Prayer of the Week

Some wonderfully warm spring weather was experienced this past weekend here in the Twin Cities. It provided the perfect opportunity to spend as much time as possible outdoors!

Working in my backyard on Saturday afternoon, I decided, quite out of the blue, to build a little prayer shrine. Like the sacred space I’ve created in my attic room, the focus of this outdoor shrine is an icon of the Compassionate Christ, as depicted by artist John Giuliani. I’ve developed quite an affinity for this image and all it represents. In fact, The Wild Reed is dedicated to the Compassionate Christ, who, as I note in the sidebar, “yearns to be embodied through our loving actions of body, speech, and mind.”

For these reasons and others, I’ve decided to start a new series at The Wild Reed. Drawing on the inspirational writings of various people and traditions, this series will be called “Prayer of the Week.” The name pretty much says it all: at the beginning of each week, I’ll share a specific prayer and thus intention/s. It will be a prayer that I’ll be especially mindful of praying during my morning prayer time at my garden shrine. If you feel so inclined, I welcome you to join me daily in praying each week’s prayer. I must admit that the idea of being united with others from around the world in this way is inspiring in and of itself. Don’t you agree?

Anyway, I thought I’d start this weekly prayer series with “A Morning Prayer” by Albert Nolan, OP, of South Africa. It’s from Just One Year: A Global Treasury of Prayer and Worship, edited by Timothy Radcliffe, OP,Orbis Books, 2007.

A Morning Prayer

Mysterious and Loving God,
open my mind and my heart this day
that I might lose myself in wonder and awe
at the glory and grandeur of your creation.
May I grow each day in awareness
of my unique place in your loving universe.

All-caring God,
allow your energy and compassion to flow through me
towards all who are in pain,
all who are alone and frightened,
all who feel lost and confused,
and above all towards those who endure cruelty and injustice.

Mysterious Divine Healer,
in everything I think and say and do this day,
make me a finger of your healing hand.
Make me sensitive to the wounds and brokenness
of all my brothers and sisters,
the good, the bad, and the indifferent.
May they heal me as we all stretch out our hands to one another.

For we are all one in you and your Holy Spirit,
through your Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
Karl Rahner on the Need for Prayer
A Springtime Prayer
Letting Them Sit By Me
For the Traveler
It Happens All the Time in Heaven