Here you will find a prayer for the elderly and some suggested bidding prayers to help offer to God our intentions for Day for Life 2022.
This prayer was offered for the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
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I thank You, Lord,
for the comfort of Your presence:
even in times of loneliness,
You are my hope and my confidence,
You have been my rock and my fortress since my youth!
I thank You for having given me a family
and for having blessed me with a long life.
I thank You for moments of joy and difficulty,
for the dreams that have already come true in my life and for
those that are still ahead of me.
I thank You for this time of renewed fruitfulness to which You
call me.
Increase, O Lord, my faith,
make me a channel of your peace,
teach me to embrace those who suffer more than me,
to never stop dreaming
and to tell of your wonders to new generations.
Protect and guide Pope Francis and the Church,
that the light of the Gospel might reach the ends of the earth.
Send Your Spirit, O Lord, to renew the world,
that the storm of the pandemic might be calmed,
the poor consoled and wars ended.
Sustain me in weakness
and help me to live life to the full
in each moment that You give me,
in the certainty that you are with me every day,
even until the end of the age.
Amen.
Suggested ‘Prayers of the Faithful’ for Day for Life 2022:
For the Church: that her leaders and all her faithful people may actively witness to the dignity of every human being, from the youngest to the oldest, knowing that in God’s eyes no one is redundant or a burden.
V: Lord in your mercy
R: Hear our prayer.
For policy makers and leaders in society: that they may come to a fuller appreciation of the significance of family and community and so promote the building of bridges between the generations.
V: Lord in your mercy
R: Hear our prayer.
For elderly people: that they may continue to rediscover their God-given vocation in the world, confident that their contribution to society and to the younger generations forms part of building up the Kingdom of God.
V: Lord in your mercy
R: Hear our prayer.
For those who care for and accompany elderly people: that they may come to see the riches that the journey through old age brings.
V: Lord in your mercy
R: Hear our prayer.
For those who are bereaved, who mourn, or are lonely: that they may feel your presence ever near them.
V: Lord in your mercy
R: Hear our prayer.
For those who are coming to the end of their life: that they may face the everyday losses of fragility and growing old in the real and certain hope of an everlasting future when every tear will be wiped away.
V: Lord in your mercy
R: Hear our prayer.
We invite people to think again about the value and worth of older persons.
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