As the school year comes to a close, here are some prayers to share with your students as they embark on the immediate future of summer while considering what life will bring them in the semesters ahead. Each of the prayers is taken from Day by Day The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students.
For Responsible Decisions
O God,
who has called me to place such complete trust in you
that nothing can tyrannize my life,
deliver me, I pray . . . .
from becoming a slave to my books
from daydreaming away my time
from an over concern about sex
from an over anxiety about my future
from an uncritical view of myself
from an overcritical view of myself
and from all the half-known deities
which try to dictate what I shall be.
Save me, that I may be free
to make responsible decisions
and serve you with wholeness
Amen.
--John W. Vannorsdall
For A Light in the Darkness
Father, grant that I may be
a bearer of Christ Jesus, your Son.
Allow me to warm the often cold, impersonal
scene of modern life with your burning love.
Strengthen me, by your Holy Spirit
to carry out my mission of changing the world
or some definite part of it, for the better.
Despite my lamentable failures, bring home to me
that my advantages are your blessings
to be shared with others.
Make me more energetic in setting to rights
what I find wrong with the world
instead of complaining about it or myself.
Nourish in me a practical desire
to build up rather than tear down
to reconcile more than polarize
to go out on a limb rather than crave security.
Never let me forget that it is far better
to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
And to join my light, one day, with yours.
Amen.
--Christopher Prayer Book
To Christ Our Only Teacher
Thank you, Jesus, for bringing me this far.
In your light I see the light of my life.
Your teaching is brief and to the point.
You persuade us to trust in our heavenly Father;
you command us to love one another.
What is easier than to believe in God?
What is sweeter than to love him?
Your yoke is pleasant, your burden light,
you, the only and only Teacher!
Your promise everything to those who obey your teaching,
you ask nothing too hard for a believer,
nothing a lover can refuse.
Your promises to your disciples are true,
entirely true, nothing but the truth.
Even more, you promise use yourself,
the perfection of all that can be made perfect.
Than you, Jesus, now and always.
Amen.
--Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464)
