Prayer for the Morning

The Lord is rich in kindness:

let us give thanks and praise!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,

Like the wideness of the sea;

There’s a kindness in his justice,

Which is more than liberty.

There is plentiful redemption

In the blood that has been shed;

There is joy for all the members

In the sorrows of the Head.

PSALM 86:1-10

The Lord is slow to anger and rich in kindness, forgiving wickedness and crime. (Nm 14:18)

So wide is God’s mercy that no sin is too great or too small for forgiveness. So much narrower is our charity that we often find the small annoyances the hardest to forgive. The more often we turn in prayer to the all-forgiving God, the more we will become like him in extending the hand of pardon to others in every daily circumstance.

Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer

for I am poor and needy.

Preserve my life, for I am faithful:

save the servant who trusts in you.

You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,

for I cry to you all the day long.

Give joy to your servant, O Lord,

for to you I lift up my soul.

O Lord, you are good and forgiving,

full of love to all who call.

Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer

and attend to the sound of my voice.

In the day of distress I will call

and surely you will reply.

Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord;

nor work to compare with yours.

All the nations shall come to adore you

and glorify your name, O Lord:

for you are great and do marvelous deeds,

you who alone are God.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Exodus 34:6-7a)

Thus the Lord passed before [Moses] and cried out, “The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin.”

Great and awesome are you in your love, O Lord!

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Be merciful, just as [also] your Father is merciful. (Lk 6:36)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet

of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

Believing in the love God has for us, we pray:

R/Lord, have mercy.

You are faithful in your forgiveness:

– strengthen in trust all who fear to approach you in the Sacrament of Penance. R/

You are gracious to all who come to you:

– make gracious all who represent you in the presence of sin and suffering. R/

You are merciful to all who turn to you for help:

– enlighten in wisdom all who have the opportunity to encourage others in prayer. R/

You forgive every human failing:

– preserve us from the temptation to trap others in their sins by passing on small-minded gossip. R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

O God, you have made us in your image. As you forgive, may we forgive; as you restore, may we restore; as you love, may we love, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint John Paul II

Prayer for the Morning

Christ is our light: come, let us adore!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia!

HYMN

O sister dawn, how light your touch;

How bright your face upon the earth!

Awakened are we all to life

As you call us from sleep’s small death.

You, sister, graced that Easter morn,

When Life, entombed, was lost from sight.

You roused the women with their spice

And guided them to greet the Light!

Your dawning opens wide our eyes;

Our talents are awakened, too!

Our hands, so grasping, rest has freed

To welcome gifts we never knew.

With dawn and all the gifts of day,

We praise you, Abba, Breath and Word:

A world so prodigal and free

Reveals your loving hand, O God!

PSALM 19:2-7

For you who fear my name, there will arise/ the sun of justice with its healing rays. (Mal 3:20)

Saint John Paul II liked to quote Saint Augustine: “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!” Through years of painful unity with Christ’s cross, he focused always on the Resurrection. Just as every Sunday is a little Easter, so is every single sunrise a reminder of God’s glorious victory over sin and death.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God

and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.

Day unto day takes up the story

and night unto night makes known the message.

No speech, no word, no voice is heard

yet their span extends through all the earth,

their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

There he has placed a tent for the sun;

it comes forth like a bridegroom coming from his tent,

rejoices like a champion to run its course.

At the end of the sky is the rising of the sun;

to the furthest end of the sky is its course.

There is nothing concealed from its burning heat.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Malachi 1:11)

From the rising of the sun, even to its setting,/ my name is great among the nations;/ And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name,/ and a pure offering;/ For great is my name among the nations,/ says the Lord of hosts.

Those in the west shall fear the name of the Lord,/

and those in the east, his glory. (Is 59:19a)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

The daybreak from on high will visit us! (Lk 1:78)

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

he has come to his people and set them free.

He has raised up for us a mighty savior,

born of the house of his servant David.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old

that he would save us from our enemies,

from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to set us free from the hands of our enemies,

free to worship him without fear,

holy and righteous in his sight

all the days of our life.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet

of the Most High;

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness

and the shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father…

INTERCESSIONS

In this morning hour, we pray:

R/Sun of Justice, light our way.

In all our work at home or away from home,

– illumine our choices by the light of the Gospel: R/

In all our dealings with loved ones or strangers,

– enlighten our hearts with the light of your love: R/

In all our decisions,

– shed upon our path the light of your will: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

You are our light and our salvation, Lord. Through the intercession of Saint John Paul II, grant us light to see your truth, and wisdom to love what we see, that we may walk in your ways today and all the days of our life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.