Prayerful Concerns of Our Parish Community – 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
We post these Prayers of the Faithful from the weekend of July 8-9, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time with the hope that you find them helpful in your own prayers and reflections this week.
Children often like to play “dress up.” Sometimes we want to play “dress up” with you God, by hiding our true selves from you or by making you out to be someone you are not. Help us to be honestly who we are. Help us to accept you as a God of love and mercy. We pray:
That leaders of your Church set aside “pomp and circumstance” and follow Christ in compassionate and gentle service, and truly listen to the Spirit speaking in the hearts of those in the pews and those who are absent from our gatherings, we pray to the Lord.
That leaders of nations and the powerful of the world will use their positions to banish war and injustice and promote peace and the dignity of every human life. For those suffering in Ukraine, Palestine and other places where justice and peace is not being promoted, and for those living on the streets in our communities, we pray to the Lord.
That we see and experience creation and our own bodies as blessed and beautiful gifts from you. That we eat, sleep, and live in ways that nurture our bodies. That we respect others and take steps to come to the aid of our natural world which is suffering because of human abuse. We pray to the Lord.
That we enjoy and give you thanks for the gifts of the summer season: visitors and friends, good food, fresh berries, and vegetables We pray too for those who lack these things and for those who have to work extra hard in these months, tending crops and tending people in our hospitality industry here in Maine. We pray to the Lord.
That you send us a gifted man or woman to be our next Parish Business Manager, a person whose skills and commitment will lead us to be, more and more, a faith community and a beacon of hope. We pray to the Lord.
For our relatives and friends who have died. We rejoice that they now see you as you are, face to face. Give us assurances that they are safe. At this liturgy we especially remember:
4:30 PM Margaret Aceto by her daughter Maureen
7:30 AM The People of the Parish Both Living & Deceased
9:30 AM Barbara Goodwin by her Husband & Family
5:00 PM Marjorie Lenois by Natalie Baltos
We pray to the Lord
Most merciful God, we present these prayers to you as well as those we hold in our hearts. Bless us with your Spirit that we may rejoice in the gift of our lives and in all the blessings you have given us. May the people you send to us recognize, in our generosity and kindness, a family resemblance to you. Amen.