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Catholic Schools

Writer's picture: Profiles in CatholicismProfiles in Catholicism
Dec 29, 202128 min read

Updated: Jan 3, 2022





A Message from the Editor


Catholic Schools educate to develop the whole child. The educational process is an opportunity to cultivate the entire person by engaging the human need for physical, mental, social, and spiritual nourishment.

We have lost thousands of Catholic grade schools and hundreds of Catholic high schools primarily due to lack of enrollment. Please pray to end this tragedy.

I am pleased to report that Marco Lo Russo has won the best soundtrack award Angel Award Monaco International Film Festival. I thank Francis Etheredge for his thoughtful comment about me in his book Within Reach of You: a book of prose and prayer and for his beautiful prayers which are featured in every issue of Profiles in Catholicism.


Prayers


School of Love and Service: A Prayer for the Preservation of Catholic Schools


Oh star of Christ, streaming from the heavens, pour out your light,

Igniting love, enflaming unity, raising and rising us above our differences, delighting to bring us together, healing our hurts –

Shine out in silence, speak a word to be heard in the deepest recesses Of our hearts, calling us to celebrate your many gifts, give us the joy of welcoming you: educating us to love-in-truth: the truth-in-love!

Oh Joseph and Mary, you are deeply intertwined in the roots

Of your people, immersed in the sacred ground of the history

Of salvation which, intensely present in the religious rites

Of the people of God, feed the very life of the child Jesus,

Born of the Virgin Mary and foster fathered by Joseph.

You taught him to pray, to read and to listen to the word of God,

Sharing with the child the great events and places of salvation history, Helping Him to find the unfolding of who He is in the Writings, Forming Him through your welcome of others into family life and The overflow of good works which poured out from within you.

Holy Family of Nazareth, school and cultural ground of the Lord,

Help us to begin anew the nourishing of the life of faith in the family,

Both within your people and beyond to the shores of the earth, in the School, the university and the widespread social influences so present

And a part of the times in which we live, from beginning to end.

Oh Lord our God, forgive our abandonment of your life,

The destruction of lives, the hidden corruption of the heart

That spilled into despoiling the vulnerable years of others.

Open again the treasures of your love and let your mercy

Pour through the wounds of our times and refresh, beautify,

Made richly splendid in the transfiguration of your Church.

Oh Holy Family, come amidst the families of our time, raising up

Vocations, training centres, growing out of the transmission of work,

Like Mary and Joseph opened up for you and those around you, Burgeoning into all the professions, walks and ways of life, arising,

Springing out in full vigour from the mysterious fullness of God.

Oh great Shepherd and Teacher of all, renew in song, singing as you Did the psalms and promises of the great events of your appearing And passing among us, guide, inspire, rebuild the multifaceted works Of education and training, bringing fresh faces and graces to walk Upon the difficulties of today, colourfully answering our questions.

Oh silence of God, speak to us, exhausted as we are with images, activity, and words flooding the earth, that we might hear your still Small voice and fuel, time and again, the great and greater needs of The peoples of the earth, falling behind and beneath the oppressively Impossible burdens of almost no wages, food, water or support.

So let the genius of schools, the generosity of your gifts, the gathering Of your community, be like a dynamo, driving a multiplicity of Talents into tools, whether to work in the home, in training or in the discoveries and inventions still to be made, sending out servants of The poor to resource and progress what teaches us to turn to you.

by Francis Etheredge Profiles in Catholicism


A Prayer for Beirut Catholic School


Dear Lord,

Beirut Catholic Schools are in a crisis, we need your assistance in helping all who are concerned about the schools to find the best way to serve you. Help the students and faculty to keep you on their mind as their school gets rebuilt. Help all who will construct the schools to realize that the next generation is being served by this construction. We ask you this in the name of the Father, Your Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen by Eileen Quinn Knight, PhD. Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for migrants and refugees


There are many refugees, migrants, overseas workers exploited, abused, treated as slaves around the world Lord. You and your parents were refugees in Egypt, inspire your followers to speak out for the migrants and refugees and demand their human rights, may we do all we can to help them. Inspire us to help strangers in need. Amen

by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for Yemen

All merciful God, take and hold the people of Yemen, especially the children and other vulnerable people. Sustain the people of this war-torn land with your hope. Turn the hearts of aggressors to thoughts of peace. Stir the conscience of the international community, and enable international leaders to work for peace. Let none of us forget our brothers and sisters who struggle and suffer in a distant land, but help all of us to be for each other your true and generous children who know that your grace always outpaces our failures, and who acknowledge you the source of all our good who are our one God forever and ever.

Amen

by Father Louis Cameli Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for Tornado Victims


Good and Gracious Good,

Our planet is exhausted trying to keep all its parts in order. A monstrous tornado, carving a track that could rival the longest on record, ripped across the middle of the U.S. in a storm front that killed dozens and tore apart a candle factory, crushed a nursing home, derailed a train, and smashed an Amazon warehouse. We pray for the families, their loved ones, and all who are part of the community. We ask you to help the families to rest in the light of Christ as they enter their new home. May the goodness of all of us left on the planet share our love and prayers and whatever each remaining family needs. Help us to attend to the warnings of storms that would provide us with the time to move away from its violent storms. Help us to heal, dear Lord, with the help of each other. Help us to remember the goodness of the people killed and share that goodness with one another. Help the survivors to continue to build their lives in union with You. We ask you this, Lord, in the name of the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. by Eileen Quinn Knight, PhD. Profiles in Catholicism


Prayer for help after the typhoon The fierce winds blows, the rains falls in torrents, water falls from the sky, the floods rise, the trees are torn and scattered, the night is totally dark, nothing works, the cell phones are dead, the food is spoiled, roofs are torn apart, people cut and killed by flying debris. Lord, Lord when will it end we cried. Now it has passed and in misery we live, lacking food and water, power and hope. Lord give us strength to bury the dead, heal the wounded.

Lord we ask you to inspire the world to come and help. Inspire others to serve, to share, and give, for we suffer in the disaster of broken homes, washed out roads, broken power lines.

Lord Jesus we huddle and pray that your compassion and love will fill the hearts of those who have resources to share and help us and all in dire need. Amen by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism


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