Family Prayer

Imprimatur: Joseph Cardinal Bernardin

Lord God, we thank you for the gift of family. We acknowledge that our image and name as family come from You.

We believe that within our family lies a home-made holiness. We affirm that it is in this household of faith that we experience Your presence, Your forgiveness, and Your love.

We are family. We give thanks to You, for the many joys and blessings that have come to us through our family.

As family, we sometimes feel pain. And so we offer to You our disappointments, frustrations, and hurts. Help us to forgive those members of our family, including ourselves, who have caused pain.
We pray for the strength to be a light within our family. May we open our hearts, our eyes and ears and carry our light to those in need.

God, Creator of the earth and all its people, help us to be mindful that, as members of one global family, we are equal in Your eyes. Help us to continue to appreciate the diversity of persons in our homes and in our world. As members equal in human dignity, may we build a better world and proclaim our willingness to be the holy people you call us to be. Amen.

So, my brother sent me this prayer today.  I loved it so much, I thought I would share it with you. 

Jim and I feel so lucky and blessed to be part of the families that we are.  I know when my dad died, a lot of people commented to me, and the rest of my family, about what a great man he was.  That was really nice to hear.  I know I always thought that, but to think that the rest of the world saw it, too, was truly a gift. 

As one of my friends said to me at that time -- if only the kids who are without parents, or without good role models that we had could have used our parents for a small time, we wonder what would have, could have become of them. 

I'm not sure we always appreciate what we have when we have it.  I'm sure when our kids are getting chastised for something that they sometimes wonder about us, but hopefully, eventually, they will realize that it was always to make them better people in the end.

I know that now I appreciate the values and sense of family that my parents instilled in us, as we find ourselves without parents, that all of us still understand and value the meaning of family.  One of the grandchildren worried when Grandpa died that we may not see each other as much any more, when we simply had to remind them that that will NEVER be an issue.  We love each other and need each other too much!

I thank my parents, and Jim's parents, for helping us to be the people we are today.  Good and bad, happy and sad, we are very grateful.

PS Cardinal Bernardin, the impramatur of this prayer, also confirmed me!!  What an awesome man!!  (And not because he confirmed me!).