Dear God, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.

Lord, keep this nation under Your care.

To all who have executive authority and to all who have administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.

Give grace to Your servants, O Lord.

To those who make our laws give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.

Give grace to Your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.

Give grace to Your servants, O Lord.

And finally, teach our people to rely on Your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve You faithfully in our generation and honor Your holy Name.

For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, O Lord, and You are exalted as Ruler and Judge of all. Amen

“The Son of God had announced to his disciples that they would never be at peace in this world. The only way to win this great combat is union with God. Christians will never succeed in overcoming the challenges of the world by appealing to political tools, human rights, or respect for religious liberty. The only true rock for the baptized is prayer and the encounter with Jesus Christ. [People] whose strength is in prayer are unsinkable.” ~Robert Cardinal Sarah; God or Nothing

I believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives – the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections – that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment.…Let us not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God. ~Henri J. M. Nouwen, Seeking Peace

“The devil is afraid of us when we pray and make sacrifices. He is also afraid when we are humble and good. He is especially afraid when we love Jesus very much. He runs away when we make the Sign of the Cross.” ~St. Anthony of Egypt

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” ~John 1: 1-5

You will never attract the young by making Christianity easy; but a good many can be attracted by finding it difficult: difficult both to the disorderly mind and to the unruly passions. ~T. S. Eliot; Essays Ancient and Modern

Please visit The Anchorite for a thoughtful reflection on one of this Sunday’s Mass readings.

“Christian witness must be based on the experience of being saved by the radical self-emptying of Jesus Christ, who is Savior, not just moral exemplar. [Saint] Francis, whose entire religious life sprang from a profound consciousness of having been saved, reminds us that salvation is at the heart of the Christian proclamation. Christianity is not about me; nor is it about feeling good about me. It’s about salvation—rescue from all the self-induced afflictions to which humanity is prone; forgiveness when those afflictions overcome us; ultimately, life within the embrace of the Thrice-Holy God. A Franciscan renewal of twenty-first-century Catholicism will, of course, emphasize the works of charity and mercy as the entry point for evangelization, as I have just suggested. But that does not and cannot make the Church into another non-governmental organization in the good-works business. The Church is about salvation or it is a fraud —a soup kitchen with smells and bells.” ~George Weigel, excerpt from Franciscan Churchmanship, First Things Magazine, Janaury 2017 edition

The last time I saw him he was walking down lover’s lane holding his own hand. ~Fred Allen

Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).