Daily Prayers for October 22
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 “We Shall Overcome”
Bring an end to evil, Lord : and save us from our enemies.
Psalm 109:28 – 30
Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace : and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.
I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth : in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;
because he stands at the right hand of the needy : to save his life from those who would condemn him.
Bring an end to evil, Lord : and save us from our enemies.
Nehemiah 4:1 – 23 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 9:1 – 15
Bring an end to evil, Lord : and save us from our enemies.
Twentieth-century martyrs Felipe and Mary Barreda wrote, “We discovered that faith is not expecting that the Lord will miraculously give us whatever we ask, or feeling the security that we will not be killed and that everything will turn out as we want. We learned that faith is putting ourselves in His hands, whatever happens, good or bad. He will help us somehow.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, our lives are in your hands. Do not let our enemies triumph over us. Teach us how to love even those who intend us harm. 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 October 21
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”
Save us that we might give thanks : and glory in your praise.
Psalm 106:1 – 5
Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good : for his mercy endures for ever.
Who can declare the mighty acts of the Lord : or show forth all his praise?
Happy are those who act with justice : and always do what is right!
Remember me, O Lord, with the favor you have for your -people : and visit me with your saving help;
that I may see the prosperity of your elect and be glad with the gladness of your -people : that I may glory with your inheritance.
Save us that we might give thanks : and glory in your praise.
Nehemiah 2:1 – 20 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 8:16 – 24
Save us that we might give thanks : and glory in your praise.
Clement of Alexandria said, “One purchases immortality through generosity; and, by giving the perishing things of the world, receives in exchange for these an eternal mansion in the heavens! Rush to this market, if you are wise, O rich man! If need be, sail around the whole world.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, teach us the power of a generosity that interrupts the logic of scarcity with the extravagant self-giving of divine love. 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 October 20
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 “Servant Song”
Show us your glory, O Lord : and teach us to rise by descending.
Psalm 102:13 – 16
You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to have mercy upon her : indeed, the appointed time has come.
For your servants love her very rubble : and are moved to pity even for her dust.
The nations shall fear your name, O Lord : and all the kings of the earth your glory.
For the Lord will build up Zion : and his glory will appear.
Show us your glory, O Lord : and teach us to rise by descending.
Nehemiah 1:1 – 11 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 8:1 – 16
Show us your glory, O Lord : and teach us to rise by descending.
Twentieth-century Catholic journalist Penny Lernoux said, “You can look at a slum or peasant village, but it is only by entering into the world — by living in it — that you begin to understand what it is like to be powerless, to be like Christ.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, you descended into the mire of this world to raise us up. Enable us to descend as you descended that we might rise with you to the beloved community of your resurrected life. 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 October 19
John Woolman (1720 – 1772)
John Woolman was born October 19, 1720. After refusing as a young man to write a bill of sale for a slave, Woolman went on to play a key role in challenging Quakers to give up slavery and recognize it as unchristian. Thanks to the active faith of Woolman and others, Quakers played an important role in the abolition movement throughout the nineteenth century.
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 “Freedom Train”
You order your kingdom with justice : and establish the world in peace.
Psalm 96:7 – 10
Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the -peoples : ascribe to the Lord honor and power.
Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his name : bring offerings and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness : let the whole earth tremble before him.
Tell it out among the nations: “The Lord is King! : he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved; he will judge the -peoples with equity.”
You order your kingdom with justice : and establish the world in peace.
Ezra 6:1 – 22 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 7:2 – 16
You order your kingdom with justice : and establish the world in peace.
John Woolman said, “The only Christian way to treat a slave is to set him free.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, within your community we are strengthened to persevere, empowered to proclaim your truth, and shaped to wait on you. Teach us anew what we can learn from other faithful brothers and sisters who serve you in their particular ways of worship and proclamation. 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 October 18
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 “We Shall Not Be Moved”
Shelter us not with walls that exclude : but with your widespread wing.
Psalm 91:9 – 13
Because you have made the Lord your refuge : and the Most High your habitation,
there shall no evil happen to you : neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over you : to keep you in all your ways.
