August 17, 2025

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Leo, our Pope. May the Holy Spirit guide him with integrity. May his actions and words unite us in faith.

We pray to the Lord.

For all political leaders. May we all work for justice and harmony amid hatred and division. May hope be our daily bread.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who wait for new life. May the downtrodden and fragile be given hope and strength. May we lovingly serve our neighbor in need.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who feel unjustly separated from family and loved ones. May God unite us in harmony and justice.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who wait for healing in their grief. May God invoke peace in our hearts amid sudden loss and heartache.

We pray to the Lord.

For teachers and mentors. May our children know the richness of people who inspire education, integrity, creativity and good works.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who ache for harmony in their relationships. May we all seek forgiveness when misunderstandings separate us from loved ones. May God unite us in love.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who survive fragile health. May the ill be given adequate healthcare and support. May we seek to support our loved ones who most need.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who have died. May our loved ones be in union with Christ Jesus for all eternity.

We pray to the Lord.

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August 10, 2025

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Leo, our Pope. May he offer the world a moral and gracious voice. May his actions inspire faith and love.

We pray to the Lord.

For courage to believe in Christ Jesus. May we seek holiness and trust in God’s mercy and plan for the world.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who live in fear. May every heart under heaven be offered healing and forgiveness. May courageous hope become our daily food.

We pray to the Lord.

For survivors of summer floods and storms. May we grieve the loss of loved ones, businesses and homesteads. May we establish safe housing and healthy foods for our future.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who endure on the streets and in deep woods. May our sisters and brothers be offered the basics of life. May hope be born in daylight.

We pray to the Lord.

For peace in our world and in our hearts. May we be awakened to God’s mercy in actions of justice. May peace be lived in our time.

We pray to the Lord.

For families struggling to make ends meet. May every family be offered affordable housing and healthcare.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who cannot find healing from illness. May we lovingly support our loved ones in time of need. May hope be born when pain overwhelms.

We pray to the Lord.

For our loved ones who have died. May we find our place in God’s love in our eternal rest.

We pray to the Lord.

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August 3, 2025

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Leo, our Pope, and __, our Bishop. May they shepherd with zeal and gracious authority. May they see in humanity the Church’s greatest possessions.

We pray to the Lord.

For us who cling tightly to the past. May we learn to live today with open hearts and sheer trust.

We pray to the Lord.

For a deeper awareness of the earth’s resources. May we live simply and with love upon the earth. May we view our planet as God’s gift.

We pray to the Lord.

For us who claim our worth in what we purchase. May our hearts sing in the presence of our Creator. May God offer us true purpose and joy.

We pray to the Lord.

For us who live in competition with our neighbor. May we find our truth in God and not in living so to please others.

We pray to the Lord.

For patience in our aging. May we grieve our losses with love. May we let God be our joy and our healing.

We pray to the Lord.

For our youth who begin a new year of education. May they be inspired by God’s plan for their lives. May they find their true treasure in God’s grace.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who survive illness and false diagnosis. May healing begin in our surrender to God’s love and goodness.

We pray to the Lord.

For our loved ones who have died. May they be led to God’s eternal and loving home in heaven.

We pray to the Lord.

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July 27, 2025

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Leo, our Pope. May God’s healing grace offer him mercy and compassion to pray and to lead us in faith.

We pray to the Lord.

For courage to pray. May we surrender to such a gift of God’s healing joy. May hope be on our lips and in our actions of forgiveness.

We pray to the Lord.

For us who often feel lost on our journey of faith. May we embrace God’s eternal mercy in all our relationships. May we be consumed with love along our way.

We pray to the Lord.

For all devasted by natural disasters in our country. May we lean on the goodness of others and ask God for what we need.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who are confined to prisons. May we all ask for freedom in our lives and support in our survival.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who need daily bread. May the hungry rely on God and the goodness of people. May our Eucharist be broken and shared even among the starving and neglected.

We pray to the Lord.

For courage to serve our neighbors. May our prayer lead us to generosity and peace. May the needs of people not be forgotten in our time and place.

We pray to the Lord.

For us who cry out in need. May God hear the prayers of us who stumble and fall. May we always rely on God’s healing fidelity toward humanity. May the Eucharist fill us with abundance and mercy.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who have died. May we seek God’s healing in our grief. May our loved ones find eternal rest and peace.

We pray to the Lord.

CLICK HERE to read today’s scriptures

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July 20, 2025

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Leo, our Pope, and ___, our Bishop. May they courageously seek the presence of Christ Jesus and live in service among all people.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who have lost employment and health benefits. May courage become their food and hope be their way for the survival of family life.

We pray to the Lord.

For the survivors of the Texas flood. May they be consoled and healed as they grieve from such profound loss.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who are ill. May we all seek the healing presence of Christ and bask in the light of his love. May the truth of Christ be at home in our bodies.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who seek Christ. May our hearts be open as we seek Jesus in our silent listening. May justice become our way of life as we learn to serve without measure.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who obsess on regrets. May we not live in the past nor in the future. May we seek God’s grace in our present ways of life.

We pray to the Lord.

For people who survive depression, loneliness and fear. May our mental anguish be eased in the presence of Christ, our healer and guide.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who narrate stories that put down other people. May our voices be filled with truth and may we speak only the good others need to hear.

We pray to the Lord.

For all who wait for the love of God’s Kingdom in heaven. May all our dead be gently accompanied into eternal life.

We pray to the Lord.

CLICK HERE to read today’s scriptures

Today’s reflection is published in Give Us This Day, July 2025, from Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 13, 2025

Where God Dwells

On my first day of seminary in 1974, I realized the word of God in front of me, not abstract in a library or echoed in a choir. Walking around campus of the Univesity of Notre Dame for the first time with a new classmate, a man collapsed in front of us. His two young children screamed for help. We huddled around the man, my classmate began CPR. Someone called for an ambulance while a priest anointed him. Unfortunetly, the young father died on the sidewalk.

Even though I never met the oldest son who came to campus as a freshman nor the mother who had remained home because of illness, the family claims a place in my heart. The message of God is manifest before our eyes. Our neigbhor cannot be ignored, not the ill or the children, not the stranger nor the unbeliever. Our neighbor is not bound by ethnic identity or mental health, not by age or social status. Our neighbor is where God dwells, especially the one who needs care, who longs to be seen. As Christians, we carry the memories of the burdened in our hearts, filling us with love of humanity and hope for heaven.

I learned lessons early that broke through walls of classrooms. Only Jesus shows us how to bend down to hold the mystery and beauty of illness, anguish, and even death. Only Jesus shows us how to herald the Scriptures in community and manifest them on days we least expect.    

Fr. Ronald Patrick Raab

Fr. Ronald Patrick Raab, CSC, serves as religious superior at Holy Cross House, a medical retirement facility at Notre Dame, Indiana. He is a retreat director, award-winning author, and visual artist. Learn more at ronaldraab.com