Pray

Your support of the work of Catholic Charities through your prayers is a tremendous gift to our staff and those we serve and a way for you to spiritually join us in our mission to serve those in need.

Catholic Charities Common Prayer
Lord Jesus, open our eyes that we may see you in all our sisters and brothers. Open our minds that we may understand their hopes and dreams, their sorrows and pain, their longing for you. Open our hearts to give generously of ourselves.

Grant us wisdom to respond effectively to the needs of your people with grace and compassion. Give us the courage to speak your words of life, peace, love, mercy and human solidarity.

Bless the people whom we serve, and strengthen the staff and volunteers who reach out to them every day in your spirit of charity. Amen.

 

The following prayers can be used before and after acts of service to put us in the right frame of mind and heart and to remind us that it is Christ we serve when we serve those in need.

Prayer before Acts of Service
Heavenly Father, you ask that we love you with all our hearts, and that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. You call us to service, knowing that it is often in giving that we receive the most.

Lord God, send your Holy Spirit upon us and among us today as we answer your call to be of service to our neighbors. We obey your command to serve because we love you and we know that you only command what makes us more and more like you.

Father of all people, we thank you for the opportunity to encounter in those we serve the Person of your only Son—our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. May all who proudly claim the name of Christian be mindful of our obligation to love you and to be of service to your children—to all of our sisters and brothers. Amen.

Prayer after Having Served
Father in heaven, today we saw your only Son, Jesus, in the faces of all who we served. For those moments that were pleasant and enjoyable today as we engaged in our acts of service, we thank you.

As for any moments that may not have gone so well, we know that all acts of loving service are pleasing to you whether they seem successful by earthly standards or not. So we simply thank you for the opportunity to show our love for you by serving our sisters and brothers today.

We look forward to encountering Jesus again soon at Holy Mass, where your gift of the Eucharist and the grace of your Holy Spirit empower us to love and serve you, Lord, by loving and serving each other. Amen.