Pray for children

The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eye to heaven, but beat his breast saying: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

Today we thank God for the gift of His mercy and forgiveness.  Forgiveness was Jesus' gift to us.  All through His ministry, Jesus preaches forgiveness of each other and of our sins.  In His final agony, Jesus, gives us the perfect example of forgiveness. "Father forgive them they know not what they do". Because He was God, love in perfection, Jesus was able to see sin living in the people around Him.  There were no judgements but only mercy and love which also meant forgiveness.

In the Lord's prayer, we pray "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass agains't us." This means that if we take this part of the prayer seriously we need to have an attitude like that of Jesus. Forgiveness does not come easy at the best of times but if love is present then forgiveness is possible its when there is no love that one finds forgiveness a problem.

May we search our hearts this blessed day and see if there are moments of unforgiveness. Let us bring them to the Lord in prayer and ask for His healing and mercy.  In true love let us be a people of forgiveness and give honour and glory to God by following the perfect example of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

"This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!" Gn.2:23

Today we thank God for the gift of companionship. We all need someone to talk to, someone to listen to us, someone to share our ups and downs etc...  We thank God for the gift of His Son Jesus, Christ for His companionship and that of His Holy Mother Mary.  We thank God also for the gift of the saints who are lights to guide us on life's journey. We thank God for the gift of woman and man to each other.

God did not intend man to live alone He saw the need for companionship and created woman.

Yahew God said "It is not right that the man should be alone.  I shall make him a helper." Gn.2:18 Then, Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And, while he was asleep, he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh up again fortwith. "Yahweh God fashioned the rib he had taken from the man into a woman," and brought her to the man. Gn. 2:21-23

We praise and thank God for the gift of woman to man. May we use this precious gift as God intended and not as we see fit. May our companionships bring us closer to God and serve His divine purpose.

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God. (1 John 4:16)

Today we thank God for the gift of his love. It is God who has loved us into being, he sustains our life with His life and His love. Even after the fall of Adam and Eve, God never stopped loving us.

"This is the revelation of God's love for us, that God sent his only Son into the word that we might have life through Him.  Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expate our sins." (1John:9-10)

Today let us rejoice in the Love of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ who came that we may have life to the full. Let us walk in the light of His love, live in the light of His love and give in the light of His love so that our living may be a living in God's love.

"Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being."

Today we thank God for the gift of our uniqueness. When God fashioned us in our mother's womb he made us different from everyone else.  Each and everyone of us are unique.  Some might say thank God, while others God help us. As unique individuals God has a plan for our lives.  I have gifts and tallents all of my own. I am special in the eyes of God, he made me and no one else is like me. How blessed we all are and yet in society today people are not happy with the way God made them.  They want to change themselves to look or act like someone else.

We pray this day that we will be grateful to God for making us unique and special and that we will use our uniqueness in His service to do whatever he wills for us.

"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me!" Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! (John 7:38)

Today we thank God for the gift of our faith.  Faith is a wonderful gift which enables us to know and love God. It is a light in the darkness that is meant to shine brightly for others to witness and share. Faith is a gift to be nurtured and treasured.

Today is Mission Sunday a day in which we pray for Missionaries who help to spread the gospel message and to hand on and teach the faith to others around the world. May we be be missionaries in our own homes, delighting in loving as Christ does and sharing his wonderful message of love to everyone.

"I will sing the faithful love of Yahweh for ever;" Ps.89:1

Today we thank God for the gift of speach. To be able to communicate with one another with the gift of speach is indeed unique and wonderful.  There is great comfort and friendship in our words of love to one another.  Speach when used to build up each other and to help is indeed a gift well used.  We use our speach to pray, to teach, to demonstrate, to preach, to show care and in lots of other ways.

Speach when used as though it were not a gift but something we can do with as we please is an insult to God.  When our speach is used to slander and hurt another person or to call names it is indeed a misuse of one of God's many gifts to us.

As a mother I have used my voice to gently sooth my children whatever the age. I have used it to sing my little one's to sleep, to tell them stories, to pray with them, to teach them and to love them. I have also used it to give out and perhaps not in a way I should have.

God's gift of speach is one to be treasured as something given to us by him and to be used only for Him in the building up of His kingdom.  When I fail to see my gift of speach as God's gift then I can be tempted to use it as I please and not as God intended.

Let us pray that today we will use our voices and our gift of speach to build up God's kingdom and to bring only honour and glory to Him.

