Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Openness to Love ~  It takes a long time to discover that the longing to love is not love, and that to seek God is not the same as finding God.  We are to be finders of God, not just seekers. For Love is always here just as God is always here.  When we finally open ourselves to love not as a destination after a long search but as the journey itself, it is then that we know without holding back that God is at the center of our being. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 12

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Let Us Labor in Love ~In her book See No Stranger, Valerie Kaur teaches us about the Sikh religion and also about her belief in the concept of revolutionary love, saying it is our best chance as individuals and societies to stay in the fire long enough to deliver the world longing to be. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 5

 

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

What time is it? ~ This everyday question shows nothing more obvious and innocuous. We think we know what time is. We believe we own enough time. Only eternity explains time in the best way. Naja Yazbek

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for February 27

 

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Everywhere ~ How much of the meaning of Jesus’s words have we lost in translation? In his book Prayers of the Cosmos, Neil Douglas-Klotz provides meditations on the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes based on the Aramaic, Jesus’s spoken language. Subhana Graf

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for February 20

 

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Create a Space for Love ~ On this Valentine’s day and Ash Wednesday, let us create a space of love for a God who loves us beyond our understanding.  Let us welcome the stranger in our midst and the stranger in our own hearts so the God of love can be profoundly revealed in us. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 13

 

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Loving Kindness ~ Loving kindness seems to be in short access these days and in various segments of our world.  And so it seemed a good idea to bring it into the spotlight.  May that kindness spread like butter on a hot muffin so everyone is bathed in it’s goodness. Carolyn Horvath

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for February 7

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Divine Energy Flows through Us ~ Divine Energy is Love. When we love one another it is God’s love that we are sharing. God’s love is the only love there is. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 30

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Wilderness: Home in You ~ As the New Year moves forward, we may carry with us resolutions, hopes for the year to come and all that we might discover and create. What might this year reveal? May we not give up our hopes and have the courage to look deeply into ourselves where God lives and find our way through the wilderness to the home within.  Ginny Drotar

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 23

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

God Is in Your Heart ~ After much searching I have reached the conclusion that any religion TEACHING LOVE at the heart of its doctrine will lead us to God. I believe that part of the GOD SPIRIT resides WITHIN ME and in every OTHER HUMAN BEING on earth. That SPARK OF THE DIVINE residing within me is the SPIRIT OR SOUL that has lived before and will live after this body is dust or ashes. Dean Presson

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for January 16

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
~ St. Mother Teresa
St. Mother Teresa reminds us it’s about belonging to one another.  We have to do the work of loving others even in the midst of differences and opposing ideologies.  The work is hard but essential.  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 9

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

We belong to a Web of Life ~ We stand at the beginning of another year, looking ahead with anticipation or fear, confusion or curiosity, exhaustion, or joy. In spite of our unknowing about what is to come, what dreams will be fulfilled or crushed, what troubles will arise or melt away, what losses we will experience or what new loves will appear, Barbara Brown Taylor invites us to know this one thing: We belong here and nothing we are or experience is inconsequential. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for January 2

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Water Cannot Quench Love  ~ Long ago, humanity discovered that thirst extends beyond mere physical necessity. The yearning for mystery and the pursuit of the incomprehensible are fundamental aspects of life.  Naja Yazbek

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for December 26

 

 

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Rise and Look Around You ~ What do we usually see in our everyday lives? The minutia of our immediate surroundings and events. When we step back, or better, rise UP, we can see the bigger picture, which includes our place in the divine creation. Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for December 19

 

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Edge Walker ~ As we walk through life, I find more peace and joy if I follow the call of my heart. I am strengthened on my journey when others, also following their call, walk with me, especially when we walk on the edge of life. Let us learn from one another. Let us lean on one another as we journey. Mary Beth Marquard

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 12

 

