These prayers and intercessions are intended to bring sisters to light throughout the liturgical year.

Transcription

1 Prayers These prayers and intercessions are intended to bring sisters to light throughout the liturgical year. Advent This is a season for waiting and wondering. Help us to prepare our hearts for Jesus birth by praying and serving others. Show us the example of those who have dedicated their lives to our Church, especially the Catholic sisters who are such kind, gentle role models. Help us to be more kind and gentle to our friends, our teachers, our parents and our brothers and sisters. Show us the way of the Lord both now and forever. Amen. Gracious God, In this season of Advent, quiet our minds and open our hearts. Show us how to wait and wonder, to pray and hope, and to put others before ourselves. May we learn from those who serve you fully, the consecrated religious, so that we too may offer ourselves in service. Show us the way, and deepen our trust in you, we pray this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. In a world of instant gratification, teach us how to wait. Give us the spirit of Advent. Show us the power of silence. Make us peace keepers and bridge builders, like the Catholic sisters who knit together fractured communities. Create room in our hearts for the coming Savior. Help us to prepare the way! We ask this in the name of Jesus our brother and the power of the Spirit, both now and forever. Amen. Loving and Healing God, We call upon you this season to grant us the spirit of Advent. Fill our hearts with patience and serenity. Teach us to be unhurried, to wait and hope and trust. Show us the power of silence and the promise of the coming Savior. Fill us with the hope and healing that comes from your love for us. We pray in the name of Jesus, Your Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. As we gather in your name, grant us the quiet spirit of Advent, of waiting and wondering, of hoping and trusting. Teach us to how to serve this church. Embolden us to echo Mary s yes to respond to your call to serve others, especially through the call to religious life. Strengthen us as the body of Christ and remake us with your birth. We pray in the name of Jesus, our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

2 Intercessions Season of Advent For our Church, as we begin a new liturgical year and the Year of Consecrated Life, may we be united in our zeal to consecrate ourselves fully to Christ and to the vocation to which God calls us. First Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7; Psalm 80; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:33-37) For all youth and young adults in the Catholic Church, that they might be awake and alert to the calls of Jesus to follow him in service as men and women religious. Second Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalm 85; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8) For members of our Church, that, like John the Baptist, we might serve as messengers of the Lord, witnessing to the Good News of Jesus by our lives of consecration and holiness. Third Sunday of Advent (Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11; Resp. Luke 1:46-50, 53-54; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28) That young people of the Catholic faith might rejoice and respond generously to the Lord s call for a consecrated life of service. Fourth Sunday of Advent (2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27-29; Romans 8:25-27; Luke 1:26-38) For consecrated women, who, like Mary, responded with a courageous yes to God s invitation to bring Christ into the world through the witness of their lives. Christmas We rejoice this Christmas season in the birth of the Jesus Christ! Our savior lives among us! Help us to treat everyone we encounter as Jesus would, with kindness and dignity. Bless those who follow His example every day, especially the Catholic sisters and brothers who serve our community so humbly. They have a special role in our Church and deserve a special place in our prayers! We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and with the Holy Spirit, both now and forever. Amen.

3 At Christmas we celebrate your incredible gift: You have come to live among us! May we treat everyone we encounter from siblings to strangers as bearers of Jesus. Show us the way of the Catholic sisters whose life mission is to serve their neighbors in need. Embolden us to follow their lead! We pray through Christ, our Lord. Amen. You sent your son the King of Kings in the most surprising fashion, an infant born to a teenaged peasant in a lowly manger. His birth rewrote the history books and redeemed the world. Teach us to believe in miracles, both big and small. Deepen our trust in you, the God of Surprises. Thank you for the model of religious women and men who have born the love of God in their hearts to all those in need. Inspire us to answer your call to discipleship as religious sisters and brothers for those in need today. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. The Christmas miracle is the radical gift of Emanuel, God among us. Open our eyes to see the face of God in every patient we serve. Fill our hearts with your light and love, so that we reflect the joy of the season, the knowledge that whatever happens to us, You are with us and our families every moment of our lives. We pray in the name of Jesus, Your Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen. The heavenly hosts rejoice in Christ s birth, and we lift up our hearts too. Open our eyes this Christmas season to our rich Catholic legacy: Mary s brave fiat; the early apostles tireless efforts; the teachers and scholars, parents and nuns who knit together our Church. We thank you for those who have gone before us and ask you to guide our work today, that it may bless those who will follow. Bless your church during this year for consecrated year to share the stories of religious men and women with all in our parish community so that those whom God is calling will find support and encouragement among our parish community. We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

