May
International Leadership Team
O God, I ask for peace.
Purify my eyes to see peace,
Purify my mind to understand peace,
Purify my heart to love peace,
Purify my memory to work for peace-
the peace that comes from your
love and compassion.
O God, sustain my vision of peace
following your inspiration.
You have many ways of revealing your
presence and love for humanity.
You are in dialogue with all.
Make me, O God, a sign of your peace,
living a life-in-dialogue with you
to understand your silence
and seek your peace-
in dialogue with myself,
in dialogue with others,
to move together in confidence with all,
and to ensure a peaceful Earth in dialogue with creation.
Give me, O God, the courage to build peace
in the midst of divisions and conflicts
with all people of sincere hearts
who believe in your peace, your love and compassion.
Amen.
From the Philippines
ULAF Province
Lord Jesus, you who are richness, made yourself poverty.
You who are the center of the world, made yourself the periphery, the margin.
You took the torch of the poor and forgotten to gamble yourself for them—to raise high the flag of mercy.
You walked over the hills and rough terrain in search of the wounded sheep.
It is the hour to pack up the tents and to give ourselves to stopping the sobbing, the grief, the tears—to sustain dignity.
Now is coming a new dawn of liberation in which the swords will be buried in soil with the power to germinate life.
Give us, Lord Jesus, your sensitive and risking heart.
Free us from indifference and insensitivity.
Enable us also to commit to gambling ourselves for the poor and the abandoned.
Now is the hour to take up the banners of justice and peace and insert ourselves in the middle of the crowd, engulfed in tensions and conflicts, and to challenge materialism with alternative solutions.
Give us, Lord, the peace, the wisdom that will lead us to contemplation and nearness to you. Amen.
Adapted from Ignacio Larrañaga, The Book of Encounters
South India Province
Lord Almighty God,
You are the sovereignty of love, peace and unity.
May your peace strengthen me to be the beacon of hope for the hopeless.
When I am lonely,
may your solace provide me with your assurance of companionship.
When I am in trouble and confusion,
may your serenity enfold me.
When my tensions and turmoil disturb me,
may your fire transform me into a spark of your light.
When secularism and terrifying situations surrounds us,
may your compassion enrich us to be gentle and patient.
When we are in the midst communal disharmony,
may your divine presence enable us to be powerful.
When we feel powerless,
may your love, peace and unity abide in us to deepen within us your divine bond.
May your vision enable us to see the things around us.
Amen.
North India Province
“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn 16:33)
God our heavenly Father, there are many things in my life which are beyond my power of understanding and ability to handle. So calm my heart and my soul today, especially when I deal with difficult things.
Don’t leave me alone in my struggles; remain by my side. Help me trust in you, Lord, and focus my thoughts on you and not worry about what could happen.
Help me forgive others that I may experience forgiveness myself. Keep my heart and its intentions good that I may be at peace when the day is done!
May the nativity of Jesus bring peace to the whole world in the New Year! Amen
European Province
Out of the depth of chaos,
We cry to you, o Lord, God of peace,
Out of the depth of suffering,
We cry to you, o Lord, God of mercy,
Out of the depth of fear,
We cry to you, o Lord, God of love.
Loving God, hear our voice
As we call for peace in our confused world.
Enlighten our mind
To learn your manners of making peace,
To console those
Who suffer for justice.
Loving God, we are asking:
Send your Holy Spirit
To guide us into the journey of peace
Which you have started –
A peace that this world cannot give. Amen
Based on a prayer by Nazik Khalid Matty
International Leadership Team
New Beatitudes for our Times
Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils
inflicted on them by others
and forgive them from their heart.
Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the
abandoned and marginalized
and show them their closeness.
Blessed are those who see God in every person
and strive to make others also discover God.
Blessed are those who protect
and care for our common home.
Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort
in order to help others.
Blessed are those who pray
and work for full communion between Christians.
All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness,
and surely, they will receive from God their merciful reward.
~Pope Francis