Creator of my Life,
renew me: bring me to new life in you.
Touch me and make me feel whole again.
Help me to see your love
in the passion, death and resurrection of your son.
Help me to observe Lent
in a way that allows me to celebrate that love.
Prepare me for these weeks of Lent
as I feel both deep sorrow for my sins
and your undying love for me.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
“An Activist’s Prayer”
by Terrance Hawkins
Thicken my love.
Widen my heart.
Sharpen my analysis.
Enliven my praxis.
Embolden my voice.
Deepen my rest.
Lighten my heaviness.
Toughen my skin.
Soften my spirit.
Strengthen my friendships.
Lengthen my endurance.
Weaken my ego.
Awaken my soul.
Refreshen my vision.
Hearken to my weary voice, O God.
I am your friend & co-conspirator in the struggle for a new world.
Excerpted from The Daily Prayer Project: Lent 2022: Volume 4 | Issue 3. Copyright ©2022 The Daily Prayer Project Press.
Daw-k’yah-ee, ah-dawtsahy-ahn. Daw-k’yah-ee, ah-dawtsahy-ahn. Ahm dow gyah-daw dow ahn, Ah-tsahn dow gyaht-t’ah-awm.
Jesus, Son of God, we come to you to pray. Jesus, Son of God, we come to you to pray. To your house of worship
We come in this time of need;
We come to you, help us.
A traditional call to worship from the Kiowa people of North America, taken from Voices: Native American Hymns and Worship Resources
The Prayer of Examen
Most days are filled with the ordinary, and yet our hearts are full of anxiety about all that we can’t control or understand. Financial instability, work transitions, health fears and more can overwhelm us as we attempt to pray.
Especially for times such as these, I’m grateful for the Examen.
The Examen, made popular by St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises, helps us answer the question, “Where is God in my life?” For hundreds of years, believers have used the Examen to trace the footprints of God in their own experiences. The Examen teaches us how to find God in the present moment—in relationships, challenges, frustrations, and feelings. The prayer “works” because we need only 24 hours of thoughts, feelings, and interactions to begin. We can show up as we are, feeling as we do, and before us lie hundreds of things to talk to God about—and to be grateful for.
The most common way to pray the Examen is daily. A 5-10 minute prayer in the morning or at the close of day provides a way to examine your heart, soul, body, and mind. Another way to pray the Examen is as an inventory. Which is what you are invited to do during this Lenten season.
For the next six weekends, we are going to use different forms of the prayer of Examen to take stock of the ways the current spiritual and political climate has affected our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds. And then, using the information we gather from our daily Examen, we will ask for healing.
No matter what is going on in the world, the Examen can provide a valuable check-in with yourself and with God. Use what you learn to create the life you want to live with yourself, with loved ones, and with God.
Inhale: Jesus
Exhale: Let me feel your love.
Pray the following Examen this week to identify the wounds in your heart.
. . . . . . . . . .
A Prayer of Examen for Identifying Heart Wounds*
God, thank you.
I thank you for always being with me, but especially I am grateful that you are with me right now.
God, send your Holy Spirit upon me.
Let the Holy Spirit enlighten my mind and reveal to me what is going on in my heart.
God, let me look at my heart.
God, show me a wound in my heart at this moment. This wound causes me to feel hurt, frightened, angry, resentful, or remorseful. I allow You to take me to that difficult place in my soul. Courageously, I sit in the midst of this difficult moment. Perhaps I ask You to hold my hand as I prayerfully relive the worst parts [of my experience these days].
God, show me the strongest emotion I have at this very moment as I rehash this painful experience. Hear me as I speak aloud to You about how I’m feeling. I might say, “God, I am furious (or sad, or grief-stricken, or confused).” I sit with You and with these feelings for a moment.
God, I ask you to show me how this wound might become worse—growing in size or becoming infected. If I were to allow this wound to lead me away from faith, hope, and love, what might that look like? Concretely, in what ways might this wound tempt me to behave poorly? God, help me prevent this from happening. If I need grace to help me guard against this, I ask for that grace from You right now.
I sit in the silence for just a moment, giving You a chance to do whatever You want with me right now. It’s okay if You seem to be saying and doing nothing at all. I trust that You will heal this wound in Your own time and Your own way.
