My Family Prayer Book

 2026-09-20 Twenty-fifth Sunday of the year   Opening prayer Good and gracious Lord of the Vineyard, You call us at every hour of the day, and your generosity knows no measure of our merit. As we open our hearts to your word this day, free us from the envy that counts another's blessing as our loss, and from the pride that believes we have earned  your mercy, which you give freely.  Teach us that our ways are not your ways, and our thoughts are not your thoughts. Help us to rejoice when your goodness falls on others as it falls on us - just like the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Teach us to trust that the last will be first, and the first will be last, in your unending love. Open our ears now to hear what you would say to us, and open our hearts to receive it with gratitude, and not with calculation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.   Prayer for healing : Heavenly Father, we surrender our loved one and friends who are in need of healing to y...

   2026-09-13 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time   Introduction:  The theme of all the readings today is Forgiveness.  Bishop Barron in a 2005 discourse uses a powerful illustration from the Life of Saint Marina the Monk that is thought to have originated among Coptic monks of the Scetis desert near Alexandria, Egypt, sometime between the 5th and early 6th centuries — which is why the story is so strongly associated with Coptic (Egyptian) monastic tradition, and why Marina/Marinos is venerated in the Coptic Orthodox Church specifically as a patron for those falsely accused. Marina was a woman who, along with her father, disguised herself as a man and joined a monastery, living as the monk "Marinos." Years later, an innkeeper's daughter became pregnant and, to protect the real father, falsely accused Marinos of being responsible. Marinos never revealed the truth — since doing so would mean exposing that "he" was actually a woman — and fell to his knees, falsel...

 2026-09-06 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Opening Prayer O Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! Heavenly Father, we come before Your presence with thanksgiving and lift up our hearts to You in song. For You are a great God, a King above all kings. September 1st marked the start of the Season of Creation (September 1 – October 4), an ecumenical season inviting Christians around the world to pray and care for God's creation, rooted in Pope Francis's Laudato Si'.  In Your hands are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the mountains are Yours also. The sea is Yours, for You made it, and Your hands formed the dry land. We thank You, Lord, for the beauty of Your creation, for the life You have given us, and for sustaining us each day by Your providence. Come O faithful, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For You are our God, and we are the people of Your pasture, the sheep of Your...

 2026-08-30 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Jeremiah 20:7-9 Psalm 63 Romans 12:1-2 When Paul was persecuting Christians, Christ stopped him cold, asking "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me" - we the disciples of Christ are the body of Christ. Sacrifice at the time of Christ was offerings in the Temple to reconcile oneself to God by atoning for one's sin and coming face-to-face or eyelash-to-eyelash with God. But Paul says, Jesus wholly man and wholly God is the supreme sacrifice that gathers together all previous sacrifices to reconcile all of mankind with God. By becoming a living sacrifice we detach ourself from the world and become the clay that allows God the potter to meet us in the flesh so we can be his true disciples to think, feel, say and do as he sees fit. Matthew 16:21-27 Just last week, Peter confessed the messianic identity of Jesus - "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." . Jesus confirmed Peter’s confession, saying, "Bles...

 2026-08-23 Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 22:19-23 Isaiah 22, theologically is interpreted as a contrast between self-seeking, prideful leadership (Shebna) and faithful stewardship (Eliakim). Shebna and Eliakim are two officials in the royal court of Judah during King Hezekiah's reign. Shebna was the royal steward (or "master of the household") — essentially the palace administrator, one of the most powerful positions in the kingdom, overseeing the royal household and holding the "key" of authority in the palace. Isaiah delivers a harsh judgment against him (Isaiah 22:15-19). Shebna is condemned for his pride and self-glorification — specifically for carving out an elaborate tomb for himself in the rock, "on the height," as a monument to his own importance. Eliakim son of Hilkiah is the man God appoints to replace Shebna (Isaiah 22:20-24). Isaiah describes Eliakim being clothed with Shebna's robe and sash and given his authority — he ...

 2026-08-16 Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Opening Prayer The Canticle of Mary. And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”   Prayer for healing : Heavenly Father, we surrender our loved one and friends who are in need of healing to your loving care and miraculous healing. May the life-giving powers of your touch flow into every cell of the...

 2026-08-02 Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, You looked on the hungry crowd with compassion, and where Your disciples saw only lack, You saw an opportunity for grace. Five loaves, two fish — so little, yet in Your hands it became more than enough. Teach us to bring You what we have, however small it seems, and to trust that You do not need our abundance, only our willingness to offer it. When we are tempted to hold back, to say "it isn't enough," remind us that You multiply what is given in faith, and that nothing offered to You is wasted. Feed us, Lord, as You fed the crowd that day — not only in body, but in spirit, for we are often like that crowd: hungry, unsettled, far from home, searching for someone to teach us and to satisfy the deeper hunger we carry. Gather what remains of our scattered efforts, our broken pieces, and let nothing be lost. Make of our life, however small, a gift that feeds others. Amen. Prayer for healing : Heavenly ...

 2026-07-19 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Opening Prayer Lord Jesus, the Divine Sower, we offer our hearts to You. Break through the hard soil, remove all disbelieving and distracting thorns, and nurture us with Your infinite mercy and grace. May Your Word take deep root within us, so that we may seek the hidden treasures of Your love  and in doing so bear abundant fruit pleasing to you. Amen Prayer for healing : Heavenly Father, we surrender our loved one and friends who are in need of healing to your loving care and miraculous healing. May the life-giving powers of your touch flow into every cell of their bodies and into the very depth of her soul, cleansing, purifying, and restoring them to wholeness and full life. Grant them the strength, courage, and patience to endure their suffering. Help them to accept God's will and to find peace in His love. At this time we lift up the following people: Eunice Kim, Iris Simon, Eloise Dutil, Don Mamayek, Bernice Comfort, J...