The late art critic Sr. Wendy Beckett wrote, “the astonishing thing about prayer is our inability to accept that if we have need of it, as we do, then because of God’s goodness, it cannot be something difficult…prayer is an act of the utmost simplicity.” In our Catholic tradition we have a long history and a variety of forms of prayer.
October 26, 2020
Sometimes, Lord, I think You are demanding
too much from me.
I wonder if I can really undergo this trial
whether it is about failing health, or family, or whatever.
But deep down I know You never ask more than I can bear.
I believe that as Your follower You will show me the path
to life and fullness of joy in your presence.
October 25, 2020
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
I adore, praise and thank You for the benefits
which You have given me.
I as You, for all that Your servant
Friar Antonio de Sant’Anna Galvao suffered
and accomplished, that You increase my faith,
hope and charity and grant me
the grace that I ardently desire.
Amen.
October 24, 2020
God our Father
we come to You in our need
to ask Your protection against the 2019 N-coronavirus
that has claimed lives
and has affected many.
October 23, 2020
God of grace, today we raise our voices
to magnify Your holy name,
and, in our own generation, to call her blessed
who became the mother of our Savior Jesus Christ.
May we who have shared His holy food
continue, with her, in Your glorious kingdom,
founded and established in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
October 22, 2020
O God, Creator of the universe,
who extends your paternal concern over every creature
and guides the events of history to the goal of salvation,
we acknowledge Your fatherly love
when You break the resistance of mankind and,
in a world torn by strife and discord,
You make us ready for reconciliation.
Renew for us the wonders of Your mercy;
October 22, 2020
Sharing my vocation story stirs up mixed feelings within me. On the one hand I think of a vocation as something personal and sacred, but I remember that such stories shared by priests, the religious, and lay people have helped me throughout my faith journey. The stories remind me of Catholic saints who have enlivened my faith. St.
October 21, 2020
Dear Lord,
This time of pandemic is indeed long.
And the statistics are grim.
Days of social distancing
have turned to weeks.
And weeks of near isolation,
have become claustrophobic months.
Like the athletes running the Boston marathon
who named a part of their route ‘heartbreak hill,’
I am struggling and I observe some around me
October 21, 2020
Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of Your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of Your love.
O God, who taught the hearts of Your faithful people
by sending them the light of Your Holy Spirit,
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgment in all things,
and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
October 20, 2020
We pray You, O almighty and eternal God!
Who through Jesus Christ
has revealed Your glory to all nations,
to preserve the works of Your mercy,
that Your Church,
being spread through the whole world,
may continue with unchanging faith
in the confession of your name.
Amen.
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.