Mary Sullivan

“One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.  Seeing Him he fell at His feet and pleaded earnestly with Him, saying, ‘My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live.’  He went off with him….and a large crowd followed Him…  He took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.  At that they were utterly astounded.  He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.”  (Mark 5:21-43)

Lord, for our sons and daughters, we are wailing and are crying,

Their bodies may be alive, but their spirits are dead or dying.

At Your feet, we humbly kneel.  At Your feet we plead.

We pray go lay Your hands on them, that from sin they may be freed.

Free them from the error that chokes them in their vice.

Free them from what stops them, from taking Church advice.

Free them from the traps in which they are ensnared.

Free them from the evil one, that in new life they may share.

Go to them now, sweet Jesus. Heal their wounds and dry their tear-filled eyes.

Take each loved one by the hand.  Command them by name arise.

Help them stand, dear gracious Lord.   Help them begin to walk around,

Begin the walk towards heaven; towards a one-day glory crown.

May they be healed of all their sins, of all untruths they have been told,

knock at Your door of truth and love, embrace Your precious heart of gold.

May all see healing in Your hands, give glory to You too,

May all with joy pronounce the words: Jesus I trust in You.

We thank You for Your healing, give thanks for all the good You do.

We thank you in advance, dear Lord, for healing of our sons and daughters too.

From this day forward, Lord, may we love You through and through.

Let us forever give You glory; give all glory unto You.

Not everyone who cries: “Lord, Lord”

will Heaven’s Kingdom enter,

Like Judas, we can kiss the Lord,

And still be Christ’s dissenter.

To make our way to heaven,

We must listen and be still.

So, we can hear the Father’s voice

And do the Father’s will.

To do the Father’s will,

We must stop, and must take stock,

Of the words Christ spoke to us,

Build homes on solid rock.

The rains may fall, floods may come,

This may be true, perhaps.

But if our homes, are built on rock,

Then they will not collapse.

But if we fail, to act upon,

The words of Christ firsthand,

Then we will be, like the fool,

Who built his house upon the sand.

The rains will fall, the floods will come

And over time elapsed,

The house built, upon the sand,

Will come to ruin, and collapse.

Lord, we so need Your grace,

To hike Your holy path uphill.

To listen to Your voice,

To do the Father’s will.

Grant this grace to loved ones.

May they too listen to Your voice,

May the Father’s loving will,

Be their first, and only choice.

When life’s rains and life’s floods,

Leave our minds in shock.

May we all be like the man,

Who built his home on solid rock.  (Based on Matt. 7:21; 24-27)

Dear Father, up in heaven, You hear our prayers below,

May You with love and mercy, upon us all bestow,

Repentant tears of sorrow, tears to wash our guilt away.

Tears to free our burdened hearts, set captives free this day.

May each of our lost loved ones pray a true repentant prayer.

May this prayer be the path by which they escape Satan’s snare.

The lying thief lures us to sin, then says, as if he’s won,

Now aren’t you despicable? Look at what you’ve done!

Repentant hearts can heal the soul, on this conversion’s built.

“Repentant tears,” said Augustine, can wash away our guilt.

And freed from guilt we’re truly free, to love Him who gave His life.

We’re free at last to seek out Truth.  We’re free to follow Christ.

We’re free to be with the Lord, with Him be quiet and be still.

We’re free to follow the Lord’s path; we’re free to do His will.

Let us take repentant tears to Christ, that we be freed from all oppression,

Let’s find freedom through the sacraments.  Let’s all go to confession.

“We must pray without tiring,

For the salvation of mankind does not depend

on material success…

But on Jesus alone.”

Saint Francis Xavier (Feast day December 3)

To pray is to enter a battle, a fight.

We must be ready to fight for the light.

It doesn’t come easy; it’s toil and sweat.

It’s letting go of things over which,

we would rather fret.

No sooner do we sit down to pray,

But a thousand distractions soon come our way.

There are errands to run,

work not yet done.

And for heaven’s sake,

There is money to make.

There are things to do, and people to see,

Lord, why can’t we be

like the Cure of Ars, who said: “I look at Him, and He looks at me.”

Prayer takes effort, and there is no doubt,

It is work to keep going in prayer,

More delightful to pout,

About all our worries and our distress,

And all of the problems,

with which we’re beset.

We can start thinking God isn’t there,

Or He doesn’t care,

Because right away,

He didn’t answer our prayer.

At least not in a way,

we think we can bear.

And then there are days when our prayers feel like gloom.

Like we are praying at Christ’s empty tomb.

With words that seem lifeless, hope burns and crashes.

Our prayers can seem like dry dust and ashes.

Or a desolate December when all growth has ceased.

Through frigid prayers, we pray for warmth and peace.

Our prayers can seem so empty and bare.

Yet about all of this, so much our Lord cares.

Perhaps our Lord takes frigid prayers, and with Godly art

Warms them with His Sacred Heart.

Perhaps He takes our prayers,

So dusty, empty and bare,

Fills them with love, as God can do,

Shines them up to look like new.

What if He is simply content,

With fortitude and good intent?

What if there is a lost soul out there,

Somewhere, in need of prayer,

And God uses our prayer to show that lost soul how much He cares,

Just how much he is loved,

from above.

And it helps to remember and to see,

that soul could be

Not just one of our own loved ones,

But someone else’s daughter or someone else’s son.

Touched by God in a holy way,

Because we simply stopped our busy day

To pray.

And maybe, just maybe our Lord in His mercy,

Will have someone pray for our loved one today.

And that prayer will reach them, in a pure way.

Get their attention.  Shake them awake.

Help loved ones walk through faith’s narrow gate.

We are one body, with Christ as the head.

Through our prayers, Christ can raise to life souls which were dead.

And we won’t know details, or the end of the story,

Until we reach our final glory.

May we pray, and never tire,

May our prayers ignite, inspire

Pure, loving hearts, as God desires.

When the battle for prayer becomes December,

barren and cold.  It helps to remember

in the end our dry December prayers can save a soul.

Our winter prayers can bring

To a soul new life in Him,

a new flower, a new spring.

May we persevere in prayer today.

Dear Lord, grant us the grace to pray.

(Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2725, 2656, 2725)