Prayer And Reflection - Hopes, Dreams And Aspirations (See Description for Prayer)

St. Joseph Health, Home Care Services

3-23-2021 Universal Prayers- Hopes, Dreams, Aspirations Greetings friends and welcome to our time of gathering in our little community to reflect and share our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Ring the chime, take a 3-5 second pause As customary we will take a few deep breaths to settle in and bring our awareness to this moment, appreciating the gift of 5 precious minutes of loving kindness for ourselves, others and those who did not join but need our loving intentions. On breath to release stress, another worry and the third to breath in peace. Let us take a moment to silently reflect in the spirit of prayer and to offer our own silent intentions. (Chrystal Hogan) When I think of our hopes and dreams for a better world I often turn to the Sisters for inspiration. The Sisters of St Joseph share, “God invites us to be present in the here and now, and as we are attentive to the movement, we also step faithfully into an unknown future…In sharing God’s unconditional love and fidelity, we dedicate ourselves in all of our works to creative collaboration with others, as we seek to tear down walls that divide and build bridges that unite.” The Sisters of Providence shared these hopes and aspirations; “We have no fixed blueprint for how to express the role and responsibilities of Providence Ministries other than by reading the signs of the time, trusting in Providence, and embracing our call to follow Christ. You will be challenged as well to respond to those who call out for our care and the hard choices that will be there when our resources are constrained. However, as St. Vincent DePaul commended to us, “Love is inventive to infinity.” Compelled by God’s providential love, you will be invited to do more than you ever believed possible because of God’s goodness and love of all.” Dear Ones, Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern not yourself with what you tried and failed in, but what it is still possible to do. Now is the time to put aside past and present setbacks and failures and look with confidence to the new day. (Pope John XXIII) The following was shared by Sr. Susan Trezik CSJ What if, after this virus is gone, we learned it had changed our DNA in such a way that it forever altered our ability to consider each other? Consider each other no longer just as strangers, but in a new way, as in closer to our hearts? I wash my hands for you. Every time I wash my hands, I think of you, the other, as myself and I smile. My freedom is in your hands and yours is in mine. Every bit of care I bring to this gesture, I dedicate to the mystery of you, the other, who invites me to connect with you. I reach out to hold you and rejoice in how the water blesses both of us in this practice. I can no longer disregard you. I can no longer wash my hands of you, and your fate. I wash my hands for your fate; My freedom is in your hands, exactly where it belongs. By Jacques Verduin And in closing I offer this prayer by Pope Frances Lord, Father of our human family, you created all human beings equal in dignity: pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, dialogue, justice, and peace. Move us to create healthier societies and a more dignified world, a world without hunger, poverty, violence, and war. May our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the earth. May we recognize the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us, and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects, and shared dreams. Amen. This prayer is from Pope Francis' new encyclical Fratelli Tutti, which was published on 4 October 2020.