Today we celebrate the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In our Gospel we hear the familiar story of Jesus telling the disciples to put out into the deep and lower their nets. The disciples are tired and discouraged as they hadn’t caught anything during their first time out. On their second trip out, they caught many fish, and their nets were almost breaking. Jesus showed compassion for His disciples, and they responded.
A prayer that I have found helpful during these times is one by Fr.
Dan Harnett – Give Us Hearts. May we have hearts full of hope and reach out
with compassion for all.
Give Us Hearts
God of love and compassion: may we always recognize your spirit:
·
in the refugee family, seeking safety from violence;
·
in the migrant worker, bringing food to our tables;
·
in the asylum-seekers, seeking justice for their families;
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in the unaccompanied child, traveling in a dangerous world.
Give us hearts that break open whenever our brothers and sisters turn to us.
Give us hearts that no longer turn deaf to their voices in times of need.
Give us eyes to recognize a moment for grace instead of a threat.
Give us voices that fail to remain silent, but which decide instead to advocate prophetically.
Give us hands that reach out in welcome, but also in work, for a world of justice until all homelands are safe and secure. Amen- Fr. Dan Hartnett S.J.