PRAYER FOR THIS MORNING (FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13)

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini

Prayer for the Morning

The Lord hears us when we cry:

let us praise his name!

Glory to the Father…. Alleluia!

HYMN

Where cross the crowded ways of life,

Where sound the cries of race and clan,

Above the noise of selfish strife,

We hear your voice, O Son of Man.

In haunts of wretchedness and need,

On shadowed thresholds dark with fears,

From paths where hide the lures of greed,

We catch the vision of your tears.

From tender childhood’s helplessness,

From human grief and burdened toil,

From famished souls, from sorrow’s stress,

Your heart has never known recoil.

The cup of water giv’n for you

Still holds the freshness of your grace;

Yet long these multitudes to view

The kind compassion of your face.

O Master, from the mountain side

Make haste to heal these hearts of pain;

Among these restless throngs abide,

O tread the city’s streets again.

PSALM 22:23-27, 31-32

I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me. (Mt 25:35)

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, herself an immigrant, was the first United States citizen to be canonized. Her Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart continue the many works she began in order to make the love of Christ visible in care for the multiple needs of immigrants, the sick, the poor, and the uneducated.

I will tell of your name to my brethren

and praise you where they are assembled.

“You who fear the Lord give him praise;

all sons of Jacob, give him glory.

Revere him, Israel’s sons.

For he has never despised

nor scorned the poverty of the poor.

From him he has not hidden his face,

but he heard the poor man when he cried.

You are my praise in the great assembly.

My vows I will pay before those who fear him.

The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.

They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.

May their hearts live for ever and ever!”

And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.

They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,

declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:

“These things the Lord has done.”

Glory to the Father….

Word of God (Deuteronomy 10:17-19)

The Lord, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes; who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and befriends the alien, feeding and clothing him. So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.

Do to others whatever you would have them

do to you. (Mt 7:12)

CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH

Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. (Mt 25:40)

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

The Lord hears the prayers of those who cry out to him. In faith, let us pray:

R/Have mercy on your people, Lord!

May we see and serve you in the sick, the suffering, and the sorrowful: R/

May we know you in the poor, the uneducated, and the unloved: R/

May we love you in the unwanted, the bereaved, the alien, and the refugee: R/

May we find compassion in the community of faith in time of our own need: R/

(Personal intentions)

Our Father….

O God, you sent Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini from her home out into the wide world to preach in action the Good News of your love for all peoples, especially those in need. May her generosity continue to spark in your people an outpouring of love for all who suffer want of any kind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.