Prayers of the faithful - feast day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta - September 5 2017

Penitential Act: 

Lord Jesus, you hear the cry of the poor, Lord have mercy. 

Christ Jesus, you call us all to be lights in the world, Christ have mercy. 

Lord Jesus, you bring the Father’s love and compassion, Lord have mercy. 

Collect prayer - feast of Mother Teresa of Calcutta:

God, who called St Teresa of Calcutta to respond to the love of your Son as he endured his passion with outstanding charity to the poorest of the poor, grant us, we beseech you, by her intercession, to minister to Christ in his suffering brothers and sisters. Through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Prayers of the Faithful

September 5 - Feast day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta 

Celebrant: The love of Christ gathers us together in faith so that we might be renewed in our baptism and its commitment to mission. We make our prayer to the Father.

1. In the spirit of Mother Teresa, we offer our love, support and prayers for all Christian communities throughout the world. We ask God to pour out his blessings on us that we may bring the joy of the Gospel and his new life to all our daily encounters with God’s people. 

2. We pray for all missionaries: for the Christian communities that sent them and those who receive and welcome them. We ask God to bless all our missionaries and to bless those who are missionaries to us.

3. We pray for those in our world who suffer injustice and those who are victims of any form of violence or terrorism. Grant them your comfort and peace and help us to contribute our missionary efforts in making this world a better place for all.

4.  We pray for our own families: we thank God for them and we ask God to bless them, especially those who are sick, troubled or in any need; and also to bless those who reach out to people in need.

5.  The harvest is large but the laborers are few. We pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest. 

6. For the sick and shut-ins, for those battling addictions, for those searching for something to fill the emptiness in their lives, that Christ’s love and compassion may comfort them.  

7. For the victims of natural disasters, including the brush fires in California and the floods in Texas and the Gulf Coast, for assistance, healing and recovery.  

8.  For the silent prayer we hold in our hearts. 

Celebrant: My the missionary spirit of Mother Teresa infuse our hearts today and encourage us.  We present these prayers through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever and ever.   AMEN.  

Serenity prayer - Long version - Reinhold Niebuhr

What a wonderful prayer the serenity prayer is.  I think most of us are familiar with the shorter version of it used by AA and 12-step programs.  American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote this prayer while serving as a pastor in Massachusetts.  Like all great prayers and quotes, there is some discussion about when it was originally written, but it appears to have been written in either the 1930s or the 1940s.  It is certainly a wonderful prayer that challenges us in the way we live our lives.  

God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

September 3 - Feast Day of St Gregory the Great - Pope and Doctor of the Church

Today, September 3, is the feast day of St Gregory the Great (540 – 604).   James Barmby, a Church historian writes:  “It is impossible to conceive what would have been the confusion, the lawlessness, the chaotic state of the Middle Ages without the medieval papacy; and of the medieval papacy, the real father is Gregory the Great.”  At the time, it must have felt like Christianity was being attacked on just about every front, including the Goths who were invading Rome.  In the Church, Gregory the Great’s liturgical reforms and the strengthening of Church Doctrine helped Christianity survive and pass down the faith to future generations.  Yet, in all that he had to address as Pope, Gregory the Great never forgot the love and mercy of God.  He is quoted as saying:  “The proof of love is in the works.  Where love exists, it works great things.  But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.”   We celebrate the feast day of St Gregory the Great today with great joy.  

Catholic prayer for Labor Day - 2017

We wish everyone a blessed Labor Day. 

Prayer for Labor Day

On this weekend, when we rest from our usual labors, loving Father, we pray for all who shoulder the tasks of human labor—in the marketplace, in the factories and that offices, in the professions, and in family living. 

We thank you, Lord, for the gift and opportunity of work.  We pray that our efforts may always be pure of heart, for the good of others, and for the glory of your name. 

We lift up to you all who long for just employment and those who work to defend the rights and needs of workers everywhere. 

May those who are now retired always remember that they still make a valuable contribution to our Church and to our world through prayers and through works of service and charity. 

May our working and our resting give praise to you until the day we share together in eternal rest with all our departed in your Kingdom as you live and reign -  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Remembering my mom, Lila Spannenberg Dall - August 25 1926 - September 3 1991

I remembered my mom on her birthday - August 25.  And Sunday marks the day she passed away - September 3, 1991.  That was Labor Day weekend as well, just like this year.  This is a photo of my mom and dad and me as an infant in Chicago at a family gathering - summer of 1962.  

Mass at St Joseph High School

I don't take selfies very often, but this is with Father Jason and Father Albeen after celebrating mass at St Joseph High School in Madison last week.  

September 1 - Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church - Christian Prayer for Union with Creation from Laudato Si, Written by Pope Francis

In 2015, Pope Francis established the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation for the Catholic Church. through the Church’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.  This day of prayer is celebrated each year on September 1.  This unites our Catholic day of prayer with the world day of prayer for the care of creation establish under the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church in 1989. 

“A Christian prayer for union with creation” was published in Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si. This prayer calls all Christians to pray for the desire to care for creation that is set out before us in Christ’s Gospel message. Let us pray:

Father, we praise you with all your creatures.

They came forth from your all-powerful hand;

they are yours, filled with your presence and your tender love.

Praise be to you, Son of God, Jesus,

through you all things were made.

You were formed in the womb of Mary our Mother,

You became part of this earth,

and you gazed upon this world with human eyes.

Today you are alive in every creature

in your risen glory.

Praise be to you, Holy Spirit, by your light

you guide this world towards the Father’s love

and accompany creation as it groans in travail.

You also dwell in our hearts

and you inspire us to do what is good.

Praise be to you, Triune Lord,

wondrous community of infinite love,

teach us to contemplate you

in the beauty of the universe,

for all things speak of you.

Awaken our praise and thankfulness

for every being that you have made.

Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined

to everything that is. 

God of love, show us our place in this world

as the channels of your love

for all creatures of this earth,

for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.

Enlighten those who possess power and money

that they may avoid the sin of indifference,

that they may love the common good,

advance the weak,

and care for this world in which we live.

The poor and the earth are crying out.

O Lord, seize us with your power and light,

help us to protect all life,

to prepare for a better future,

for the coming of your Kingdom

Of justice, peace, love and beauty.

Praise be to you!

Amen.