Today’s Reflection: Dear Lord,
Please help me to be a better person,
to see you in every corner of my life,
to see you in the people in the world,
to see you in the smallest flower and seed,
to see you in the mountains and valleys,
to see you in the sunset and sunrise
everywhere.
And to know that you love me. —Joan Colleran Hoxsey
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection: Help Me
Lord, help me see; make me an instrument of your radical inclusion.
Help me to put aside any prerequisites to respect a person.
Help me to initiate communication and act with kindness.
Help me to find ways to engage and include others.
Help me to find spaces and moments to let others participate.
Help me to avoid “tuning out” the people around me and to notice the little things.
Help me understand the power of my presence, gaze, posture, smile, and attention, as healing tools I already have.
Help me not to blame the one who suffers for their suffering; the one who is excluded for their exclusion.
Help me be aware of my judgmental and prejudicial thoughts, that I may not hamper the opportunity to really meet and know the other.
Because, it’s you O Lord, who calls me to encounter, and your Spirit who guides me to walk with the other and to really see them as you do; to include and love them as you do.
For all this and more, help me be an instrument of your radical inclusion. Amen. — Sindy Collazo
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection:
Silent Call, Whispered Return
Fill me with all that draws me closer to You
Stillness, prayer, time to reflect
Connection with my companions on the journey.
Speak to me in the hushed quiet of prayer.
That I may let go of all that holds me back
From the life you are calling me to. — Bodmin Hermit
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection: Slow me down, Lord.
Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory. Help me to know the magical, restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art of taking minute vacations—of slowing down to look at a flower,
to chat with a friend,
to pat a dog,
to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise,
that I may know that the race is not always to the swift—
that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward into the branches of the towering oak
and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life’s enduring values that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.
Amen.—Wilfred Arlan Peterson
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection: God of all time, help us enter the New Year quietly,
thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others,
mindful that our steps make an impact
and our words carry power.
May we walk gently.
May we speak only after we have listened well.
Creator of all life,
help us enter the New Year reverently,
aware that you have endowed
every creature and plant, every person and habitat
with beauty and purpose.
May we regard the world with tenderness.
May we honor rather than destroy.
Lover of all souls,
help us enter the New Year joyfully,
willing to laugh and dance and dream,
remembering our many gifts with thanks
and looking forward to blessings yet to come.
May we welcome your lavish love.
In this new year, may the grace and peace of Christ bless us now and in the days ahead. — Vinita Hampton Wright
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection: A Wish For The New Year
Dear Lord, please give me…
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value, without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come. — Author Unknown
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Note from the editor: My best wishes for health, happiness and peace to readers and followers of Morning Offering. Hope to see you in 2025!
Today’s Reflection: Prayer
Lord,
I want to ask you “Please let me see,”
but for some reason the words stick a little in my throat.
I think a part of me fears what you want to show me.
Will it be more than my mind and heart are prepared to take in?
Will you throw me a curveball I didn’t expect?
Help me Lord, to trust the voice deep inside of me
that knows you only wish to show me the magnificent things
possible with love and trust and hope in You.
Amen. —Gretchen Crowder
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection Surround me with your presence, Lord, I long to hear your voice. Clear my mind of countless concerns and all the holiday noise. Slow me down this Christmas: let me not be in a rush; I want to feel your hush. — Jesuit prayer site
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
Today’s Reflection: Way, Truth, Life
You are the way, the truth, the life
Without the way there is no going
Without the truth there is no knowing
Without the life there is no growing
Show us the way, that we may go
Teach us the truth, that we may know
Grant us the life, that we may grow
Eternally. — Rev. Theodore J. (Ted) Tracy, S.J.
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m
Today’s Reflection: Prayer
Jesus of story,
Weaver of words,
Master of metaphor,
Whose expansiveness cannot be contained,
We ask you to animate our imaginations today.
Soften our rigidity,
Quiet our quest for certainty,
And fortify our faith in Your poetry,
Your endless knowability,
Open to each and every one of us.
In Love, we pray.
Amen. — Katie Davis-Crowder
Morning Offering is a daily post by Joe Barkovich who lives in his hometown of Welland, Ontario. Daily photo by Joe Barkovich.
Morning Offering is posted by 8 a.m.
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