Dear God,

We thank you for a wonderful and blessed weekend.  You gave us some good insights.  You gave us good instructions on how we are to conduct our lives.  Just as the landowner goes forth and calls people standing idle at the market place, and he gave them a purpose, to work in his vineyard.  You also give us a purpose for our lives.  Instead of standing idle, you call us to work in your vineyard, the Church.  

Holy Spirit, you bless each and everyone of us with different gifts and talents, so that we could utilize them for the growth of the body of Christ, the Church.  So that we utilize them to proclaim on the housetops, the good news of the gospel, to put the "lamp on a lamp stand" and for the building up of your kingdom here on your earth.  

And our purpose and priority you set for us is to pray.  Not only to pray for our own needs and the needs of the people that have asked us for prayers.  But these kinds of prayer, the Holy Mass, the divine office allows us to communicate in a respectful and proper way with you.  They are the great channels that gives us proper structures on how we are to communicate with you.  

Just as animals in their communication with human beings are limited, our language of communication with you is also limited.  But you show us how to do so.  And we are so blessed that these prayers have been preserved by the Apostles, Saints and our ancestors.  

Once, Your beloved son taught the disciples how to communicate with you in a most profound way.  He taught them the Our Father prayer.  Left to our own, we would never come close to praying in that fashion.  Jesus, Your Son, certainly is the way to you.  

These daily prayers refreshes our soul. These prayers lift up our spirits.  Your glory/praise goes hand in hand with our spiritual refreshment.  It is as people would say a win/win situation.  

Although your glory cannot be increased any more because you are already all powerful and almighty, but you give us the gift of freedom.  And when we freely take the time to pray, your glory is only increased within us.  Like our blessed mother, she glorifies you when she prays: my soul glorifies and magnifies the lord.

And when we discover the purpose that you give us to pray.  When we see the significance of working in your vineyard our church, especially in our local parish, when we respond to the needs within the faith community, it is only because your grace allows all of that to happen.  And when these things haven't happen yet, if we are tempted to hide our lamps under a bushel basket or see others refraining from practicing their fait, we will humbly realize that we operate not on our own time, but on your time.  We operate in the way that you order things.  

And When we are tempted to rush and speed things along.  Sometimes it shows when we are unhappy with our current spiritual situation, and we wish to speedily advance further, and when we are unhappy when one particular person that we are acquainted with, who is not yet at the stage of faith where we want them to be, you remind us right away that you are always in charge.  

How could our 100 years here on earth, compare to all of eternity, since you operate outside of time, and you could see so far in the future and so far ahead how we all turn out eventually.  If we could get a glimpse of the future, it would be a blessing, but then again it would spoil your gift to us, your gift of the present moment.  So that your gift of freedom and allowing us to live in present, we have the option of doing good, avoiding evil.  You allow us to use our time and resources wisely.  And even when stray from the righteous path, you allow that to happen so that a greater good can come forth from it.  Your grace to help us repentance and reconciliation.  Your wisdom is so beyond our understanding and comprehension, but however much we could grasp of it is so little grasp of it is so life-giving for us.  

Lord, with your gift of freedom, we now take the time to praise and glorify you in the best way possible by lifting up your beloved son, and offering him up to you as the perfect sacrifice.