Prayer of St Junipero Serra

 

I am reading a book entitled Who Was Saint Junipero Serra? by Christian Clifford, a teacher at a Catholic high school in California and a member of the Knights of Columbus.  He has written several books on St Junipero Serra and the mission era in California.  He also has hiked the mission trail in California and is very active in the pilgrimage community.   He has done a lot of research on the life of St Junipero Serra.  In his book, Clifford includes the following prayer, taken from Serra’s diary from the travels in the Baja peninsula of California: 

Hail Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may God reward charity, may we sing a tender hymn about the love of God. May our efforts be for the greater honor and glory of God, especially the encouragement we show toward those who feel alone.  Help us to conduct ourselves properly during life’s journey.  We ask the Lord of the harvest the we may be faithful workers in his harvest field.  May God keep us and the stranger safe and free from harm.  Help us to continue on and not turn back when we are afraid of the unknown, always seeking guidance by your Church.  May our hearts be firmly filled with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Thanks be to God. Amen. 

The values of our faith are expressed in the lives of the saints, in their words and actions, in their work and prayers.  Born in 1713 on the island of Majorca in Spain, Serra was a Franciscan missionary who founded nine Catholic missions in California, most of which would go on to become the centers of major cities in the state.  When Serra was canonized as a saint by Pope Francis in Washington, DC in 2015, the Pope asserted that Serra’s example of faith should be a call to all Christians to never grow complacent, and to always go out to proclaim the Gospel with joy.  According to Pope Francis, “(St Junipero Serra) was the embodiment of ‘a Church which goes forth’, a Church which sets out to bring everywhere the reconciling tenderness of God.”  May this prayer of St Junipero Serra speak to us through time and space today.  

Blessings to all of you - Father Lincoln