Chancery prayer - Monday - 13 February 2023 - A Prayer in Winter

     Dear Lord, as we journey through the season of winter, as some days here in Mississippi are warm, as some are cold and damp, as some have frost or heavy rain, we thank you for the gift of the seasons. Now, the warm summer months are long over and the harvest time is past. All the wealth and warmth of the summer sun is marvelously packaged now, in seed and fruit and vegetable. We look forward to the planting season that is soon to come.  

     Thank you, dear, generous God, for all your goodness and for all your gifts. All summer long you are working for us, storing heat and health and nourishment in the fields and woods. Now, in the winter months, when the air is normally cold, and much of the earth lies dormant, we can live on what the summer and the harvest have stored up for us.

     Thank you for your unnumbered kindnesses to us, heavenly Father. Help us to make good use of the riches of the earth. Help us protect, safeguard, and use wisely all of your creation.  Help us to be as generous as you are, and always avoid selfishness and greed. Help us, too, to store up spiritual wealth in the summer of this life, while we can yet work. Otherwise life’s autumn will come, death will call us, a spiritual winter will set in and we shall be found poor and unsheltered not for one season only, but for the winters of eternity.

       Lord, we trust in you, that, cooperating with your many graces, we may make good use now of our rich opportunities. May we then reap a rich spiritual harvest which we will enjoy with you and your saints in the eternal life to come. Amen. 

Prayers of the faithful:

1. We pray for those who find the dark cold winter months difficult.  We pray for those struggling with mental illness, depression, poverty, and addiction.  We pray for the poor and the homeless who do not have adequate housing or warmth during the winter months. We pray for those in the city of Jackson who still struggle to have water.  We pray to the Lord. 

2. We pray for those who have been affected by winter storms, by flooding, and by other natural disasters. We pray for those in Turkey and Syria affected by the earthquake. We pray that they receive the recovery assistance that they need.  We pray to the Lord. 

3. We pray for Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of February: that parishes, placing communion at the center, may increasingly become communities of faith, fraternity, and welcome towards those most in need. We pray to the Lord. 

4. We pray for our children and youth, that the Lord continue to accompany them through their studies and all their activities.  We pray in a special way for those children and youth who are preparing to receive the sacraments of first holy communion or confirmation. We pray for the adults in the RCIA program.  We pray to the Lord. 

5. We pray for the sick and the shut-in, for all who need healing in body, mind, or spirit.  We pray to the Lord.