Spirituality for Beginners

Fr. Bede's almost-daily reflections. When it comes to the spiritual life, we're all beginners. I also send these out by email. Contact me at bcamera@anselm.edu. God bless!





Monday, February 1, 2016

A "Love Prayer"

Yesterday we considered the “love passage” from 1 Corinthians 13 which was read at Sunday Mass. I’d like to revisit that passage again and make it into a prayer which might be used by anyone seeking growth and gradual evolution towards becoming a truly loving person. For what it is worth, here goes:

                Lord God, grant me the grace to become more patient, kinder, less jealous but able to rejoice in the good things that others have. Help me to be humble: less pompous, less inflated. Forgive and correct my rudeness by making me more sensitive to others’ feelings. Help me to put others’ needs before me own and to curb my selfishness in all things. Give me a calm and accepting spirit, not prone to fits of temper.

I have been hurt many times, and carry resentments in my heart: heal these and help me to let go of what has happened, to forgive where necessary and to take my attention away from the past and into the present moment. Make me sensitive to the wrongdoing around me and give me the desire to pray for those who are lost in a web of sin. Help me to rejoice always with what is true, especially when it challenges me to change my way of thinking or acting. Help me to bear whatever may develop in my life, strengthen my faith, and my hope, and help me to bear nobly the crosses that are part of my life. I ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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