Weekly Prayer Archive

Dear Lord,
I like quick results.
In summer, I want the heat to leave soon.
In fall, I look for the peak color to come when I want it
In December I wish Christmas was here.
In winter I want the snow to melt NOW.
In fact, I want winter to be over NOW.
In springtime I look for the flowers early
And I expect you to hurry the little leaves onto the trees.
And then there is COVID…

I want a vaccine to be available to all
I want to travel and to dine out.
I want to meet friends and not have to worry.
I want the deaths and suffering to stop NOW.
I think there is a lesson in all this for me.
You took eons to do the work of creation
And thousands of years to prepare the world for Jesus.
Your agony on the cross was long and painful.
Lord, let me take your hand and walk at your pace.
I trust we will arrive where we need to be
When we need to be there.

Amen.

—  By Columban Fr. John Burger, U.S. Regional Director

How life has slowed down! 
I used to be engaged in frenetic activity. 
Now I am limited by constraints from Covid-19. 
I always wanted to rest, to simply have time to be at peace. 
Now I have that time. 
But instead I am anxious, upset and worried
about getting back to the way it was.  
Maybe my idea of peace is not the Lord’s. 
Now I am beginning to understand that verse
from John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. 
I do not give to you as the world gives. 
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  
Lord help me to take advantage of this time
to accept the peace that only you can give.

— By a Columban Missionary

Lord as we suffer through this time of the virus
allow us to turn to you for strength and comfort. 
I know that your saving help reaches out
to those afflicted and in pain. 
Grant us the faith to believe that you are here
with us and will grant us a consolation
beyond even our deepest desires.

— By a Columban Missionary

During this time of the virus so many are suffering
in so many different ways. 
Lord, I am tempted to wonder if you are really
listening to my pleas and prayers. 
Then I realize that you are so firmly present
in my life that you always offer me
your joy and peace if I am listening.
Yes it is tough to wait and wonder.
Yes it is tough to persevere.
Lord open my heart to hear your loving response
to my pleas that I may continue to abide in your saving peace.

— By a Columban Missionary

Dear Lord I thought this virus would be over by now. 
How long more must I wait? 
How or when is this going to end? 
Where can I go to get some relief? 
Then I recall a verse from  Is 41, 10 
“Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”
God is working through all of this in God’s own mysterious way. 
God is compassionate to us especially when we patiently wait with faith.

— By a Columban Missionary

Lord I believe that you will always care for us. 
As it prays in the psalm “You have created
my inmost being you have knit me
in my mother’s womb.”   
Now during this time of the virus help us
to have confidence that you will not abandon us. 
No matter how much our lives have been changed
or how much we are suffering
I trust that you are here with us.

Amen.

— By a Columban Missionary

Dear Jesus,
You came to show the real meaning of life.
You came to bring forgiveness and healing to a broken world.
By your giving of yourself even to the point of death,
you save us and bring the promise of new life.
May your touch and example embolden us
in facing the challenge of the coronavirus.

Amen.

— By Columban Fr. John Comiskey

Dear Lord Jesus,
When I look at other people’s houses from the outside,
I imagine they are all enjoying days of coziness and companionship.
Forgive me, Lord,  but I envy those people who have a tranquil home.
As day after day, I ‘shelter in place’ in my house,
I find that this is not a refuge from tension, anger, shouting, and worse…
Lord, protect me and anyone who lives in fear in their own home.
Defender of the weak, I need your help and I place myself in the
shadow of the cross.

Amen.

—  Columban Fr. John Burger, U.S. Regional Director

Sometimes Lord I simply get tired of waiting
for things to get back to normal. 
How long more?

Then I remember the well-known plea
in the words of psalm 13. 
How long O Lord? 
Will you forget me forever? 
How long will you hide your face from me? 

But I read on and hear the psalmist sing,
“How good our God has been to me.”
Yes, despite it all I am blessed
in so many other ways.

Amen

— By a Columban Missionary

Good and gracious God, at this time of pandemic
help us to know that we are not abandoned.

Assist us in bearing this cross of suffering,
illness and death.

Guide us to an increase in Faith
in the life, death and Resurrection.

May we see that the difficulties of
this moment can be carried
with the Light of Your Love.
We pray in the Name of Jesus Christ,
Our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

— By a Columban Missionary

Dear Lord God,
it was steady and predictable
to live in stability for a long time.

Now, there is much uncertainty
How long will this pandemic last?

In ages past, our ancestors also had
experiences of pandemic

We are not the only ones to know
this kind of illness and possible pending
suffering.

Faith teaches us that you  will not abandon us Lord God.
So, we lean on your promise to stay with us
for all time.

Let us be sources of encouragement and support
for one another as brothers and sisters
as we face the changes and pandemic of our time.

With God, all things are possible.
May the God who gives us power and strength
grant us peace and solidarity
to live each day with goodness and grace

In Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

— By a Columban Missionary

There is a certain rhythm in our life cycle
of  birth, growth, aging and death.

With the pandemic,  this passing of  stages
in  life  has been abruptly changed for so
many  people.

Lord, help us at this time when  our brothers
and  sisters are in pain   and dealing
with sickness and loss  due to the 
corona virus

Let us know in a deeper  gift, that You  are
with us;new  even in this time of    uncertainty
and illness.

We place this  prayer in the loving hands
of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.

Amen.

— By a Columban Missionary

Most merciful and Triune God,
We come to you in our weakness.
We come to you in our fear.
We come to you with trust.
For you alone are our hope.

We place before you the disease present in our world.
We turn to you in our time of need.

Bring wisdom to doctors. Give understanding to scientists.
Endow caregivers with compassion and generosity.
Bring healing to those who are ill.
Protect those who are most at risk.
Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one.
Welcome those who have died into your eternal home.

Stabilize our communities.
Unite us in our compassion.
Remove all fear from our hearts.
Fill us with confidence in your care.

Jesus, I trust in you.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Jesus, I trust in you.

Amen.

— By a Columban Lay Missionary