I prayerfully daydream for just a moment, imagining a day when I am no longer feeling wounded about this. What would that be like? What might be my attitudes, perspectives, thoughts, feelings, words, and actions if I were truly a recovered soul? What grace would I need to begin to heal? I ask You for that grace right now.
God, let me be grateful and ask for forgiveness.
Thank you for my emotions and my desires—all of which can lead me to your love and heart.
If I have failed to tend my heart in any way, forgive me and show me how to move toward faith, hope, and love.
God, stay close.
Be near to my heart and hold it close.
*Adapted from Mark E. Thibodeaux, Reimagining the Ignatian Examen: Fresh Ways to Pray from Your Day (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2015) and David L. Fleming, What Is Ignatian Spirituality? (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2008) by Katie Mullin.
A PEOPLE OF REPAIR: PART ONE
by Gregory Thompson
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
Psalm 25:4-8 (NIV)
God of Love,
through this Lenten journey,
purify my desires to serve you.
Free me from any temptations to judge others,
to place myself above others.
Please let me surrender even my impatience with others,
that with your love and your grace,
I might be less and less absorbed with myself,
and more and more full of the desire
to follow you, in laying down my life
according to your example.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
Audio Meditation (10:36 minutes)
on 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (The Message)
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
From Dominion to Communion
A People of Repair: Part Two
by Gregory Thompson
Inhale: Suffering Savior
Exhale: Be near to me.
A Prayer of Examen for Identifying Wounds in the Body*
God, thank you.
I thank you for always being with me, but especially I am grateful that you are with me right now.
God, send your Holy Spirit upon me.
Let the Holy Spirit enlighten my mind and allow me to see the ways my physical body has been impacted by the uncertainty, divisiveness, devastation, and reality of this season.
God, let me look at my body.
Where am I experiencing tension or tightness? What is broken or not working as it should? How have I been sleeping? What is my breathing like? Where do I notice stillness or calm?
God, let me be grateful and ask forgiveness.
I thank you for my body and all that it does for me on a daily basis.
I ask for healing and forgiveness for the ways in which I have mistreated or ignored my physical body.
God, stay close.
I ask that you draw me even closer to you this day and tomorrow.
Help me recall a memory from the day or from another time in my life where I felt loved. Help me stay in that memory, held in love, savoring it as I fall asleep.
*Adapted from David L. Fleming, What Is Ignatian Spirituality? (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2008) by Katie Mullin.
From Myth to Truth
A People of Repair: Part Three
by Gregory Thompson
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Matthew 23:23 (NIV)
God of infinite love,
I thank you for this reminder of your love
and your call that we be more patient,
gentle and compassionate with others.
Here in the middle of Lent,
I turn to you to beg for your help.
Please soften my heart.
Help me to let go of judging others.
I ask you this, in Jesus’ name.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
Audio meditation (10:09 minutes) on John 5:1-8 (NIV)
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
From Victimhood to Servanthood
A People of Repair: Part Four
by Gregory Thompson
Inhale: Creator God
Exhale: Renew my mind.
. . . . . . .
A Prayer of Examen for Identifying Wounds in Your Mind*
God, thank you.
I thank you for always being with me, but especially I am grateful that you are with me right now.
God, send your Holy Spirit upon me.
Let the Holy Spirit enlighten my mind and show me my innermost thoughts.
God, let me look at my mind.
What have been my strongest thoughts over the past weeks? What strong opinions did I hold? What attitudes did I carry with me? What presumptions or conclusions did I make? How did I perceive myself, my situation, and the people, places, and events around me?
Did my thoughts come from a place of spiritual freedom or unfreedom? Did they lead me toward or away from faith, hope, and love?
God, let me be grateful and ask forgiveness.
I give thanks for the thoughts that came from the true Spirit.
I ask forgiveness if I allowed unfreedoms within me to influence my thoughts and if I nurtured thoughts that led me away from faith, hope, and love.
God, stay close.
Be near as I continue to notice the dominant thoughts of my mind. Gently lead me back to you hour by hour.
Adapted from Mark E. Thibodeaux, Reimagining the Ignatian Examen: Fresh Ways to Pray from Your Day (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2015) and David L. Fleming, What Is Ignatian Spirituality? (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2008) by Katie Mullin.
