Prayer for the Morning (February 17, 2022)

Prayer for the Morning

Faithful is God, faithful and true:

let us give thanks and praise!

Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!

Hymn

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,

Pilgrim through this barren land.

I am weak, but thou art mighty;

Hold me with thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

Be thou still my Strength and Shield.

Canticle. Isaiah 40:11, 28-31

You nourished your people with food of angels/ and furnished them bread from heaven, ready to hand, untoiled-for,/ endowed with all delights and conforming to every taste. (Wis 16:20)

The ancient Israelites in the desert failed in trust because they underestimated God’s love for them. It is astonishing how we too can doubt God’s love for us even in the face of the most dramatic ­evidence. Yet he does not withdraw his gifts in anger but continues to care for us in our need.

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;

in his arms he gathers the lambs,

carrying them in his bosom,

and leading the ewes with care.

Do you not know

or have you not heard?

The Lord is the eternal God,

creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint nor grow weary,

and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

He gives strength to the fainting;

for the weak he makes vigor abound.

Though young men faint and grow weary,

and youths stagger and fall,

They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength,

they will soar as with eagles’ wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

Glory to the Father….

Word of God. Isaiah 48:20b-21

With shouts of joy proclaim this, make it known;/ Publish it to the ends of the earth, and say,/ “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob./ They did not thirst/ when he led them through dry lands;/ Water from the rock he set flowing for them;/ he cleft the rock, and waters welled forth.”

How great is God’s love for us!

Canticle of Zechariah

He feeds you with finest wheat. (Ps 147:14)

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

What father would give his children stones when they asked for bread? How much more, then, will our heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him? Let us pray:

R/We put our trust in you!

You led your people through the sea dry-shod:

– let us put our trust in you as you lead us through this day’s challenges. R/

You fed your people in the desert:

– let us hear your Word of life amid the noise of our busy lives today. R/

You gave your people water from the rock:

– let us drink from the fountain of life, and not from bitter and polluted waters. R/

Personal intentions

Our Father….

O Lord our God, you sent into the midst of faithless humanity the living Bread, your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to nourish and strengthen us on the road. Through the mystery of the cross you poured forth upon us the Spirit, the water of life. Have mercy on our lack of trust, and lead us in your ways today, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

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