Prayerful Concerns of Our Parish Community – 7th Sunday of Easter
We hope you find these Prayers of the Faithful from the 7th Sunday of Easter (May 20-21, 2023) to be helpful in your prayer and reflection this week.
God, we are nearing the end of the long Easter season, a time when Jesus readied his friends to continue his mission and gave them what they needed, the gift of the Holy Spirit. As we present our prayers today, give us the wisdom and courage to bring the Good News to our world. We pray:
As Mary and the disciples prayed in that first novena before Pentecost, we pray for what we need to be people of faith, of hope, compassion and mercy. We pray to the Lord.
You are bringing to our community families seeking baptism for their children. Bless these newest friends of Jesus. Give their parents the ability to show their children who Jesus is. Help our community to support them by our prayers and by our welcome and care for them. We pray to the Lord.
Next Saturday 19 of our young people will celebrate Pentecost by receiving the sacrament of confirmation. They will also receive Eucharist for the first time. Open their hearts to your love. Help them to seek that love and live in it for the rest of their lives, we pray to the Lord.
We ask that our hearts be softened and our minds be attentive to the needs of those who are suffering in our communities and world, the abused and exploited, the destitute and dispirited, the homeless and hungry, the lonely and unwelcome, those battling addictions, those troubled by spirits that are not of God. We pray to the Lord.
God, help us to see how to bring Good News where conflict is a reality and peace but a dream; where greed is honored and generosity is mocked; where injustice reigns and justice is trampled underfoot; where the powerful are heard and the powerless are ignored; where people are discriminated against because of race, creed, gender and sexuality, where the earth is abused and where honest work is derided or denied, for, God, it is your desire that things do not have to be as they are. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for our neighbors and loved ones and all who have died, that they might now, be seeing you face to face and that their prayers will be a source of help to us. At this liturgy we especially commend to you:
4:30 PM The People of the Parish both Living & Deceased
7:30 AM Joseph Louis Aceto by Kevin & Ann Marie Rogers
9:30 AM Margaret G. O’Brien Aceto by Iris Micucci
5:00 PM Pamela Craven by Margaret Kane, Patty Kilmartin & Kathleen Joyce
We pray to the Lord
We entrust these prayers to your care, loving God. Give us a glimpse of your kingdom, a glimpse of your glory, an openness to your rule, and your Spirit to guide us. Hear us, we pray, through Christ the Risen and Ascended One. Amen