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.

If any man would come after me,
Let him deny himself,
And take up his cross daily
And follow me. (Luke 9:23)

As we seek, to ourselves, now die,
Don’t leave us Lord.  Hear our cry!
Be with us.  Beside us stay,
As we lift this heavy cross today.

May what we suffer, be the Way,
Our burden borne, the price we pay,
A stepping-stone to heaven’s glory,
A gift to You, a pure love story.

Our hearts grieve, with so much pain.
Yet joy seeps in, then grows and reigns.
From grief, our hearts become unchained,
Our crosses can become our gain.

Grief is fertile ground for flowers,
which bloom full in warming springtime hours.
In agony, and grief we mourn.
Then glory from our grief is borne.

For this cross, today we’re destined.
Let’s lift our crosses, drop our questions.
Carry them for love of You.
As loyal soldiers ought to do.

Sweet Jesus, help our loved ones too.
To lift their cross, for love of You;
Seek Your truth, find Your Way.
Help them pick up their cross each day.

May sin in loved ones be destroyed.
Through this cross, loved ones find joy.
May their wounds begin to mend,
Win heaven’s glory, in the end.

May we, our own selves deny,
in all we say and all we do.
May we lift our crosses high,
And henceforth seek to follow You.

Dear Father in Heaven, we lift to You our heartfelt prayers,
We know that You are listening, that You are waiting there,
To hear our strong and fervent cries, to answer impassioned pleas,
For our loved ones who seem lost and tossed by stormy seas.

It does seem, by stormy seas, away they have been swept.
We feel like Rachel who, for her children, wailed and sadly wept.
With hands holding sunken heads, we ponder how we’ll cope.
But by folding those same hands in prayer, in You we can find hope.

With that hope, we can begin to see beyond our wails ‘oft loud,
Hope lies hidden for our loved ones, as the sun hides behind the clouds.
We walk not by sight, nor by what, our weary eyes can see.
We walk by faith, ever-believe, the best is yet to be.

Although our souls can seem steeped in the dark of night.
By faith, we carry on, by faith we struggle towards the light.
This evil cast upon our loved ones, and thus upon our families too.
We fight against, by Your grace, we fight for them, for truth, for You.

In Jesus’s name we beg for mercy, on loved ones lost and gone astray.
We pray for, and offer mercy, to those who wounded us on this, or some bygone day.
May each soul keep in clear sight, its last and final end.
May the Spirit be with us, and on us His holy gifts descend.

May mercy transform each hardened heart; hearts seek Your holy call.
Have mercy on each one of us.  Dear Lord, have mercy on us all.

“In the Dark Night of the Soul, Bright Flows the River of God.” (Saint John of the Cross)

The day has grown so dim, dear Lord, our souls face darkness of night.
All around seems doom and gloom, with no hope or relief in sight.
We struggle to peer through the darkness.  We search for some semblance of light.
Dear Lord, have you abandoned us?  From darkness, we long to take flight.

It’s in darkness, Lord, that you teach us, to look for You, and to pray.
It’s in darkness, Lord, that we learn to reach for Your hand in the darkness of day.
It’s in darkness, Lord, that we turn to You to feed us Your spiritual food.
It’s in darkness, Lord, that our prideful souls, are humbled and firmly renewed.

It’s in darkness our ears once deaf to Your voice, develop a sharpened hearing.
It’s in darkness our souls learn trust, to set aside all of our fearing.
It’s in darkness that virtue begins to grow, on this unlit road which we trod.
It’s in darkness that bright rivers start to flow—that flows the bright rivers of God.

Our loved ones too are in darkened nights.  Guide them to reach for Your hand.
Show them how to use their ears, to hear and to heed Your commands.
Guide them to trust, to find in You a new peace and tranquility.
In the darkness, Lord, help them to find the truth of humility.

Then lead them, Lord, through the darkness, by bright flowing rivers of light.
Lead them, Lord, through the darkness.  Give them a burning desire for right.
Lead them, Lord, to dependence on You, to a love for Your merciful ways.
Lead them, Lord, through the darkness to a truth they’ll embrace all their days.

Lead them, Lord, through the darkness, to a longing for serving souls too.
Lead them, Lord, through the darkness.  Lead them Lord through the darkness to You.

Jesus Himself was teaching.  From every village people had come,
From Judea and from Galilee.  Some came from Jerusalem.
On a stretcher, men had brought in, a man paralyzed.
To bring him before the Lord, they would improvise.

There seemed no way to bring him in.  The crowd’s size was so great.
They made their way up to the roof, not wanting to wait.
He was lowered through the roof and placed in front of Christ.
The Christ who came to die for us, for us sacrifice His life.

When Jesus saw their faith, He told the man, forgiven were his sins.
The Pharisees had never heard, to such a thing akin.
The Pharisees erupted.  They may have become livid.
“Who is this who blasphemes? Who but God can sins forgive?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so He put to them a task.
“Which is easier” was the question, which to them He asked.
Is it easier to say that sins have been forgiven?  With them, Christ had this little talk.
He inquired if perhaps it might be easier to just say “rise up and walk.”

But that the Son of Man can sins forgive, that all now might see and know,
He told the man once paralyzed to rise, home now he could go.
The man no longer paralyzed, then did exactly that,
He rose and went home, after he’d picked up his mat.

With astonishment, all were completely seized.
And they gave glory unto God.  His healing helps us to believe.
Jesus, so many loved ones cannot see You in their midst.
And there are other loved ones now swayed You don’t exist.

In spirit they are paralyzed, they lay on unbelieving mats.
We cannot get them into church.  They think they’ve had enough of that.
They cannot comprehend Your ways or understand Your love.
They don’t see Your blessed plans for them, from heaven above.

We bring them to You Jesus; through the roof, we lower them to You.
We ask You to touch their hearts, heal hearts through and through,
Show to them Your love that’s deeper than the deepest ocean.
Help them, Lord, to trust in You, with humbled devotion.

The faith of the man once paralyzed, is not really known.
But of those who brought him to You, their faith was clearly shown.
Faith of loved ones may be lacking.  This we do not deny.
Look upon our faith, Lord.  To ourselves we seek to die.

Use the grace of our faith, use all our sacrifices,
To forgive our loved ones’ sins, to wipe out all their vices.
Help them rise above their sins, seek good in all they do.
Help them to pick up their mats, seek only to serve You.

Help them find the way to You, no matter where they’ve roamed.
Though their hearts be crippled, help them walk toward their eternal home.
Help them dear, sweet Jesus.  The hour now runs late.
Go to them now, dear Jesus.  Make haste, dear Lord, make haste.

(Based on Mark 2:1-12)