Daily Blessing
When I was in grammar school with the Brothers of the Christian Schools, there was the spiritual practice of pausing on the hour to the injunction:
Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God
For sixth graders it was a welcome relief from the intricacies of English grammar or mental arithmetic. But it also inculcated a habit that perdures — dotting the day with brief moments of recollection and remembering communion.
The “Prayer over the People” that concludes the Liturgy for the First Sunday of Lent struck me as I prayed it last evening. It could well serve as a prayer we repeat at odd moments of the day: the pause that re-integrates and refreshes:
O Lord, may bountiful blessings come down upon your people,
that hope may grow in tribulation
virtue be strengthened in temptation
and eternal redemption be assured.
Through Christ our Lord.
I didn’t notice it. I normally tune out during new missal prayers, but this morning, duly warned by this thread, I was on the lookout for this prayer, and still I did not hear it.
When I had heard this near the end of mass, I only caught the “may grow in tribulation” part, and was thinking, “Why are we praying that we grow in tribulation”? Now I get it.
The “Finding Jesus” thread below was suddenly closed while there were five people actively commenting. I am annoyed.