Weekly Prayer

Are you envious because I am generous?

Father, when I think about it,
I can easily be overwhelmed
by all your gifts to me.

When I look at the universe you are creating,
there is, in the vastness of space,
so much more nothing than something.
And of the something,
most is energy, or dark matter,
or clouds of gas and dust
that sometimes coalesce into
stars and galaxies,
moons and planets.
But to only a fraction of it all
do you give the gift of life,
and only a very small fraction of life,
are the complex animals,
and only a fraction of them are human.

Without having done
anything to deserve it,
I have somehow
won the cosmic lottery.
Given the odds,
what a miracle it is
that I exist at all!

And as if the gift of life
were not enough,
you loved us so much
that you sent your Son
to give us a share
in your divine life,
a life that never ends.

Father, help me to be conscious
of all your gifts as I gather
with your people
to give you praise and thanks
at Mass today.
Help me to allow the Spirit
to gather me up
with the whole community
into the body of your Son.
Help us to share more fully
in the divine life we receive
in the Eucharist by
becoming Eucharist ourselves
and living your life
of utter, loving generosity
in all that we do.

Help me, Father, to be generous
as you are generous.
Banish from my heart any envy
I might hold for the gifts
you have given to others.
And open my eyes to see
those weighed down by poverty,
those looking for work
they cannot find,
those juggling part-time jobs
to support their families,
those suffering from
neglect or illness or cruelty.

Open my eyes to them, Father;
give me the courage
to act as selflessly
and generously toward them
as the landowner acts in today’s parable;
as selflessly and generously
as you act toward us all;
as selflessly and generously
as your Son, who gave his life
for the life of the world;
as selflessly and generously
as the Holy Spirit who showers
your gifts upon us all.
Amen.