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

You Are Loved More Than You Could Ever Know ~ Everything changes, even mountains and oceans, over time and in the moment. Everything changes and becomes more (or less). We can be open to becoming always more open and more loving and more who we are meant to be—uniquely ourselves. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 5

 

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Thanksgiving Is Not One Day ~ Gratitude is something we can’t say enough about.  We can’t read enough about  it and we can’t practice it enough.  So here we have another perspective of GRATITUDE.  Carolyn Horvath

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for November 28

 

 

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Gratitude Without Conditions  ~  Gratitude is for every moment, even the ones that bring us sorrow and pain…For in the container of life, everything is held by God and used for our transformation. Creating conditions for our gratefulness deprives us of joy. We are invited to celebrate our lives by living in the gift of being human. If not, we risk living a joyless life.  What births that joylessness? Fear. It’s always fear, both internal and external.  May we step into life without fear and instead choose gratitude, as we trust God for each day. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 21

 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Love Changes Everything ~It’s so simple—love—and yet we make it so hard.  Now more than ever this world needs more love.  The song from way back when—what the world needs now is love sweet love.  Yes!  Let us make a pack with the universe that we are going to be that sweet love that changes everything. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 14

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

 

The Symmetry of Kindness ~ The Symmetry of Kindness is rooted in the idea that the power of love, unleashed in the world, infuses an energy that is infinite in its impact. The tiniest moment of affection, gratitude, awe, praise, service ripples out in a thousand directions to feed and strengthen the peace we seek. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for 11-7-2023

 

Tuesday, October 31, 2023


Love the rest of yourself ~
You can’t fight or ignore your dark side for ever, be friend with your shadow, tame it and let it sleep on your lap like a docile pet. Naja Yazbek

 

Click here

 

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Be Open ~ Everything changes, even mountains and oceans, over time and in the moment. Everything changes and becomes more (or less). We can be open to becoming always more open and more loving and more who we are meant to be—uniquely ourselves. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for October 24

 

 

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

From the Shores of Silence ~ We live in a world interpreted by others: told what to think, what to believe, what we are seeing, and who we are. Can we dare, as Hildegard of Bingen did, to listen to the gift we have to give to the world in the uniqueness of who we have been created to be by God?
Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 17

 

 

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Created for Joy ~ Why are we here? We are created for joy – to smile, laugh, love, to be uplifted and uplift others. How can we uplift others if we are not embodying what we would wish for them? Emotions are contagious. When we are full of joy, we lighten the hearts around us.Subhana Graf

Click here

 

 

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

We Are Here for Each Other ~ Together we can become the very person we are here to become.  And at the same time we are helping others to become the best they too can become.  Together we can do it! Carolyn Horvath

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for October 3

 

 

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

All You Need Is Love  ~ It’s as simple as that. Dean Presson

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for September 26

 

 

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Faith Is the Path  ~ Many paths for one faith ,one God and one Universe. Discover your faith and you will see the path. Naja Yazbek

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 19

 

 

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

To Breathe is to Sing ~ Mark Nepo says every authentic moment is a note in the song of our lives. If that song is playing in the world every day, are we able to recognize and hear that music as a source of sacred revelation? And are we able to hear the beauty and resonance of others’ lives, and of all creation as a source of sustenance for our journey? Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 12

 

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Honor the Dignity of All Workers ~ Labor day week…let us collectively honor the many laborers who touch our lives by their work, their dedication, their sacrifice.  Our lives would be less with out the many hands committed to our food, transportation, education, finances, health, and general wellbeing. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 5

 

 

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Everything is Sacred ~ Let us pray for and reach for the consciousness that makes us aware of this truth. God in everything within and around us, help us to realize and remember, all is you and your grace. We encounter you in each other, in our daily experiences and in ourselves. Thank you! Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 29

 

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

 The Mercy of a Tender-hearted God ~ How many times have you experienced God’s mercy? The people of the world are in such great need of our tender-hearted mercy. We are all earthen vessels in need of kindness and love. What am I doing to prevent myself from extending compassion to those I believe different from me or unworthy of love? “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” (Mt.5:7)  Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 22

