Mary Sullivan

Lord, help us ascend Your mountain,

Rough though the terrain may be.

May we stand in Your holy place,

May we seek to see as You see.

Give to us hands that are clean.

Give to us hearts that are pure,

Then we can climb to the top of Your mountain,

As each earthly trial we endure.

To climb to the top of Your mountain,

We need virtues, given by grace.

We need patience, wisdom and kindness,

To stand in Your holy place.

Jesus, our loved ones have wandered,

In valleys so low and so deep,

Over the sins that offend You,

grant them the grace to weep.

Give to them hands that are clean.

Give to them hearts that are pure.

May they find the way up Your mountain.

As each trial, with faith they endure.

Help them ascend to Your mountain,

To ascend to their purpose in life and Your will.

As their feet make their way up Your mountain.

Help their hearts, in Your love, to be still.

Be their food for this perilous journey.

Be their strength for this rugged race.

May they one day stand beside You,

In Your sacred and holy place.

May they drink, from Your streams of new life,

With thirst quenched, at Your crystal-clear fountain,

May their first goal in life be to reach You,

At the top of Your holy mountain.

(Based on Psalm 24)

Heavenly Father, we lift up 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 each of 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.

Father in Heaven, to You we draw near,

May our love for You be always sincere.

May we hate every evil, hold fast to each good.

May we stand in truth, every trial withstood.

May we love one another, with mutual affection,

As we humbly welcome each of Your corrections.

May we not grow weary.   May we not grow slack.

Fervor in Spirit—may we never lack.

Dear Father in Heaven, grant us the needed grace,

To remain steadfast, to run this holy race,

Persevering in prayer, enduring affliction,

May doing Your will, be our only addiction.

Dear Heavenly Father, with faith not diluted,

May we bless those by whom we are persecuted,

Rejoicing with those who rightfully rejoice,

Let weeping with those weeping be our only choice.

Bring home our loved ones, Father. Whatever the cost.

Bring them to Your Son.  May not one soul be lost.

Lift their eyes to heaven.  To You may they run.

Help them to know, to love and to serve Your Son.

(Based on Romans 12:9-16)