From Being Right to Being Good
A People of Repair: Part Five
by Gregory Thompson
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors:
You have given me wisdom and power,
you have made known to me what we asked of you,
you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
Daniel 2:20-23 (NIV)
Joyful praise in Lent?
I’m not sure I always feel that.
I ask you to help me prepare to understand
and embrace the paschal mystery in my life.
I don’t always see the beauty and mystery of this season
and often I run from the pain.
Help me to see how your saving grace
and your loving touch in my life
can fill me with joyful praise of the salvation
you have sent to me.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
Audio Meditation (7:10 minutes) on Ezekiel 36:26-28 (Mash up of Message and NLT translations)
Ezekiel 36:26-28 (The Message)
“‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!”
Ezekiel 36:26-28 (NLT)
26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.[a] 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. 28 “And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
Inhale: Bless the Lord
Exhale: O my soul.
. . . . . . . .
A Prayer of Examen for Identifying Wounds in the Soul*
God, thank you.
I thank you for always being with me, but especially I am grateful that you are with me right now.
God, send your Holy Spirit upon me.
Let the Holy Spirit enlighten my mind and show me how this season has impacted my soul.
God, let me look at my soul.
Where have I forgotten my belovedness and worthiness? Or that of others? Have guilt or shame been more pervasive this season than in others? What are the losses, changes, transitions, or disappointments that I’ve left unprocessed or held onto? Where have I lost my sense of purpose or meaning? Did I find self-compassion difficult during these many months?
Do I feel nearer to or farther from God in this season? What lingering question stands between me and closeness with God? Is there something I need to say to God? Is there something I am holding against God?
God, let me be grateful and ask forgiveness.
I give thanks for the moments I felt held, known, and loved. And for the times I felt drawn toward faith, hope, and love.
I ask forgiveness for any darkness I nurtured and for all the times I chose to turn to anything but You to help and heal me.
God, stay close.
My soul needs repair and refreshment. Be near and walk me step by step into greater faith, hope, and love.
**Adapted from David L. Fleming, What Is Ignatian Spirituality? (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2008) by Katie Mullin.
From the Powerful to the Poor
A People of Repair: Part Seven
by Gregory Thompson
May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.
Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
Psalm 119:76-77 (NIV)
My loving Lord,
it’s so hard to love the world sometimes
and to love it the way Jesus did seems impossible.
Help me to be inspired by his love and
guided by his example.
Most of all, I want to accept that I can’t do it alone,
and that trying is an arrogance of self-centeredness.
I need you, dear God, to give me support in this journey.
Show me how to unlock my heart
so that I am less selfish.
Let me be less fearful of the pain and darkness
that will be transformed by you into Easter joy.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
Audio meditation (7:48 minutes) on Galatians 5:22-23 (mash up of NLT and Message translations)
New Living Translation
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The Message
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.
From Celebrity to Community
A People of Repair: Part Eight
by Gregory Thompson
Inhale: Jesus, My Healer
Exhale: Speak the word and I will be healed.
. . . . . . . . .
This week, meditate on the following quote and pray for healing in your heart, mind, body and soul.
“All healthy religion shows you what to do with your pain, with the absurd, the tragic, the nonsensical, the unjust and the undeserved—all of which eventually come into every lifetime. If only we could see these ‘wounds’ as the way through, as Jesus did, then they would become sacred wounds rather than scars to deny, disguise, or project onto others…If we cannot find a way to make our wounds into sacred wounds, we invariably become cynical, negative, or bitter. This is the storyline of many of the greatest novels, myths, and stories of every culture. If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it—usually to those closest to us: our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, and, invariably, the most vulnerable, our children.” —Richard Rohr
A Prayer for Healing the Wounds of Our Heart, Body, Mind and Soul
To begin, compose yourself in God’s light and love. Picture yourself in God’s loving gaze. Ask for the grace to show up before God honestly and fully.
Bring to God one of the wounds you identified these past four weeks in the prayer of Examen.
Feel the wound as you first felt it and as you are feeling it right now. Try not to think about it, just feel it, identifying yourself with Jesus and all who have suffered in this life. Let yourself feel how much it hurts to hurt.
You are not alone. Welcome Jesus into the hurt and whatever else you are aware of feeling. Perhaps with the hurt comes anger, loneliness, sadness, shame. Welcome Jesus into it all, receiving from him whatever he is offering. In being willing to really feel it, you are letting go of your oppositional energy against suffering, which actually brings freedom from it.
