Finding Strength in Prayer
Jesus, I offer you my mind, for Christ, with Christ, like Christ….
Jesus, I offer you my eyes, for Christ, with Christ, like Christ…
Jesus, I offer you my lips, for Christ, with Christ, like Christ…
Jesus, I offer you my hands, for Christ, with Christ, like Christ…
Jesus, I offer you my heart, for Christ, with Christ, like Christ…
As Mercy Missionaries, prayer is our first act in the morning and the backbone of everything we do. Each day, we are blessed with time in our schedule to meditate on the Gospel, lift our prayers to our Mother in the rosary, spend time with the Blessed Sacrament in holy hour, and end with night prayer, thanking the Lord and acknowledging our mistakes. These moments of prayer keep us centered on Christ throughout the day and strengthen us for the mission He has called us to.
On Wednesday mornings, the women missionaries meditate on the upcoming Sunday Gospel together. As we gathered to pray and meditate on the Gospel, I opened my heart to Jesus. The Gospel that day was from Luke, when Jesus tells us to pray always and not to lose heart. I shared with my missionary friends how futile prayer can sometimes feel when we ask the Lord for something repeatedly without seeing a response.
After visiting my family the weekend before and missioning on the streets, the Lord spoke to me through the words of the Gospel. Witnessing the addiction among our friends can make it challenging to maintain faith and hope that the Lord can and will transform their lives. I felt similarly with my family, noticing the lukewarmness that I had overlooked during my own struggles with faith.
The Lord spoke to me through the reflections of my missionary sisters, which consoled me one by one. I am blessed to be surrounded by missionaries I can count on to lift my prayers with me. To be the Aaron and Hur from the first reading that supported the hands of Moses. They reminded me that the Lord is victorious; He has already won, and that the prayers we lift are not in vain.
~Carissa Catterall