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FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
Yahweh, we pray especially for those
who have no job due to ills or to unemployment. It must be frustrating to
look for work and to be turned down over and over again. Be with those who
search for work or who spend their days at home in disability. Give the
hope and courage as they wait, and lead
them to what it is you would have them
do.
77. I ASK BUT INSTEAD I WAS GIVEN
"I asked God for strength, that I
might achieve. I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do
greater things. I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be
happy. I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have
the praise of men. I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of
God.
I asked for all things, that I might
enjoy life. I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for
but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken
prayers were answered. I am among all persons, most richly blessed."
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78. PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS
God, make me an instrument of Your
peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury,
pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where
there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Good Master, grant that
I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as
to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in pardoning others that
we ourselves are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal
life.
79. I BELIEVE
"I believe in the sun, even when
it is not shining. I believe in love, even when I feel it not. I believe
in God, even when He is silent."
80. CREATOR, SANCTIFIER AND REDEEMER
Glory to the Creator, Sanctifier and
Redeemer; to the God who is, who was, and who is to come.
No one has ever seen you, God our
Creator, yet through your gift of faith we know you.
We are at peace with you through your
Son, the Sanctifier, through whom we have gained access to your grace.
Your love has been poured out in our
hearts through the Holy Spirit, the Redeemer, you have given us.
We live and move and draw our breath
in the name of the Creator, and of the Sanctifier, and of the Redeemer.
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