4 Intercessions Season of Christmas For young Catholics, that by their lives and willingness to serve, they might witness to the presence of the Word Incarnate in our world today. Nativity of the Lord - Christmas Vigil December 24, 2014 (Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 27; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25) For the children in our parish, that they might foster a deep love of Christ and share with others the joy of his coming. Nativity of the Lord Mass during the Night (Isaiah 9:1-6; Psalm 96:1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14) That we, with the heavenly host, might, through our lives of dedication, proclaim the glory of God as revealed in the birth of Jesus into our world. Nativity of the Lord Mass at Dawn (Isaiah 62:11-12; Psalm 97:1, 6, 11-12; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2:15-20) For women in consecrated life, who, like Mary, reflect on the love of Christ in their hearts and spread that love to those in need of hope. Nativity of the Lord Mass during the Day (Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18) That young people might follow the example of Mary and of women religious, who strive to bring Jesus, the Word of God, into the hearts of all people. The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph December 28, 2014 (Sirach 3:2-6, or Genesis 15:1-6, 21:1-13; Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 or Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Colossians 3:12-21 or Colossians 3:12-17 or Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 1-19; Luke 2:22-40 or Luke 2:22, 39-40) For all Catholic families, that they might raise their children to be strong in their faith and encourage them to consider vocations of service in consecrated religious life. Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God January 1, 2015 (Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21) That women and men in consecrated life might, like Mary, reflect on the goodness of God and bring the good news of God s love to those in need. The Epiphany of the Lord January 4, 2015 (Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12) That we, like the Star of Bethlehem, might draw others Jesus Christ and invite them to offer him the gift of themselves through vocations to religious life. Baptism of the Lord January 11, 2015 (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 or Isaiah 55:1-11; Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10 or Isaiah 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6; Acts 10:34-38 or 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11) For all young Catholics, that they might hear God declare them to be the beloved children of God and that they might live out their baptism by following the path that God calls them to.

5 Year Round Thank you for giving us Catholic sisters, who help our schools and churches and neighborhoods. They teach us how to pray and how to serve those in need. During this year dedicated to religious vocations, called the Year of Consecrated Life, we ask for your blessing on all Catholic sisters. Inspired by these women, help us to grow deeper in our faith so we each of us can answer your special call. We pray this in the name of Jesus, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever. Amen. Thank you for giving us Catholic sisters, who have built schools and hospitals and shelters upon the strength of their convictions. We celebrate their good work this Year of Consecrated Life and ask for your grace to strengthen and sustain all women religious. Bless their hands that fold in prayer and sow seeds to build the Kingdom of God. Please open our minds and hearts to learn all we can from Catholic sisters. Help us to follow their example, dedicating our lives more fully to You. We ask this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever. Amen. Compassionate and Merciful God, We pause from our work today to thank you for the gift of Catholic sisters, who breathed life into so many hospitals across the nation. The clarity of their vision, the power of their prayer and the force of their will built life-saving healthcare networks. Guide us to serve in their spirit. May we exercise the virtues embodied by women religious: gentle, sensitive, strong, patient, persistent, intuitive and compassionate. May we approach our work as a ministry, inspired by the Catholic sisters who are angels of healing, of hospitality, and of hope. Open our eyes so that we may see every patient as a whole person, with physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. Bless our hands and each person they touch. We pray this in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen. Loving and Gracious God, You express your love by putting special people in our lives and today we thank you for a very special group, the Catholic sisters you have given to the church. They fulfill a unique role, devoting their lives to building the Kingdom of God here on Earth. We ask you to bless all women religious during this Year of Consecrated Life. Guide them, strengthen them, sustain them. Shower them with your grace. And we ask that you may open our eyes to the beauty of their work, so that we too may draw close to you in prayer and reach out, in turn, to help neighbors in need. Give us the courage to answer the unique call you have for each of our lives. It is the path to great joy. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever. Amen. Intercession For our Church, during this Year of Consecrated Life, may we be united in our zeal to consecrate ourselves fully to Christ and to the vocation to which God calls us.