About this prayer
This original Catholic devotional prayer was written for this companion. Pray it alone or with others, bringing the people and circumstances of your own life before God.
Prayer text
Generous Father, I thank you for life, for the people who care for me, and for the gifts I too easily take for granted. Thank you for food, shelter, friendship and opportunities to begin again. I remember those through whom your kindness has reached me, including people whose work I seldom notice. Teach me to express gratitude in words and in generous action. In difficult times, help me notice goodness without denying the reality of suffering. Grant what is truly good, and help me cooperate with your grace through wise and loving action. Keep me close to Jesus in hope and patience. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Extended community prayer
The original prayer above is unchanged. This separate community version includes additional intentions and responses. One person leads; everyone joins in the shared parts.
Let us gather in the presence of God, remembering those who pray with us and those who cannot be here. We bring our gratitude, our needs, and our willingness to care for one another.
God of love, unite our hearts in prayer and teach us to serve you together.
Generous Father, I thank you for life, for the people who care for me, and for the gifts I too easily take for granted. Thank you for food, shelter, friendship and opportunities to begin again. I remember those through whom your kindness has reached me, including people whose work I seldom notice. Teach me to express gratitude in words and in generous action. In difficult times, help me notice goodness without denying the reality of suffering. Grant what is truly good, and help me cooperate with your grace through wise and loving action. Keep me close to Jesus in hope and patience. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Community intentions
For gifts we too easily overlook, awaken gratitude for daily bread, faithful friendship, forgiveness, and the opportunity to begin again.
Lord, hear our prayer, and help us become instruments of your mercy.
For those who made these blessings possible, remember their needs; let our thanksgiving become generosity toward someone else today.
Lord, hear our prayer, and help us become instruments of your mercy.
Pause for silent prayer. Intentions may be offered aloud freely; no one is required to share.
For the intentions spoken and those held quietly in our hearts, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, receive our prayer and sustain us in your love.
Let us entrust ourselves and those for whom we have prayed to the Father.
Merciful Father, receive our prayer through Jesus Christ. Where we can offer help, make us willing; where we must wait, give us patience. Keep us attentive to one another beyond this gathering. May the grace of this prayer take root in our homes, our work, and our choices, so that your love becomes visible through our lives. Amen.