Daily Prayers for April 15
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “Vamos Todos al Banquete”
You have stamped your image on us, Lord : to mark us as your own.
Psalm 75:1 – 2, 7 – 10
We give you thanks, O God, we give you thanks : calling upon your name and declaring all your wonderful deeds.
“I will appoint a time,” says God : I will judge with equity.”
It is God who judges : he puts down one and lifts up another.
For in the Lord’s hand there is a cup, full of spiced and foaming wine, which he pours out : and all the wicked of the earth shall drink and drain the dregs.
But I will rejoice for ever : I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
He shall break off all the horns of the wicked : but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
You have stamped your image on us, Lord : to mark us as your own.
Exodus 28:1 – 4, 30 – 38 1 Thes-salo-nians 2:13 – 20
You have stamped your image on us, Lord : to mark us as your own.
A reading from the gospel according to Mark: “They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. . . . Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?’ . . . But -Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied. Then -Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ ”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, we long to be your -people in this world where other powers claim our allegiance. You have stamped your image on us. Guide us by your light that we might see clearly who we are and what it means to give ourselves to you. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 14
Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 – 1680)
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in present-day New York. Her mother was Algonquin, a Christian Native, and her father was a non-Christian Mohawk Turtle chief. When Tekakwitha was four years old, a smallpox epidemic killed her parents and her brother, and left her with seriously impaired eyesight and a disfigured face. Inspired by Jesuit missionaries at an early age, Tekakwitha was baptized and assumed the name Kateri, probably in honor of Catherine of Siena. The following year, French conquerors reached her community of Ossernenon and destroyed much of it, burning it to the ground and massacring many of the Natives. Kateri escaped on the St. Lawrence River to a village of Christian Natives, where she dedicated her life to chastity, prayer, and care for the sick. She was the first Native American saint in the Catholic Church and is often called the Lily of the Mohawks, and the Apostle of the Indians.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “Be Thou My Vision”
May the guarding of God shelter us : against the winds and the wiles of the devil.
Psalm 71:1 – 3, 15 – 17
In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge : let me never be ashamed.
In your righteous-ness, deliver me and set me free : incline your ear to me and save me.
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe : you are my crag and my stronghold.
My mouth shall recount your mighty acts and saving deeds all day long : though I cannot know the number of them.
I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord God : I will recall your righteous-ness, yours alone.
O God, you have taught me since I was young : and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.
May the guarding of God shelter us : against the winds and the wiles of the devil.
Exodus 25:1 – 22 1 Thes-salo-nians 2:1 – 12
May the guarding of God shelter us : against the winds and the wiles of the devil.
Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany, wrote, “First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Go before us, God, that we may follow in your steps. Go behind us, God, to steer us when we stray. Go beside us, God, as our strength and our joy for the journey. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 13
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “When the Saints Go Marching In”
Some say this world of trouble is the only one we need : but I’m waiting for that morning when the new world is revealed.
Psalm 68:4 – 6, 24 – 26, 36
Sing to God, sing praises to his name; exalt him who rides upon the heavens : yahweh is his name, rejoice before him!
Father of orphans, defender of widows : God in his holy habitation!
God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom : but the rebels shall live in dry places.
They see your procession, O God : your procession into the sanctuary, my God and my King.
The singers go before, musicians follow after : in the midst of maidens playing upon the hand-drums.
Bless God in the congregation : bless the Lord, you that are of the fountain of Israel.
How wonderful is God in his holy places! : the God of Israel giving strength and power to his -people! Blessed be God!
Some say this world of trouble is the only one we need : but I’m waiting for that morning when the new world is revealed.
Exodus 24:1 – 18 1 Thes-salo-nians 1:1 – 10
Some say this world of trouble is the only one we need : but I’m waiting for that morning when the new world is revealed.
Julian of Norwich, a fourteenth-century anchorite, wrote about a vision she had in the midst of suffering: “What, do you wish to know your Lord’s meaning in this thing? Know it well, love was his meaning. Who reveals it to you? Love. What did he reveal to you? Love. Why does he reveal it to you? For love. Remain in this, and you will know more of the same.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God of heaven and earth, help us to live in this world faithfully guided by your love, which manifests itself in our love toward one another. Prepare us for that great gettin’ up morning when your new world is fully revealed. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 12
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “I Will Trust in the Lord”
I will trust in the Lord and shout with my life : that power belongs to God.
