the hour of our death.” Keep us ever close to Jesus, your beloved Son and our brother, the Lord of life and glory. Amen!

We pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world inflame the Church with their courage and missionary enthusiasm.

Good and Loving Father: Because we have been saved by your Son Jesus, the deceiver and father of lies hates us and stirs up persecution that, from the time of Jesus and of the early Church, continues to this day. The martyrs have had the grace to confess Jesus to the end, unto death. They suffer, they give their lives, and we receive God’s blessing for their witness. May the memory of these ancient and recent heroic witnesses confirm us, O Lord, in the awareness that the Church is Church due to the sacrifice of martyrs. We pray to you today for the new hidden martyrs, those men, and women faithful to the gentle power of love, to the voice of the Holy Spirit, who in their daily lives seek to help their brothers and sisters and to love God without reservation. The Church needs those who have the courage to accept the grace to be witnesses to the end, even unto death. They are the living blood of the Church; they are the witnesses who lead the Church forward, those who attest that Jesus is Risen, that He lives. May we learn through their coherence of life that with the strength of love, with meekness, we can fight against arrogance, violence, and war; with patience we can achieve peace. Amen!

We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world.

Lord Jesus, you who have given us Mary as our Mother: today I want to be grateful, with the whole Church, for all women: mothers, daughters, sisters, wives; for the consecrated women, for women who work professionally… for all of them, in all the beauty and value of their femininity. But I cannot forget the problem of discrimination women often experience That is why I ask You that every person, particularly, women, – who are more easily subject to violence and abuse- may be respected in their dignity and in their fundamental rights. Help me to make heard the voices of women who are victims of abuse and exploitation, marginalization and undue pressures and to speak out forcefully against the injustices to which they are subjected. May we make room, Lord, for their actions, and orient ourselves to the protection of life in every state, in every age and in every condition, and that we may value women’s undeniable and unique contribution to the common good. And at this time, when humanity is experiencing such profound changes, may women assist mankind from degenerating. Amen.

We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel. Item description.

Holy Spirit, who motivates the Church so that, in her mission, She may bear witness and always proclaim with renewed enthusiasm, the joy that springs from the encounter with Jesus: We pray to you today for religious sisters, religious men and seminarians. The response to their vocation requires throughout life a process of formation towards Christian maturity, which embraces all the dimensions of the person. May the human aspect of their formation provide them with self-discovery, self-acceptance and self-mastery to reach a sufficient level of psycho-affective maturity, to be an authentic gift of themselves to others. May their pastoral formation open them to be available to service and collaboration with others, cultivating, after the example of Jesus, a special love and closeness to the poor and marginal people. May their spiritual formation through prayer and accompaniment, open them up to God to know him more intimately, to love him more deeply and to follow him more closely, thus developing a deep and personal friendship with Jesus, and discerning God’s will in their lives. And that in their community life – school of holiness – may grow in their relationship with others in deeply listening to the problems, wounds and needs of today men and women. Amen.

We pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys full of danger and violence, find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them.

Loving Father, who welcomes all your sons and daughters: We pray to you today for the migrants who flee from war or hunger. May they find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them. For hospitality is an expression of love, of that dynamism of openness that inspires us to pay attention to others, to seek the best for their lives. But we know that immigrants are often seen as usurpers who have nothing to offer, and so this leads to the simplistic belief that the poor are dangerous and useless while the powerful are generous benefactors. Teach us to be a Church as a “field hospital”. to live an ever better way of welcoming, to promote a culture of welcome, that protects and integrates; to think and develop an open world, to not judge the usefulness of the person, but to see the value in itself that the person represents. And that the different countries of the world be able to think not only as a country, but also as a human family, because only a social and political culture that incorporates gratuitous acceptance can have a future. Amen

We pray that the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is conferred to those who receive it and their loved ones the power of the Lord and become ever more a visible sign of compassion and hope for all.

All-merciful Father, What a great mystery, the fragility of the body, the sickness that weakens us! How often we want to escape from this pain because we do not want to suffer or see suffering! We know that nothing makes sense without you, and that everything can be an occasion of grace, if it is with You. That is why, Lord, in the midst of sickness we want to be signs of compassion bringing strength to our brothers and sisters, with the grace of the anointing of the sick. We ask that your Holy Spirit renew in your entire Church and in our hearts, the profound meaning of this sacrament; so that we may accept it as a gift and task in the care of those who are sick, so that they may attain the peace and healing that you grant them. Amen.