Dear Parents/Guardians,
Each year, we enter the Lenten season filled with hope – hope for a deeper relationship with God, hope for strength to be more forgiving, loving and generous to others, and hope for the coming resurrection. And especially this year, we also have hope for our community and our world, as we face the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic together.
In his message for Lent 2021, Pope Francis calls on the faithful to “renew our faith, draw from the living waters of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God.”
Lent is a time of prayer and repentance, as God calls us to focus less on ourselves and more on others. Perhaps during this year of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are even more opportunities to help those around us. During this Lenten season, as we pray and in our alms-giving, let’s remember those among us who are frightened and suffering, those who are hungry, sick and alone. Let’s reach out to those who need our help – people we may know and others we may not. There are many ways we can offer our support.
Let’s also remember to lift up in our prayers the brave women and men who are serving on the front lines during this pandemic, working to keep us safe and healthy.
May God bless you in your Lenten journey … and may the Holy Spirit fill each of us with a renewed sense of hope, as together we await the joy of Easter!
Blessings,
Deb Crawford
Director of Education
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord God, we pray for your love and compassion to fill our hearts as we walk through this challenging season.
We ask that You would grant wisdom to our public health professionals, who have the responsibility to keep us safe and healthy.
We pray for those who are suffering with sickness and those who are caring for them.
We ask for protection for the elderly and vulnerable.
We pray for freedom from fear and for the hope that You provide, as we face each day with faith, peace and trusting in the truth of Your goodness.
We ask these things through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Adapted from Xavier University Prayers