Thank God for the healing that comes from identifying with Jesus as the wounded healer–One who doesn’t just feel compassion on you in your suffering but experienced wounds of His own and knows intimately how the human heart, mind, body and soul breaks and repairs.
From the Merely Spiritual to the Fully Human
A People of Repair: Part Nine
by Gregory Thompson
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 2:12-13 (NIV)
Loving God,
I am just beginning to realize how much you love me.
Your son, Jesus was humble and obedient.
He fulfilled your will for him by becoming human and suffering with us.
I ask you for the desire to become more humble
so that my own life might also bear witness to you.
I want to use the small sufferings I have in this world
to give you glory.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
Audio Meditation (10 minutes) on “Caged Bird” by Maya Angelou
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
. . . . . . . . . .
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:28, 31 (NIV)
From Success to Suffering
A People of Repair: Part Ten
by Gregory Thompson
Inhale: Holy Wisdom
Exhale: Guide me.
. . . . . . . . . .
A Prayer for Post-Traumatic Growth:
Studies show that the majority of trauma survivors do not develop PTSD, and a large number even report growth from their experience. Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun coined the term “post-traumatic growth” to capture this phenomenon, defining it as the positive psychological change that we can experience as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances.
These seven areas of growth have been reported to spring from adversity:
To be sure, most people who experience post-traumatic growth would certainly prefer to have not had the trauma. Nevertheless, people who experience post-traumatic growth are often surprised by the growth that does occur, which often comes unexpectedly as the result of an attempt at making sense of an unfathomable event.
A Prayer of Examen for Identifying Growth*
God, thank you.
I thank you for always being with me, but especially I am grateful that you are with me right now.
God, send your Holy Spirit upon me.
Let the Holy Spirit enlighten my mind and show me how I’ve grown.
God, let me look at my growth.
Where did I experience a greater appreciation for life or beauty? Who am I grateful for, and who helped me through this season? In what ways did I show compassion and offer help? Did I make any new plans or decisions that I’m happy with? Where did I surprise myself with my own resiliency and strength? Where did I learn to let go or surrender to God? Did I experience any areas of creativity or flourishing?
God, let me be grateful and ask forgiveness.
I give thanks for the growth that comes in hard places.
I ask forgiveness for any ideas, feelings, or actions that kept me stuck.
God, stay close.
I want to see how you changed and grew me and others. Keep my eyes and heart open.
**Adapted from David L. Fleming, What Is Ignatian Spirituality? (Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, 2008) by Katie Mullin.
From Reclaiming the Nation to the Resurrection of the Dead
Part Eleven in People of Repair
By Gregory Thompson
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
Matthew 9:10-15 (NIV)
God of such unwavering love,
how do I “celebrate”
the passion and death of Jesus?
I often want to look the other way
and not watch,
not stay with Jesus in his suffering.
Give me the strength
to see his love with honesty and compassion
and to feel deeply
your own forgiveness and mercy for me.
Help me to understand
how to “celebrate” this week.
I want to be able to bring
my weaknesses and imperfections with me
as I journey with Jesus this week,
so aware of his love.
*Originally appeared on website for Creighton University as “Prayers for Lent”
Audio Meditation (11:20 minutes) on Luke 11:1-4 (First Nations Translation)
O Great Spirit, our Father from above,
we honor your name as sacred and holy.
Bring your good road to us,
where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above
is reflected in the earth below.
Provide for us day by day-
the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon.
The corn, the squash, and the wild rice.
All the things we need for each day.
Release us from the things we have done wrong,
in the same way we release others for the things done wrong to us.
Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road,
and set us free from the evil one and his worthless ways.
Aho! May it be so!
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Follow the Stations of the Cross, here.
The cross is the hope of Christians
The cross is the resurrection of the dead The cross is the savior of the lost
The cross is the staff of the lame
The cross is the guide of the blind
The cross is the strength of the weak The cross is the doctor of the sick
The cross is the aim of the priests
The cross is the hope of the hopeless
The cross is the freedom of the slaves
The cross is the power of the kings
The cross is the water of the seeds
The cross is the consolation of the bondsmen
The cross is the source of those who seek water
The cross is the cloth of the naked.
We thank you, Father, for the cross.
From an African hymn, ca. 10th century