They shall bear you in their hands : lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and adder : you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.
Shelter us not with walls that exclude : but with your widespread wing.
Ezra 5:1 – 17 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 6:14 – 7:1
Shelter us not with walls that exclude : but with your widespread wing.
Origen of Alexandria wrote, “Once the -people of God had surrounded the city Jericho, it had to be stormed. How then was Jericho stormed? No sword was drawn against it, no battering ram was aimed at it, no javelins were hurled. The priests merely sounded their trumpets, and the walls of Jericho collapsed. Jericho will fall, then; this world will perish. How will the world be brought to an end, and by what means will it be destroyed? The answer of Scripture is, by the sound of trumpets. If you ask what trumpets, then let Paul reveal the secret: The trumpet will sound, and the dead who are in Christ will rise incorruptible.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, may your trumpet sound in the songs we sing, in the prayer we pray, in the lives we live, and in the bread we break. Come, Lord -Jesus, come. 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 October 17
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 107)
Ignatius, whose surname was Theophorus (“God-bearer”), may have been a disciple of John the Evangelist. Little is known about his early life, but he took charge of the church at Antioch around the year 69 and was condemned to death during the time of Trajan’s persecution. While in transit to Rome, the boat carrying him to his death made stops along the shores of Asia Minor, and he was able to preach in the churches along the way. Faithful Christians met Ignatius upon his arrival in Rome, both to celebrate his presence and mourn his impending death. Praying with the believers, he asked for an end to persecution, blessings on the church, and charity for the faithful. He was taken to the amphitheater in Rome, where it is reported two lions were set upon him.
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 “Steal Away to -Jesus”
Dying, we rise to you, O Lord : come, be our light.
Psalm 89:11 – 15
Yours are the heavens; the earth also is yours : you laid the foundations of the world and all that is in it.
You have made the north and the south : Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
You have a mighty arm : strong is your hand and high is your right hand.
Righteous-ness and justice are the foundations of your throne : love and truth go before your face.
Happy are the -people who know the festal shout! : they walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.
Dying, we rise to you, O Lord : come, be our light.
Zechariah 1:7 – 17 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 6:3 – 13
Dying, we rise to you, O Lord : come, be our light.
Ignatius of Antioch wrote, “The delights of this world and all its kingdoms will not profit me. I would prefer to die in -Jesus Christ than to rule over all the earth. I seek him who died for us; I desire him who rose for us. I am in the throes of being born again. Bear with me, my brothers and sisters. Let me see the pure light; when I am there, I shall be truly a human being at last. Let me imitate the sufferings of my God.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord God, instill in us such a fervor for you that we cannot help but preach your love and reconciliation in times of sorrow and joy. 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 October 16
The Soviet Union and Cuba made an agreement in 1962 to allow the storage of nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. Once the United States discovered the plan, the US Navy surrounded the island on October 16. Tensions were high as the Cold War enemies faced off ninety miles from US soil. The Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles if the US removed its own missiles from southern Italy and Turkey and did not attack Cuba.
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 “Lamb of God”
You have been gracious to your land, O Lord : preserve us from self-destruction.
Psalm 85:7 – 11
Show us your mercy, O Lord : and grant us your salvation.
I will listen to what the Lord God is saying : for he is speaking peace to his faithful -people and to those who turn their hearts to him.
Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him : that his glory may dwell in our land.
Mercy and truth have met together : righteous-ness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall spring up from the earth : and righteous-ness shall look down from heaven.
You have been gracious to your land, O Lord : preserve us from self-destruction.
Haggai 1:1 – 2:9 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 5:11 – 6:2
You have been gracious to your land, O Lord : preserve us from self-destruction.
