Prayers for Those Discerning
COME, come, whoever you are, wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving, (it doesn’t matter). Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, come yet again, come. A 12th-century Islamic poem, attributed to Rumi
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton
O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary land without water. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary, to see your strength and your glory. For your love is better than life, my lips will speak your praise. So I will bless you all my life, in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul shall be filled as with a banquet, my mouth shall praise you with joy. On my bed I remember you. On you I muse through the night For you have been my help. In the shadow of your wings I rejoice. My soul clings to you; your right hand holds me fast. Psalm 63
Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; when can I enter and see the face of God? Why are you cast down, my soul, why groan within me? Hope in God; I will praise him still, my savior and my God. Psalm 42
As Jesus sought the quiet of the desert, teach us to pray. As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, teach us to love. As Jesus promised paradise to the thief on the cross, teach us to hope. As Jesus called Peter to walk to him across the water, teach us to believe. As the child Jesus sat among the elders in the temple, teach us to seek answers. As Jesus in the garden opened his mind and heart to God’s will, teach us to listen. As Jesus reflected on the Law and the prophets, teach us to learn. As Jesus used parables to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom, teach us to teach. “Litany of the Way: Prayer for the Journey” from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, Revised Edition, 2007