 

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

 I really want to know You, Lord  ~ My journey through life has been a search for God. Have you reflected on your own personal journey? How did you get to where you are today? Is it enough? For me, the journey continues and should never end. God’s love is always more. Dean Presson

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for August 15

 

Tuesday, August 8, 2023

On Love of Godde, Self, Neighbor, Enemy, All Creation ~ 

Peace…in my heart…in your heart…in the heart of our planet.  Amen. Carolyn Horvath

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for August 8

 

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Ordinary Enlightment ~ The challenge for each of us in this life is to reach for the stars with our feet on the ground. As Irenaeus, the great second century theologian said, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive!” Believing this,  then living this is the call for each of us in this journey of life. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 1

 

 

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

The Gift of Direct Spiritual Experience ~ Our internal experience of the un-nameable spiritual reality is a far more direct and influential conduit for understanding how deeply we are loved and how that source of love connects us to others and to the whole natural world. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for July 25

 

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Accepting God’s Love as Beautiful ~ Surely God who is Love has created us to live in love. What if God’s intent isn’t judgement and punishment, but the desire that we feel that Divine Love ourselves and share it with all who live? Carol Kandiko, CSA

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 18

 

 

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Miracles ~ One living planet with an unimaginable diversity of life. God, One Creative Consciousness, loving it all. Why do we keep waiting for miracles? It is in you! Naja Yazbek

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 11

 

 

Wednesday July 5, 2023

Born to Live  ~ How do we live our lives?  Just putting in our time, or embracing all the ups and downs that we encounter?  Alone, or within a beloved community?  For those of us who gather here to pray, the collective energy embraces and sustains us. Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 5

 

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

  My Peace …
I Give To You ~ 

Peace…in my heart…in your heart…in the heart of our planet.  Amen.  Betsy Nero

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 27

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Deep Within Your Life ~ Often we are directed to look for an answer to our prayer from the great immensity of the Universe. Truly God is beyond our imagining and present in all of Creation. Yet, we ourselves are beings within that great Mystery and God’s intimate presence is deep within each of us, our source of life in each moment. Be still. Listen.  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 20

 

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

You Are the Face of God  ~  Many of us find ourselves on a constant search for God, for the Divine, for Peace. We are challenged to see the face of God in others. Yet, that is where we will find the God of our quest; in each other, in the difficult ones who cry out, in the silent and withdrawn, in the poor, abused, victimized neighbors and strangers we meet on the journey. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 13

 

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Fullness in This Moment ~ Sometimes it seems we are all waiting for that time in the future when we will be ready to do God’s will. We take a class, read a book, get information and talk to experts to get ready for the “next big step.” All of that is helpful in its own way, but for the little work of God, we simply need this moment and our prayer to make it a Holy Moment for co-creating with God now. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 6

 

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Sit in Silence at the Edge of the Water and Learn to be Satisfied ~ Daily we are bombarded with the serious issue of climate change and disaster. We cannot be about using this world but awakening to it. We have to sit in the presence of the great majesty that is our Mother Earth and love her and learn from her. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 30

 

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Breathing with One Another  ~ We are together on this planet for a reason. Let’s begin by breathing together in and with God and each other. This can lead us to service and breathing can help us to be open to that gift. Carolyn Horvath

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 23

 

Tuesday, May 16, 2023


Mysteries ~
Being aware opens us up to Mystery. Live life with an openness that isn’t afraid to ask the biggest questions. Naja Yazbek

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 16

 

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

 

Brokenness and Beauty ~ The lovely mosaic cross was created by the people and ministries of Bethany Presbyterian Church with The Reverend Sharon Grace Sherwin Budin.  It is a perfect metaphor for the shattered pieces of our lives that God takes and reimages and forges into a new creation. God uses broken things – “unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  John 12:24  Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 9

