Great and glorious God, and my Lord Jesus Christ
Enlighten the darkness of my mind.
Give me a right faith
a firm hope
and a perfect charity.
Grant that I may know you, Lord
in order that I may always
and in all things act
according to your most
holy and perfect will.
Amen.
Teach us, Good Lord,
To serve you as you deserve;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To labor and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do Thy will.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord,
Amen.
Lord, I freely yield all my freedom to you.
Take my memory, my intellect and my entire will.
You have given me anything I am or have;
I give it all back to you to stand under your will alone.
Your love and your grace are enough for me;
I shall ask for nothing more.
Lord, take me from myself and give me to yourself.
Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures—
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think 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 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 will I 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 struggles alone.
Eternal God,
from my mother's womb
you have known and loved me
more than I can ever know.
I ask for the courage to live a holy life,
that your hand guide my decisions
and that your mercy be extended
when I seek my own glory instead of yours.
I ask for the wisdom to know your will for me,
and like our Blessed Mother,
I ask for the strength to say yes.
May I find you in every person I meet, and may my life so shine forth
your goodness and love that each person may be led to you
through Jesus, your Son,
who is Lord, forever and ever.
Amen.
God our Father,
You will all men and women to be saved
and come to the knowledge of your Truth.
Send workers into your great harvest
that the Gospel may be preached
to every creature
and your people, gathered together
by the word of life
and strengthened by
the power of the sacraments,
may advance in the way
of salvation and love.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Lord, Jesus, Christ, Good Shepherd of our souls, you who know your sheep and know how to reach our hearts, open the minds and hearts of those young people who search for and await a word of truth for their lives; let them understand that only in the mystery of your incarnation do they find full light; arouse the courage of those who know where to seek the truth, but fear that what you ask will be too demanding.
Stir in the hearts of those young people who would follow you, but who cannot overcome doubts and fears, and who in the end follow other voices and other paths which lead nowhere.
You who are the Word of the Father, the Word which creates and saves, the Word which enlightens and sustains hearts, conquer with your Spirit the resistance and delays of indecisive hearts; arouse in those whom you call the courage of love's answer: "Here I am, send me!"
Amen.
Jesus, Son of God,
in whom the fullness of the Divinity dwells,
You call all the baptized to "put out into the deep",
taking the path that leads to holiness.
Waken in the hearts of young people the desire
to be witnesses in the world of today
to the power of your love.
Fill them with your Spirit of fortitude and prudence,
so that they may be able to discover the full truth
about themselves and their own vocation.
Our Saviour,
sent by the Father to reveal His merciful love,
give to your Church the gift
of young people who are ready to put out into the deep,
to be the sign among their brothers
of Your presence which renews and saves.
Holy Virgin, Mother of the Redeemer,
sure guide on the way towards God and towards neighbour,
You who pondered his word in the depth of your heart,
sustain with your motherly intercession
our families and our ecclesial communities,
so that they may help adolescents and young people
to answer generously the call of the Lord.
Amen.
Message for XXXI World Day for Vocations, 26 December 1993
O Holy Family of Nazareth, community of love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, model and ideal of every Christian family, to you we entrust our families.
Open the heart of every family to the faith, to welcoming the word of God, to Christian witness, so that it become a source of new and holy vocations.
Touch the hearts of parents, so that with prompt charity, wise care, and loving devotion they be for their sons and daughters sure guides towards spiritual and eternal values.
Stir up in the hearts of young people a right conscience and a free will, so that growing in "wisdom, age and grace", they might welcome generously the gift of a divine vocation.
Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that all of us, contemplating and imitating the assiduous prayer, generous obedience, dignified poverty and virginal purity lived out in your midst, might set about fulfilling the will of God and accompanying with far-sighted sensitivity those among us who are called to follow more closely the Lord Jesus, who "has given himself for us" (cf. Gal 2:20).
Amen!
Loving God, you have given us the privilege as well as the responsibility of being loving parents. In the name of Jesus, we ask you to guide us as we invite our children to hear your call to service and leadership in our church.
May our children respond with deep faith and generosity to the needs of God’s people. Help us to be a source of encouragement to our children by our own desire to be commited people who serve with love and enthusiasm.
Gracious and loving God, you have blessed us with the privilege of becoming Parents.
We ask that you provide us with all that we need in accepting this awesome responsibility.
We pray that we will be open to your spirit who is our source of strength as we witness to our children your love for each of them and your desire for them to be happy and to live a full life.
We ask your help so we may guide and encourage our children to believe that they each have a special calling and to use their gifts and talents for others.
We pray, Heavenly Father, that our children will discover and respond enthusiastically to your desire for them whether it be to the vocation of single, married, ordained or consecrated life.
We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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