Prayer for the Morning
Come, let us go up with joy to the house of the Lord!
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
Children of the heavenly King,
As you journey, sweetly sing;
Sing your Savior’s worthy praise,
Glorious in his works and ways.
We are traveling home to God,
In the way the fathers trod;
They are happy now, and we
Soon their happiness shall see.
Lift your eyes, you sons of light,
Zion’s city is in sight:
There our endless home shall be,
There our Lord we soon shall see.
PSALM 84:2-3, 6-8, 11a, 12
Jesus instructed the disciples to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. (cf. Mk 6:8)
We are a pilgrim people, journeying through the varied landscapes of life on our way to the heavenly Jerusalem. Let us travel light, unburdened by useless baggage—material or spiritual—and sing this pilgrim psalm to the God who has given us such a glorious goal in life.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord, God of hosts.
My soul is longing and yearning,
is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my soul ring out their joy
to God, the living God.
They are happy, whose strength is in you,
in whose hearts are the roads to Zion.
As they go through the Bitter Valley
they make it a place of springs,
the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
They walk with ever growing strength,
they will see the God of gods in Zion.
One day within your courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere.
For the Lord God is a rampart, a shield;
he will give us his favor and glory.
The Lord will not refuse any good
to those who walk without blame.
Glory to the Father….
Word of God (Nehemiah 9:12-13)
With a column of cloud you led [your people] by day,/ and by night with a column of fire,/ To light the way of their journey,/ the way in which they must travel./ On Mount Sinai you came down,/ you spoke with them from heaven;/ You gave them just ordinances, firm laws,/ good statutes, and commandments.
Come, follow me. (Mk 10:21)
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
When Jesus called, the disciples left their nets and followed him. (cf. Mt 4:20)
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
Let us pray with confidence to the God who calls us to travel toward the Kingdom that is to come:
R/Lead us, O Lord.
We are your people, who walk the desert road to the Promised Land:
– keep us faithful to the demands of the journey
today. R/
We are your people, called to follow Jesus, the Lord:
– make us steadfast disciples, freed from all that would hold us back. R/
We are your people, destined for the heavenly Jerusalem:
– give us strength to go on when we grow weary of the journey. R/
(Personal intentions)
Our Father….
O Lord, as we travel through this day of our life, our strength is in you; in our hearts are the roads to our eternal destination, the place where you dwell for ever with your people in joy and in peace. Sustain us as we pass through the bitter valleys of suffering; shield us as dangers threaten; let us rejoice in the springs of living water that refresh us on our way; and keep us faithful until journey’s end, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