Psalm 62:1 – 3, 13 – 14
For God alone my soul in silence waits : from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation : my stronghold, so that I shall not be greatly shaken.
How long will you assail me to crush me, all of you together : as if you were a leaning fence, a toppling wall?
God has spoken once, twice have I heard it : that power belongs to God.
Steadfast love is yours, O Lord : for you repay everyone according to his deeds.
I will trust in the Lord and shout with my life : that power belongs to God.
Exodus 20:1 – 21 3 John 1 – 13
I will trust in the Lord and shout with my life : that power belongs to God.
Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, wrote, “What we do is very little. But it is like the little boy with a few loaves and fishes. Christ took that little and increased it. He will do the rest. What we do is so little that we may seem to be constantly failing. But so did he fail. He met with apparent failure on the Cross. But unless the seeds fall into the earth and die, there is no harvest.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Give us patience and humility with our feeble efforts at faithfulness. Bless the minute things we do in your name so that our small acts of faith may find witness among many and thereby glorify you.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 11
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
In God the Lord whose word I praise : in God I trust and will not be afraid.
Psalm 56:1 – 2, 11 – 12
Have mercy on me, O God, for my enemies are hounding me : all day long they assault and oppress me.
They hound me all the day long : truly there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
I am bound by the vow I made to you, O God : I will present to you thank-offerings;
For you have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling : that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
In God the Lord whose word I praise : in God I trust and will not be afraid.
Exodus 19:16 – 25 2 John 1 – 13
In God the Lord whose word I praise : in God I trust and will not be afraid.
A reading from a fourteenth-century anonymous work, The Cloud of Unknowing: “For I tell you this: one loving, blind desire for God alone is more valuable in itself, more pleasing to God and to the saints, more beneficial to your own growth, and more helpful to your friends, both living and dead, than anything else you could do.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Transform our desires to mirror yours, Lord. Bind us to you and to one another in vows of peace, in obedience to your word, and in the love of the Holy Spirit, which binds you to the Father, one God both now and forever. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors
Daily Prayers for April 10
William Booth (1829 – 1912)
William Booth was a Methodist preacher in Britain who co-founded the Salvation Army. He was born in Nottingham and ended up living and working with his wife, Catherine, among the poor and ostracized. Out of their work on the streets was born the Salvation Army, with its uniforms and discipline. The movement became structured as a quasi-military organization with no physical weaponry, but with an army of -people passionate about salvation and healing the broken wounds of our world.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “Fairest Lord -Jesus”
You who shine in all that’s fair : season our works with your love.
Psalm 50:1 – 3, 6
The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken : he has called the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty : God reveals himself in glory.
Our God will come and will not keep silence : before him there is a consuming flame, and round about him a raging storm.
Let the heavens declare the rightness of his cause : for God himself is judge.
You who shine in all that’s fair : season our works with your love.
Exodus 19:1 – 16 1 John 5:13 – 21
You who shine in all that’s fair : season our works with your love.
William Booth said, “Consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, help us become so familiar with your word and with your presence that thoughts of you consume our waking moments and holy fear of you brings us to worship. Then even our smallest actions will speak of you. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 9
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer studied theology in Germany and the United States and pastored a church in London before returning to Germany as a leader of the Confessing Church, which tried to resist Adolf Hitler. Though Bonhoeffer returned to Germany a pacifist, he became a resistance worker and was part of a failed plot to assassinate Hitler. But it was his evasion of the call-up for military ser-vice that led to his arrest. Perhaps he died because of his political convictions and not as a Christian martyr, but he would have said that there is no distinction between the two.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
Freedom, how long have we sought you : dying, we now may behold you.
Psalm 44:1 – 2, 9 – 10, 22, 25 – 26
We have heard with our ears, O God, our forefathers have told us : the deeds you did in their days, in the days of old.
How with your hand you drove the -peoples out and planted our forefathers in the land : how you destroyed nations and made your -people flourish.
Nevertheless, you have rejected and humbled us : and do not go forth with our armies.
You have made us fall back before our adversary : and our enemies have plundered us.
Indeed, for your sake we are killed all the day long : we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
We sink down into the dust : our body cleaves to the ground.
Rise up, and help us : and save us, for the sake of your steadfast love.
Freedom, how long have we sought you : dying, we now may behold you.
