Hymn
O God, as You by Your pure gift
By grace our nature do uplift,
And make it possible to be
What You, God, are essentially.
We pray You then to hear our prayer,
For it is Christ’s, whose life we share;
And since we share Christ’s nature, we
Can pray, like Christ, almightily.
Through Jesus Christ let this be done,
Who lives and reigns, our Lord, Your Son,
Whom with the Spirit we adore,
One God with You forevermore.
Antiphon
P. Therefore I say to you, all things whatever you ask for in prayer, / believe that you shall receive, and they shall come to you.
(Psalm 85:1-10)
All: Incline your ear, O Lord; answer me for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; / save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; have pity on me, O Lord, / for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant, / for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, / abounding in kindness to all who call upon You,
Hearken, O Lord, to my prayer / and attend to the sound of my pleading.
In the day of my distress I call upon you, / for you will answer me.
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, / and there are no works like yours.
All the nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, / and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds; / you alone are God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, / and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be / world without end. Amen.
Antiphon
All: Therefore I say to you, all things whatever you ask for in prayer, / believe that you shall receive, and they shall come to you.
P. (Chapter–Philippians 4:47) Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety, but in every prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God. And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
R. Thanks be to God.
V. I will sing praise to You in the sight of the angels.
R. I will worship toward Your holy temple, and I will give glory to Your name.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
Let us pray.
P. O Lord Jesus Christ, You have said: Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. Grant, we beg of You, to us Your supplicants, the gift of Your most divine love, so that we may love You with our whole heart and in all our words and works, and never cease praising You, who live and are King world without end.
R. Amen.
V. St. Isidore.
R. Pray for us.
Prayer in Honor of Saint Isidore
All: O God, who taught Adam the simple art of tilling the soil, / and who through Jesus Christ, the true vine, / revealed Yourself the husbandman of our souls, / deign, we pray, through the merits of blessed Isidore, / to instill into our hearts a horror of sin and a love of prayer, / so that, working the soil in the sweat of our brow, / we may enjoy eternal happiness in heaven, through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with your spirit.
V. Let us bless the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.
V. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
R. Amen.
REFLECTION
Growing up in Kansas gave me a deep appreciation for the land and farmers who tend the land. The desire to cultivate the land lies deep within our being and goes back to our creation when God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to till and keep it (Genesis 2:15). We have built within each one of us a love and care for God’s creation.
Whether you live in a rural or urban area, the desire to cultivate and tend the land is within us. We see this today as many people, including young families and young adults, are taking up homesteading, growing gardens, growing vegetables, raising chickens, and more.
As people cultivate the land, they are also finding beautiful opportunities to generously share the fruits of their labor with others. They are performing corporal works of mercy and sharing the gifts God has given them. I have seen people share the fruit of their labor with neighbors, family, friends, food banks, shelters, etc. They are uniting the use of their property and land to their prayers and trust in God’s bounty. When united with God and his purposes, gardening and homesteading lends itself to love of God and neighbor!
My friends, I encourage each of us, whatever environment we may be in, whether we live in a city, a small town, or out on a farm, and whatever our profession may be, whether a farmer, a stay at home mother or father, or a business professional who dabbles in a hobby, to ask the Holy Spirit to come down and inspire the works of our hands, that in all we do we may give glory to God, who created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that fills the universe.
St. Isidore, pray for us!
Bishop David Ricken
Diocese of Green Bay
Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be (etc.) three times, followed by a prayer of your choice for special needs.
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