Catholic peace activist Jim Douglass has written, “The Cold War has been followed by its twin, the War on Terror. We are engaged in another apocalyptic struggle against an enemy seen as absolute evil. Terrorism has replaced Communism as the enemy. We are told we can be safe only through the threat of escalating violence. Yet the redemptive means John Kennedy turned to, in a similar struggle, was dialogue with the enemy. When the enemy is seen as human, everything changes.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, you have brought us in safety to this new day. Preserve us now by your mighty power that we might not fall into sin nor be overcome by adversity, and in all that we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose, through -Jesus Christ our Lord. 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 October 15
Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582)
In sixteenth-century Spain, where women had little voice, Teresa of Avila stood out as a spiritual giant, reforming her Carmelite order, founding seventeen new communities, writing four books, and challenging countless men and women to grow in the life of prayer. As attested to by her writings and by her friends and disciples (including John of the Cross), Teresa’s own prayer life was perhaps her most important gift to the church. “Prayer,” she wrote, “is nothing but friendly intercourse, and frequent solitary converse, with Him who we know loves us.”
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 “O Mary, Don’t You Weep”
Let nothing disturb you, nothing dismay : All things are possible. God does not change.
Psalm 81:13 – 16
Oh, that my -people would listen to me! : that Israel would walk in my ways!
I should soon subdue their enemies : and turn my hand against their foes.
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him : and their punishment would last for ever.
But Israel would I feed with the finest wheat : and satisfy him with honey from the rock.
Let nothing disturb you, nothing dismay : All things are possible. God does not change.
Ezra 4:7, 11 – 24 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 4:13 – 5:10
Let nothing disturb you, nothing dismay : All things are possible. God does not change.
Teresa of Avila said, “Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and that there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Purify our hearts, O Lord, to long for the one true thing and be distracted by nothing. 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 October 14
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 “Come, Thou Fount”
Blessed be the God of Israel : who alone is just and righteous.
Psalm 72:1 – 7
Give the King your justice, O God : and your righteous-ness to the King’s Son;
that he may rule your -people righteously : and the poor with justice;
that the mountains may bring prosperity to the -people : and the little hills bring righteous-ness.
He shall defend the needy among the -people : he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.
He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure : from one generation to another.
He shall come down like rain upon the mown field : like showers that water the earth.
In his time shall the righteous flourish : there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
Blessed be the God of Israel : who alone is just and righteous.
Ezra 3:1 – 13 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 4:1 – 12
Blessed be the God of Israel : who alone is just and righteous.
American abolitionist Frederick Douglass said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any -people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
God of peace, keep us from confusing peace with submission in the face of injustice. Keep us from confusing patience with tolerance in the face of oppression. Grant us true discernment for the sake of your kingdom. 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 October 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 “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah”
Blessed be the Lord, day by day : the God who bears our burdens.
Psalm 68:7 – 10
O God, when you went forth before your -people : when you marched through the wilderness,
the earth shook, and the skies poured down rain, at the presence of God, the God of Sinai : at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance : you refreshed the land when it was weary.
Your -people found their home in it : in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.
Blessed be the Lord, day by day : the God who bears our burdens.
Ezra 1:1 – 11 2 Co-rin-thi-ans 3:1 – 18
Blessed be the Lord, day by day : the God who bears our burdens.
In his Rule for monastic communities, Benedict of Nursia wrote, “With all this in mind, what we mean to establish is a school for the Lord’s ser-vice. In the guidance we lay down to achieve this, we hope to impose nothing harsh or burdensome. If, however, you find in it anything which seems rather strict, but which is demanded reasonably for the correction of vice or the preservation of love, do not let that frighten you into fleeing from the way of salvation; it is a way which is bound to seem narrow to start with. But, as we progress in this monastic way of life and in faith, our hearts will warm to its vision, and with eager love and delight that defies expression, we shall go forward on the way of God’s commandments. Then we shall never think of deserting his guidance; we shall persevere in fidelity to his teaching in the monastery until death so that through our patience we may be granted some part in Christ’s own passion and thus in the end receive a share in his kingdom. Amen.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, it is a privilege to abide by your word and to discipline ourselves in the Spirit. Present us with ample opportunities today to water the seeds of discipline in our lives that they might in time bear fruit, to the glory of your name. 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.
