Saturday, October 30, 2010

A Prayer for those who feel hated...

I know what it feels like to be ostracized.  To be excluded because one does not belong to a certain clique.  All the more so because of my Acadian heritage.  The Acadians have long had the memory of being an unwanted people.  A people thrown out of their own homeland and hated for their deep Catholic faith. 

Fr. James Martin, S.J., has written a beautiful prayer for those who feel hated or excluded, even within their own Church:


A Prayer for those who feel Hated

Loving God, you made me who I am.
I praise you and I love you, for I am wonderfully made,
in your own image.
But when people make fun of me, I feel hurt and embarrassed and even ashamed.

So please God, help me remember my own goodness,
which lies in you.
Help me remember my dignity,
which you gave me when I was conceived.

Help me remember that I can live a life of love.
Because you created my heart.
Be with me when people make fun of me,
and help me to respond how you would want me to,
in a love that respects other, but also respects me.

Help me find friends who love me for who I am.
Help me, most of all, to be a loving person.
And God, help me remember that Jesus loves me.
For he was seen as an outcast, too.
He was misunderstood, too.
He was beaten and spat upon.
Jesus understands me, and loves me with a special love,
because of the way you made me.


And when I am feeling lonely,
help me remember that Jesus welcomed everyone as a friend.
Jesus reminded everyone that God loved them.
And Jesus encouraged everyone to embrace their dignity,
even when others were blind to that dignity.

Jesus loved everyone with the love that you gave him.
And he loves me, too.
One more thing, God:
Help me remember that nothing is impossible with you,
that you have a way of making things better,
that you can find a way of love for me,
even if I can't see it right now.

Help me remember all these things in the heart you created,
loving God.

Amen.


Meditation: 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13.
at

1 comment:

  1. Ashley Pelletier2:51 PM

    Thanks for posting this prayer. It is very timely since today's first Mass reading is taken from Wisdom 11:22 - 12:2: "Before the LORD the whole universe is as a grain from a balance or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth. But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;
    and you overlook people's sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned. And how could a thing remain, unless you willed it; or be preserved, had it not been called forth by you? But you spare all things, because they are yours,
    O LORD and lover of souls, for your imperishable spirit is in all things! Therefore you rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O LORD!"

    ReplyDelete