Word of Encouragement (07/04/2022)

Here is another prayer of John Baillie's to begin a new week:

“O HOLY Spirit, visit my soul and stay within me all day. Inspire all my thoughts. Pervade all my imaginations. Suggest all my decisions. Make your home in the most secret place of my will and inspire all my actions. Be with me in my silence and in my speech, in my hurry and in my leisure, in company and in solitude, in the freshness of the morning and in the weariness of the evening; and give me grace at all times to rejoice in the comforting mystery of your companionship.

My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

“O Spirit unseen, be with me today wherever I go, but also stay with me when I am at home and among my family. Do not let me fail to show those nearest me the sympathy and consideration that you graciously help me to show other people. Do not let me refuse to show those closest to me the courtesy and kindness which I would show to strangers. Let charity begin at home today.

“Do not leave me, gracious Presence, while I am absorbing information, through reading books or through the media—newspapers, radio, television, film, and the Internet. Guide me to choose the right books, papers, and programs, and, having chosen them, to use the information they offer in the right way. When I study, grant that all the knowledge I gain may lead me nearer to you. When I read, watch, or listen for recreation, grant that what I read, see, and hear may not lead me away from you. Let all the knowledge I absorb refresh my mind in a way that makes me more eagerly seek whatever is pure and fair and true.

“Give me a special sense of your nearness to me, O God, in all the times I devote to private prayer, to sharing in public worship, or to receiving the blessed sacrament; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.”

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