 

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Standing in the Light of God ~ Richard Rohr tells us we can dance standing still.  A challenge to the imagination.  The important response to God’s call to take a stance in the Light can be inspiring as well as invigorating.  What more can we do to stand against darkness and remain firmly in the Light of God’s Love?  Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 2

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

We Are One ~ St. Thomas Aquinas wrote: “One can saythat God is more closely united to each thing than the thing is to itself. “  Can we begin to consider that God is more closely united to each human being, to each of us, than we ate to ourselves? Let that unfathomable idea settle into your heart. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 25

 

 

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

It’s a delicate walk to balance hope with chaos. Stacie Martin ~ It is easy to find God present in peaceful times but difficult to see God in chaos of our lives as well.  Our prayer this week contemplates the chaos of the creation story as a background to our search for an answer to that dilemma.  Ron Konkoly


Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 18

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Joining the Resurrection ~As the sun rises Easter morning, everything changes. The emphasis shifts from what lies behind to what lies ahead of us, from what we have done to what God is doing, from what we have been to what we shall become. Jesus is portrayed as “the firstborn from the dead” and invites us to come after him into new life. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 11

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Speak to me of God ~ This Holy Week prayer is about hope and
harmony…about our potential…about the perfection that surrounds us.  Let us finish Lent believing in God’s ever unfolding love for us…it is all around us. Betsy Nero

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 4

Tuesday, March 28, 2023


There is Treasure in Our Fields ~ In our modern society, we are removed from the natural world, and so often miss the lessons it has to teach us. Jesus immersed himself in nature, meditating in a garden, the desert or a mountaintop, and often used nature in his parables. Choosing to spend time in nature can offer us the same sense of benevolence, insight, and wisdom that Jesus experienced in his sojourn with God in natural settings. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 28


Tuesday, March 21, 2023


Let Us Pray ~
Lent time is a special time for prayer. Let us pray! Prayer is when we go to meet God and also meet the people around us. Naja Yazbek

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 21

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

A Living Prayer  ~ Mark Nepo describes how living authentically is what is means to be fully alive. Pope Francis prays with us that we might move beyond ourselves to find truth. Linnea Good challenges us to make our life a living prayer. Carol Kandiko, CSA

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 14

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Rooted in Trust ~ Trees that are firmly rooted can be an inspiration for us to deepen our roots in God to help us survive the winters of our lives just as the deeply rooted trees do.  Trust God is with you in the dark and frozen times of your life. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 7

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Healing Gift of Love ~ God’s goodness and strength are gifts within each of us that we are called to share with each other. Not only with those we already are close to and care for, but also for those who anger and frighten us. “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hurt you. …” Carol Kandiko, CSA

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 28

 

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Ain’t It Everyone’s Sun? ~ Richard Rohr says “We need both inner and outer wisdom to have true spiritual wisdom.” Sri Chinmoy describes the balance that we seek between war and peace. Bobby Darin sings for peace. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 21

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Our Search for Love ~ Our search for love begins as infants in the gaze of our mothers and fathers and finds culmination in our union with God. In the heart of God, we discover our union with everything else in creation. No matter where we live, the journey within is where this monastery of the heart exists in community with all others who are traveling the path of Love. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 14

 

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Be Still, O Be Still ~ Silence isn’t just an important element in our lives it is essential.

