Prayers Prayers Before a Home Visit Father, we ask You to provide all that we need as we do the work that you have given us. Fill our hearts with Your love, help us to listen with compassion and to speak with kindness and confidence. Clear the way before us, so that those we visit will be able to receive not only the material goods, but also our love and blessing, Jesus, we are going out in obedience to Your command to love. We pray for the grace to love with Purity and strength, not mindful of our own comfort or honor, but seeking to comfort and honor those who have called out to us. We ask Your peace on their household and Your help in being peacemakers. Holy Spirit, inspire us with joy and patience. Be at work in us to bring good news to the downcast, to heal the brokenhearted, and to be witnesses of the love of Christ. Stir in us the fire of Your love, and guide us with discernment and wisdom, generosity and kindness. Prayers At The End Of The Home Visit Lord Jesus, we thank You for the opportunity to assist (name) in their time of need. Strengthen us and guide us all each day. Give us an awareness of Your presence in our lives. Help (name) to walk the path with You that will lead to the resolution of these present needs and concerns. Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this call. Thank you for the opportunity to meet with (name), our brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, you know each of us. You knew us from the day we were born. You know our hearts, our needs, everything about us. You told us that You will never leave us or forsake us. You ask us to seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened, ask and it shall be given. We are all asking today for each of our needs, some spoken, some on our hearts. Please Lord, help us find our needs, show us the way, and help us all walk closer to You. Thank you again for this call. In Your name and for Your sake. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings You have given us today. We ask You to continue to bless those we have visited, to inspire them to trust in You and come to You for their needs. We pray for (name, and their needs). We pray that our work may be continued by Your other servants and completed by your grace. In the poor and lowly of the world, let us see Christ. In those forced to leave their homes because of war or famines, let us see Christ. In children who go to bed hungry and who can not attend school, let us see Christ. In those who are living with HIV/AIDS and other diseases, let us see Christ. In immigrants and refugees, seeking freedom and hope, let us see Christ. In those who are orphaned or abandoned, let us see Christ. In the elderly who are forgotten, let us see Christ. In those who struggle to find meaningful work, let us see Christ. In those who work for justice and peace for all people, let us see Christ. Let us pray. Jesus, teach us to recognize your presence in those who are in need. May we give of ourselves in service to them and so hasten the coming of the Kingdom you have promised, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen. Copyright 2011 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
My Lord God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton 1915-1968 Mary Stuart's Prayer Keep us O God, from all pettiness. Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed. Let us be done with fault-finding, and leave off all self-seeking. May we put away all pretense and meet each other face-to-face, without self-pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgement, and always be generous. Let us always take time for all things, and make us to grow calm, serene and gentle. Teach us to put into action our better impulses, to be straight-forward and unafraid. Grant that we may realize that it is the little things of life that create differences, that in the big things in life, we are as one. And O Lord, let us not forget to be kind! Amen.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart with Your holy gifts. Let my weakness by penetrated with Your strength this very day that I may fufill all the duties of my state conscientiously, that I may do what is right and just. Let my Charity be such as to offend no one, and hurt no one's feelings; so generousus as to pardon sincerely any wrong done to me. Assist me, O Holy Spirit, in all my trials of life, enligthen me in my ignorance, advise me in my doubts, strenthen me in my weakness, help me in all my needs, protect me in temptations and console me in afflictions. Graciously hear me, O Holy Spirit, and pour Your light into my heart, my soul, and my mind. Assist me to live a holy life and to grow in goodness and grace. Amen Prayer to the Holy Spirit (2) Most Holy Spirit, we have a mission, the work our Savior left for us, the purpose for which we were born. But we need your help, your presence in our lives, to succeed. Share your wisdom, that we will see the solution to problems and use our energy to solve, instead of complain,. Fill us with understanding of God's word and how it applies to our lives. Untangle the confusion of the decisions we face. Advise us, show us the way to Christian living and make us strong against the temptations that surround us. Grant us fortitude, especially when our efforts seem to fail and we feel like giving up. Give us knowledge, to see the truth about our God, ourselves, our families, our friends, and our world. Make us loving, that we will build rather than tear down, reconcile more than polarize, think of others before ourselves. Help us, praise the greatness of God and God's unlimited love through our thoughts, our words, our actions, our lives.
Just for Today Lord, for tomorrow and its needs I do not pray; Keep me, my God, from stain of sin, Let me both diligently work and duly pray. Let me be kind in word and deed, Let me be slow to do my will, prompt to obey. Help me to mortify me flesh, Let me no wrong or idle word, unthinking, say. Set a seal upon my lips, Let me in season, Lord, be grave, in season, gay. Let me be faithful to Your grace, And if today my tide of life should ebb away, Give me Your sacraments divine, Sweet Lord, today. In purgatory's cleansing fires brief be my stay. O bid me, if today I die, Come home today. So, for tomorrow and its needs, I do not pray; But keep me, guide me, love me, Lord, Amen. Prayer of the Vincentian Family Lord Jesus, you who willed to become poor, give us eyes and a heart directed toward the poor; help us recognize you in them -- in their thirst, their hunger, their loneliness, and their misfortune. Enkindle within our Vincentian Family unity, simplicity, humility, and the fire of love that burned in St. Vincent de Paul Strengthen us, so that faithful to the practice of these virtues, we may contemplate you and serve you in the person of the poor, and may one day be united with you and them in your Kingdom. Amen.
Prayer For The Poor Who is Jesus to me? Jesus is the Word made Flesh. Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus is the Victim offered for our sins on the Cross. Jesus is the Sacrifice at Holy Mass for the sins of the world and mine. Jesus is the Word - to be spoken. Jesus is the Truth - to be told. Jesus is the Way - to be walked. Jesus is the Light - to be lit. Jesus is the Life - to be loved. Jesus is the Joy - to be shared. Jesus is the Sacrifice - to be given. Jesus is the Bread of Life - to be eaten. Jesus is the Hungry - to be fed. Jesus is the Thirsty - to be satiated. Jesus is the Naked - to be clothed. Jesus is the Homeless - to be taken in. Jesus is the Sick - to be healed. Jesus is the Lonely - to be loved. Jesus is the Unwanted - to be wanted. Jesus is the Leper - to wash his wounds. Jesus is the Beggar - to give him a smile. Jesus is the Drunkard - to listen to him. Jesus is the Little One - to embrace him. Jesus is the Dumb - to speak to him. Jesus is the Crippled - to walk with him. Jesus is the Drug Addict - to befriend him. Jesus is the Prostitute - to remove from danger and befriend her. Jesus is the Prisoner - to be visited. Jesus is the Old - to be served. To me Jesus is my God, Jesus is my Spouse, Jesus is my Life, Jesus is my only Love, Jesus is my All in All, Jesus is my Everything. Amen. Mother Teresa of Calcutta