Catholic Education Week 2020: Igniting Hope

Hope in Christ
Loving and generous God, you are the giver of all good things. Your love is everlasting. Give us your hope and make the burdens of our times lighter. Be with us as we journey together during these times.  Help us be true to what you call us to be. When we are challenged or face difficult moments, remind us that you are always present in our time of need.

Hope Within Us
Risen Savior, during this Easter season, teach me to pray. Teach me to be silent that I might hear your answer to my prayers. Help me today to imitate you by listening to God in stillness and peace. 
May I always listen to your voice, Risen Savior. I need Your help, to learn how to listen closely to Jesus. I am so used to the noise that silence seems strange. Help me to now listen to You in my prayer. 
As people of faith, we carry the light of Christ’s love within us. This is the hope and the burning in our hearts that we bring to the world. It is a hope that brings redemption and overcomes darkness.
God of all people, your Son brought hope to the world. Jesus showed us that God’s love is inclusive and there for everyone. Help us to see this hope alive in our world today. When we feel defeated by the darkness that humanity can inflict upon the world, help us to remember that hope dwells within us, through the limitless love of our God. Amen.

Hope Among Us
Jesus, you told us that you are the light of the world, and that whoever follows you, will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life. It is hard to know sometimes, which way to go, even when we want to follow you. But I know, too, that I don’t have to walk this way alone, and that you have given me a community to walk with me. Help me to resist the temptation to be alone on my journey and give me the courage to trust the people that you send to accompany me. In the certainty of our shared faith, let me be a leader, as well as a follower, and be willing to show the way of faith to others. I pray this prayer in the name of your Heavenly Father, who was always your guiding light. Amen.

Hope For the World
God of Compassion, 
You created our world in Your love, to be a place where all life would come to be and flourish.  
The struggle has been long and real 
between those who want to exploit the peoples and all creation 
and those who want to protect all peoples and all creation.  
As much as greed, conflict and apathy have destroyed our world, 
so has goodness, solidarity, beauty and truth reclaimed it.  
Help me see my place within Your work of art that is our common home, 
to make it a place of hospitality and encounter. 
Through Your Holy Spirit, lead me to the others with whom I will be working.  
Let me join my place with them, giving witness to our actions, 
restoring our home as the place You envisioned it and created it. 
Let justice and peace be my mission, with others 
and may we not stop until every corner of this big, beautiful world reflects Your glory.  
Through Your Son, our Lord, whose life brought heaven on earth. 

A Future Full of Hope
Brilliantly Hopeful God,
We look forward to the future with hope, 
because we know that You are always with us.  
The gift of Your Son, His death and resurrection reminds us, 
during this Easter season, that there will always be light after the darkness! 
Help us to live our lives, centred in hope and Your Love.
Encourage us to use our gifts and talents 
to spread the hope and goodness that comes from You, and You alone.  
We ask for this through Christ Your Son. 
Amen

Rerecich, AdrianaCatholic Education Week 2020: Igniting Hope