When I step away from frenzy and chaos and truly enter into silence I am never disappointed by what I hear, learn, recognize, and understand.  God is always in the silence calling me back. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 7

 

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Explore the Mystical Terrain of Divine Grace ~ In his book Addiction and Grace, Gerald May says, “The transformation of desert into garden is made possible only by God’s grace raining upon the areas of our lives that are truly wastelands.” He proffers an invitation to enter the desert to discern where our true treasure is stored. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 31

 

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Thank God I Am ALIVE ~ The prayer this week sheds the light on being ALIVE. Living is not always alive. Oliver Sacks shares with us the benefits of the age eighty, while Fearless Soul expresses with musical rhymes their view on Better life. The Reading is from the great poet Kabir,  explaining what does it mean to be Alive. Naja Yazbek

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 24

 

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Grasping God’s Hand ~ God is constantly reaching out to us through his son, Jesus,
and through those around us: people, animals, nature, sun, moon and stars.
Reach out!  Grasp the Love of God!  Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 17

 

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Let Our Hearts Overflow  ~ The title comes from the words of St. Benedict: “Let our hearts overflow with the inexpressible joy of love”, which are also the words of the song.  In the timeless reading, Rumi links gratitude, joy, and love. Subhana Graf

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 10

 

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Spirit Enfleshed ~ Each of us, born of God’s Love, is a child with the potential to shine Christ Light into our world: to raise up the lowly, bring hope to each other, accept and bless our own brokenness, helplessness and suffering. May we believe and experience and share and celebrate all that we are in You, God of Mystery, Creator of All!  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 3, 2023

 

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Not That Far From Bethlehm Did we celebrate the birth of Christ in our hearts a few days ago or a birth 2000 years ago? Do we celebrate the beginning of another year this Sunday or do we celebrate as our God provides “new beginnings” each day? It is amazing that even in northeast Ohio we are not that far from Bethlehem. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for December 27

 

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Transformation is Here and NowThe tendency to put things into some comfortable future often makes them unattainable and, in some ways, safe. God is not waiting for us in some place far in the future. God is here, now, with us—the true meaning and realization of God in the Emmanuel of Christmas. May we bravely open our hearts to “be here now” and find that God is with us in this moment. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for December 20

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

waste my heart on fear no more During this season of hope, joy and peace may we all find ways to let go of fear and walk into the light of courage and confidence.  God wants so much more for us. Gibran writes, “The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean because only then will fear disappear, because that’s where the river will know it’s not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean.” We have so much that awaits us.  We are the ocean if only we can believe it!  This Advent—believe it! Betsy Nero 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 13

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Breath of Heaven Lighten my Darkness

Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 6

 

Tuesday, November 27, 2022

Longing for God  ~ We long for God because we belong to God. Many times we feel that urge to enter an empty church or to go to the forest and talk to the trees, in my opinion in both cases we are responding to the call of the beloved , we are seeking the light to leave behind our darkness. God we long for you. Naja Yasbek

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for November 29

 

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

You Are…We are  ~  YOU ARE somebody’s front porch to God, someone’s doorway to mercy, the world’s threshold to kindness.  WE ARE called to act with justice, love tenderly, serve one another, and walk humbly with God. Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 22

 

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Renew the Divine Spark ~ We often falter carrying life’s burdens.   Our love for God may seem like a dim flame.  We feel bereft, sad and lonely.  Simply and humbly questioning, seeking and surrendering to God can reignite our relationship with God and others. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 15

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

A Presence that Disturbs ~ The Love Who is God invites us to continue the ministry of Jesus and those who follow in the lifestyle of Jesus — Welcome sinners! Love your enemy! Work for justice! Rock the boat!  How then should we live?  Carol Kandiko, CSA

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer forNovember 8, 2022

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

A Place on the Road Home ~ November 1 is the Anniversary of Centering Space where we are challenged to accept each moment of our lifetime. This prayer brings a special blessing to our 19 years of growth.  The readings reflect on the road of life and the people who travel with us and the One who is within us all. Ron Konkoly

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 1

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Crossing into hte Unknown ~ Life is all about standing at thresholds.  They are changing all of the time and as John O’Donohue reminds us that to cross them we must have courage.  What makes the crossing over a little easier is our faith and the communities we belong to.  Without the people who love and support us and our trust in a loving God, we might never have the strength to move beyond a single place. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 25