Exodus 18:13 – 27 1 John 5:1 – 12
Freedom, how long have we sought you : dying, we now may behold you.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “-Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end, all of his disciples deserted him. On the cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life, but in the thick of foes.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, reveal to us all that makes itself an enemy to the life you want for us. Help us hunger so deeply for the freedom of all your -people that we risk walking among enemies who pervert justice. Reveal to us when we ourselves act as enemies to your kingdom of justice and peace. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 8
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “I Will Trust in the Lord”
I do not think that I shall fear you : when I see you face to face.
Psalm 38:1 – 2, 14 – 15, 21 – 22
O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger : do not punish me in your wrath.
For your arrows have already pierced me : and your hand presses hard upon me.
I have become like one who does not hear : and from whose mouth comes no defense.
For in you, O Lord, have I fixed my hope : you will answer me, O Lord my God.
O Lord, do not forsake me : be not far from me, O my God.
Make haste to help me : O Lord of my salvation.
I do not think that I shall fear you : when I see you face to face.
Exodus 18:1 – 12 1 John 4:7 – 21
I do not think that I shall fear you : when I see you face to face.
Jack Bernard, a co-founder of the Church of the Sojourners in San Francisco, wrote, “The key element in beginning to learn to embody the love of God is not heroic faith and determination. It has to do with whether or not we can take hold of the love of God as a power that includes us within it. The difference is between seeing life from the inside of God versus seeing it from within my own sensibilities and capacities. From inside the love of God, suffering becomes not only bearable, but a privilege of participating with Christ in his love for the world. This cannot be rationally explained or justified, but it is the fruit of a life trustingly lived in and for God who is all love.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Holy Spirit, you dwell within us and you teach us perfect love, which drives out all fear. Give us a spirit of courage, and make us bold enough to love one another without fear. Enable us to see that perfect love calls us to persevere in suffering and to trust beyond what is visible. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 7
On April 7, 1994, a civil war broke out in Rwanda as Hutu extremists began brutally killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Over the next one hundred days, nearly a million -people were killed in the worst occurrence of genocide since the Holocaust. An estimated 75 percent of the Tutsis living in Rwanda were murdered.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “We Shall Overcome”
Give us water from the Rock, O Lord : and sustain us in the struggle for justice.
Psalm 35:1, 24 – 28
Fight those who fight me, O Lord : attack those who are attacking me.
Give me justice, O Lord my God, according to your righteous-ness : do not let them triumph over me.
Do not let them say in their hearts, “Aha! just what we want!” : Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
Let all who rejoice at my ruin be ashamed and disgraced : let those who boast against me be clothed with dismay and shame.
Let those who favor my cause sing out with joy and be glad : let them say always, “Great is the Lord, who desires the prosperity of his servant.”
And my tongue shall be talking of your righteous-ness : and of your praise all the day long.
Give us water from the Rock, O Lord : and sustain us in the struggle for justice.
Exodus 17:1 – 16 1 John 3:19 – 4:6
Give us water from the Rock, O Lord : and sustain us in the struggle for justice.
When Cardinal Roger Etchegary visited Rwanda on behalf of the pope in 1994, he asked the assembled church leaders, “Are you saying that the blood of tribalism is deeper than the waters of baptism?” One leader answered, “Yes, it is.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, King of the Universe, we lift up our hands to you and ask you to help us bear the burden of injustice. Grant us a discerning spirit to follow your path to justice. Equip us with your patience and your grace so that as we walk with those who suffer, we might strengthen and uphold one another. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
Daily Prayers for April 6
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord : let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Song “Ubi Caritas”
When we love and learn to share : when we love, Christ is there.
Psalm 30:1 – 3, 12 – 13
I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up : and have not let my enemies triumph over me.
O Lord my God, I cried out to you : and you restored me to health.
You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead : you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.
You have turned my wailing into dancing : you have put off my sack-cloth and clothed me with joy.
Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing : O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.
When we love and learn to share : when we love, Christ is there.
Exodus 16:22 – 36 1 John 3:11 – 18
When we love and learn to share : when we love, Christ is there.
Elizabeth of the Trinity, a nineteenth-century Carmelite nun, said, “Let us ask God to make us true in our love, to make us sacrificial beings, for it seems to me that sacrifice is only love put into action.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God of love, forgive us when we make a mockery of love by only speaking of love. Burden us with your embodied love so that our first response may be to love with our hands and feet. May our love take on the flesh you so humbly bore. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