"O that today you would listen to His voice, harden not your hearts."

Today we thank God for the gift of our ears, the gift of hearing and of listening. How often do we take the gift of hearing for granted.  Its only when our ears have a problem or like me when you get older and a little deaf you realise how precious this gift is.

In the course of our day we hear so many wonderful things that are said to us by others.  One of the most beautiful things one could hear is the word of God as written in Sacred Scripture.  At daily mass the word of God is read and we have been given the ears to hear God speak to us through His word. In the course of our day if we are parents we hear our babies cry or laugh, we hear our older children telling us about how life is for them.  Our hearing enables us to become the listening ear for Christ.

Having two ears means we have the ability to listen to hear what another person has to say to us, to hear what Jesus is saying to us through that other person.  How sad it is when I or others fail to hear and fail to listen because I am too busy or disinterested.  How easy it is to take this wonderful gift for granted and equally how easy it is to abuse it by not using it correctly.

Today let us listen to the voice of our Lord, Jesus Christ, present in all of us.  Let us use our ears to give glory and praise to God our Father in heaven.

God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins.

Today we thank God for the wonderful gift of our hearts.  God created us with hearts that were made to love.  The heart from a physical point is a vital organ that pumps blood to all parts of our body and brings oxygen all around it. It is a vital organ that keeps the body alive.  The heart is also a vital organ that is made for love.  God calls us to love each other and to love Him above all things.  It is in the heart where love grows, and were love is found.  It is in the heart where we find God. The heart is His hiding place the place where he abides with us.  In St. John's Gospel we read about the source of love.

"My dear friends, let us love each other, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God." cf(1John 7). This is the revelation of God's love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him. "Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love each other. Cf. (1John 9-11).

Let us praise and thank God for the wonderful gift of our heart. May we protect it from the evils of this life and may we grow it into a heart of love with God in God and through God.

"Come, let us cry out with joy to Yahweh, acclaim the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving, acclaim him with music."

Today we thank God for the gift of our hands.  Hands are just wonderful.  They can do so many things, give employment, share, help, serve others and so much more.  One day I found myself marvelling at my hands just as a baby would.  I suppose it was a God given moment.  I was so aware of all that God had to do to put my hands together not to mention the rest of me.  I gazed at the skin on my hands that encased the bones within.  The blood vessels that run through my hands were another wonder.  The knuckles that gave movement to my fingers.  The fingernails that finished my hands off.  As I turned them over I was aware of all the lines on the palm of my hand.  God certainly painted a picture on my hands.  The more I gazed at them the more I saw God's work of creation in me.  No man could make a pair of hands, these were God's special gift to me and they could not be copied.

Let us use our hands to become aware of the presence of God and how truly wonderful he is and how gifted we are.  Today may our hands be used to serve God. Let us raise them in a prayer of thanksgiving to God.

"God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good." Genesis 1:31

Today we thank God for the gift of our eyes, the gift of sight.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to gaze upon the beautiful ocean.  The deep blue sea glistened as the warm sunshine hovered over it.  The white surf mounted and rapidly rolled and broke upon the shoreline. Little children played happily in the golden sand.  Youths raced along the swollen waves as they surfed in the moment. Couples young and not so young enjoyed each other's company as they relaxed or strolled along the water's edge. All was the beauty of God's creation and I was given the eyes to see it and to find it very good. Our eyes are indeed a truly wonderful gift from God and so often taken for granted. We use our eyes to communicate with one another, to see the wonder of God in His creation and to mirror Him.  Our eyes are mirrors to the soul. Today let us use our eyes to see God's goodness all around us and to praise and thank Him.

We give thanks to God for the gift of a smile.

This page is a page where we thank God for different things.  It is important to have a spirit of gratitude to God. As a young married woman I attended spiritual talks with a nun in a small town in Ireland.  Each Tuesday mothers and children would go to listen to her speak about God.  One thing she taught us was the importance of giving praise and thanks to God. Each Tuesday we would end our prayer time with praise and thanks.  We thank friends and family and even strangers when they help us or are kind to us.  God is more than kind and helpful to us He is our creator the one who truly loves and sustains us.

Today we thank God for the gift of a smile. A smile brings great joy. When we smile at one another we reflect God's love for each of us. A smile lightens the heart both of the giver and of the receiver. Let us praise God for his wonderful gift of smiling and today lighten the hearts of others with a smile.  Little children are full of smiles which cheer and gladden the heart.