Prayer Book (Read-Only) - St Dominics | Sixth Form College

St Dominic's Sixth Form College156. The most important thing about each of us is our capacity for goodness.We can be a source of light.We have hands than can care, eyes that can see,ears that can speak, feet than can walk, and above all hearts that can love.Unfortunately, through laziness, selfishness, and cowardice,our light can be dimmed, so that we become shadows of the people we could be.Lord, help us to believe in our own goodness,and to let the light of that goodness shine.On seeing this light others find their way, and you will be glorified.Amen.157. Let me be stillLord, here I am come to pray, but I keep thinking of all the things I have to do.Teach me to see that to be before you open and attentive, knowing that you are withme now, is the most important thing for me at the moment. The past and future arein your hands, but at this point of time my task is to let the whole of myself be withyou, and to accept that this is what you want of me. Let your Holy Spirit make thisclearer to me as I offer myself and my day to you.Amen.158. Teach me, my Lord, to be patient and gentle in all the events of life, in disappointments,in the harsh words of others, in the thoughtlessness of those I trusted. Letme put myself aside, to think of the happiness of others, to hide my pains and heartaches,so that I may be the only one to suffer from them. Teach me to profit by thesuffering that comes my way. Let me use it that it may mellow me, not harden norembitter me; that it may make me patient, not irritable. That it may make me broadin my forgiveness, not narrow and overbearing. May no one be less good for havingcome within my influence. No one less pure, less true, less kind, for having been afellow-traveler in our journey toward Eternal Life. Lord, as I go about my daily routinetoday, let me whisper from time to time, a word of thanks and love to you. May mylife be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its care andsupport of my neighbour.159. People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centred; forgive them anyway.If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.If you are successful you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight, build anyway.If you find serenity and happiness, there may be jealousy, be happy anyway.The good you do today, people often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough; give the world thebest you’ve got anyway.You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between youand them anyway.Mother Teresa85. Martin Luther King said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are youdoing for others?” Lord God, help me this day to do something positive for someoneelse.86. Spirit of Life, we remember today the women, named and unnamed, who throughouttime have used the power and gifts you gave them to change the world. Help usto discover within ourselves your power - and the ways to use it to bring about thekingdom of justice and peace.87. “See everything. Overlook a great deal. Improve a little”. Pope John XXIII. Help meLord to grow a little today.88. Help me, Lord God, to see that the most important things in life aren’t things.89. On this new day, help me Lord to make all my friends feel there is something specialin them.90. Lord, I want open eyes; I want the courage to see the truth: that we are all part ofyou. Help me.91. God of all peoples, help us to look upon the lands devastated by war, and show usthe way of peace.Help us to want ploughs rather than guns, and bread rather than bombs.Remove hatred from the hearts of warring peoples, and cleanse our memories sothat we get rid of vengeance.Give us the wisdom and the courage and will to end terrorism and everything thatleads to it, in families, communities and countries.Help us to remember gratefully the peacemakers of all nations. Give us your helptoday to bring peace to life wherever we are.Adapted from The Prayer of the Church92. Dear Lord at the start of this new day, help us to know the difference between rightand wrong. Help us to make choices for good and give us the strength to avoid evil.93. The Lettuce. A story from Thich Nhat Hahn in “Peace is Every Step”. “When youplant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasonsit is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You neverblame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or our family, we blamethe other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, likethe lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade usingreason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument,just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, youcan love, and the situation will change”. Lord God, give me patience, humility, toleranceand love in my dealings with others today.94. Father, the hand of your loving kindness powerfully but gently guides all the momentsof our day. Give us the gift of the same loving kindness that we may treateveryone with love and respect today and everyday.Page 22Page 11