THE COUPLE THAT PRAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER
Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R.

January 25th – 31st The ways of the Lord.

  “Follow me and I will make you into fishers of people.” Those words of Jesus, which are given to us for this week, are usually thought of as being addressed to people with a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. They are about vocation certainly but are addressed to each of us. The four great vocations in the Church are single life, married life, religious life and priesthood. All of us who are baptised are living one of those and each of us is vital to the health of the whole body, the Church. We live our vocations in different ways but to the same end, the salvation of the world. Our task is to discover how to live our own vocation to the full. This means discovering how to make our love radiate out to those around us. We begin in our homes with those who are closest to us. Then we can reach out to the world around us. When we are with Christ and following him love will be the characteristic of our lives.

Morning Prayer, when together

  All powerful and ever-living God,
direct your love that is within us,
that our efforts in the name of your Son
may bring the world to unity and peace.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

During the day, when apart.

Lord, receive the gift of our married love.
Let our efforts at loving more deeply make us holy
and bring us and all our loved ones salvation.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Evening/Night Prayer together.

God, all powerful Father,
may the new life you give us
increase our love
and keep us in the joy of your kingdom.
We ask this through Christ Our Lord.

Questions for Action for the week.

For your marriage: In what way could you bring the gift of your love to another couple this week?

For others: How could you encourage and support someone with a different vocation from yourself this week?

PRAYER REQUESTS.

1. Please pray for our family in this difficult time of separation.
    

2. Please pray for a priest who has been unable to go back to his ministry due to ill health.
    

3. Pray for Jim & Mary - thank you for your prayers.
    

4. Mary has a recurrence of cancer and is having chemotherapy at this time. Please pray for her that she will be cured this time. She is a young woman.
    

5. Please pray for Judy and William. William is undergoing chemo for cancer that is spreading. We pray that our Lord will hold His hand over both of them.
    

6. Please pray for my marriage. For the past 5yrs of our 13yr marriage my husband has changed. I have had to cope with his infidelity and now drugs. Please pray for us and our 3 children as I can not take anymore.
    

7. Pray for: Andrew and I
    

8. Please pray for Lauri who is ill with lung cancer. Also Brendan who has been diagnosed with hardening of the arteries in his brain.
    

9. Please pray for Geraldine who is going through some financial problems. Please let every thing be ok for her. Thank you
    

10. Please pray for my husband and me. Our union is threatened because of his joblessness. He tends to lose his temper over petty issues and turns to be quite abusive. I have a challenging job in a call centre that requires me to work odd hours. He is job-hunting and has of late become so insecure and abusive and violent.
     

11. Please pray for my wife who is in a very stressful situation in her workplace. She can no longer do all that is physically expected of her due to arthritis, but cannot transfer to anything else either. We are nearing retirement age, but are not financially able to consider early retirement. Pray for our Lord's guidance and provision.
     

12. Please pray for me to understand why I can’t seem to hold onto friends. Each time I make a good friend and things are great between us ....they seem to get fed up with me and dump me .........I’m lonely and in need of a good friend who is genuine and caring. I’m not a bad person and I can give loads of love and friendship back.
     

13. Please continue to pray for Eugene. He is making very good progress since his operation. We pray that he will soon be back to full health. Thank you for your prayers so far. And thank God for all he has given us.
     

14. Could you please pray for healing for me as I am experiencing problems with my throat and stomach as well as Mrs Braithwaite who also has stomach problems? Could you please pray for healing for Al who has cancer? Thanks.
     

15. Please pray for my Fiancé, Ann, she is in Uganda and I am in South Africa. Please pray for us so that God gives us blessings for our marriage which we are looking forward to.
     

16. Please pray that my husband will be healed of all the evil that has come upon him causing him to do very destructive things to himself and others. Please save our marriage as he is convinced it is over and hasn’t given it a chance. Please pray for him to be healed and realise what he is throwing away.
     

17. My beloved Brothers and Sisters I need your PRAYER support. I am financially sick and I need a financial healing in JESUS name. May GOD bless you for your time amen.
     

18. Please pray for my sister and brother-in-law and their marriage that is falling apart. There is so much pain and hurt and unforgiveness right now. Please pray that God will make all the crooked ways straight and shower his mercy on both of them, as they hold on to the promise that all things will come together for the good - for those who love Him.
     

19. Please pray for and with us in a difficult time of our marriage. I am 8 months pregnant and we have a 3year old son. Pray for guidance, forgiveness, re-gaining trust and love to fill uncertainties and empty spaces in our hearts. We need God back into our lives and we need to 'find' each other again in order to make this relationship work.
     

20. Urgent prayers are requested please for our niece Fiona who has been diagnosed with a tumour in her spine. She is to have surgery in the next few days. She is 35 years old with three very young children. Pray for God's help in helping her cope with the outcome.

New Publications: Veritas has published a new book by Fr. Johnny Doherty, C.Ss.R. called Do you want to be well again? – Thoughts and prayers at times of sickness. It can be purchased from any Veritas bookshop. ISBN 1 85390 862 2 or from their website www.veritas.ie Another book by the same author together with Fr. Oliver Crilly, Paddi Curran and Frank Dolaghan, which has been published more recently, is called Think Big, Act Small – Working at Collaborative Ministry Through Parish Pastoral Councils ISBN 1 85390995 5

One of our major undertakings in Love is for Life Trust is working with couples preparing for marriage. It is a great joy and we have a very good residential programme for it. These weekends are held in Esker Retreat House, Athenry, Co. Galway. If you know of couples getting married in Ireland please encourage them to look up our website for dates for this year: www.loveisforlife.com

Would you like to tell us about someone, you know, who is in need of prayer. Please click below and tell us about them.