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Seek to Live in Harmony with the Mind of the Creator ~ Maintaining an inner harmony in the face of a world that seems out of control is a one of our greatest spiritual challenges. We are called to do so in acknowledgment that everything that happens to us is in divine order and has the capacity to open us to a greater experience of love. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of thePrayer for October 18

 

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Releasing into Renewal ~ The seventh rung on the ladder to the Light is renewal, which requires an exchange. As soon as we let go of something from our hand, we can see that our hand is also then ready to receive. This is what is also happening to our hearts and minds as we let go of what has defined us thus far and, with faith, allow ourselves to experience renewal. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for October 11

 

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

I Want to be Happy ~ Happiness is to know the future more than owning fortunes. Happiness is the bait that pulls us out of our beds in the morning. No one would leave his room, if she/he doesn’t believe that happiness is waiting for them somewhere. Naja Yazbek

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for October 4

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Already ~ Wisdom about living our lives – from ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, native American elder and retired Episcopal bishop Steven Charleston, and late 20th century singer/songwriter david m bailey. Subhana Graf

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 27

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Hope on the Labyrinth of Life ~ On our life’s journey, we are pilgrims, travelers, sojourners seeking and searching for something/someone to bring deeper meaning into our lives. Where am I on my path today? Am I alone or in a community of seekers? How can I/we support each other on life’s journey? Mary Beth Marquardt, HM

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for September 20

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Presence Just Beyond our GraspLove, Divine Love, is our birthright from the very beginning. We spend a life time falling into it – falling in love with our true being in the wholeness of creation! But we never seem to capture the whole truth of God’s unconditional love. It is good that we have a lifetime to keep on trying. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 13, 2022

 

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

The Circle of Truth ~ The symbol of truth in Native American cultures is the circle because it is the pattern of life we see all around us. It is in the circle of the seasons, the family, the beginning and end of life, the arms that hug us, and more. Join us in exploring how we can live in the Spirit of Truth each day. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for September 6

 

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Stay Where the Pain Is This week’s prayer focuses on the pain of the moment (physical, emotional, spiritual).  Staying in the pain and waiting for God’s intervention.  The prayer likens the interventionist God to a midwife who helps us through the painful birthing of comfort and peace.  The song enhances that moment and the psalmist takes us there. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 30

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

We Are the Light of the World! ~ It feels like so much is spinning out of control…the climate crisis, war in Ukraine, anger about immigration, homelessness, young people suffering with depression, our politics… We have to remember we can affect change…we can be the light of the world; we can let justice roll, we can be the way of compassion, we can be the peace and the healing the world needs.  We must believe in our own love and power and live into the light. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 23

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

The Song that Sang All Life into BeingIn her book Sacred Instructions, Sherri Mitchell offers us a new way to look at the interconnectedness of all life. She says we are all individual notes in one continuous song that “sang all life into being.” Frequently bringing our attention to focus on the gifts that others bring to our lives – such as the inventions, service, conservation, compassion, medicine, farming that we rely on to live – can help us create a spiritual practice steeped in gratitude for how all of those musical notes sustain us as well as provide a constant flow of grace to feed our own daily efforts. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 16

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

God in the Street ~ If we could imagine people in the subway and see God in everyone, then we might understand the plan of God.  The almighty God left the temple for more productive work. God is very busy visiting every heart and soul. God has become one of us. Naja Yazbek

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for August 9

 

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

No Time to Waste:  “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  So said Saints Paul and Timothy to the church at Philippi.  That quote is not a part of this prayer, but each element reaffirms it.  Historian Howard Zinn brings that advice forward to our view of the world shaping our behavior – “to live now as we think human beings should live”.  Abdur Rahman emphasizes the fleetingness of life – there is “no time to waste.”   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 2

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Simplicity ~ Life can become so complicated.  Sometimes it is beyond our control, but often it is of our own doing.  What am I doing to simplify my life to experience God and all creation more fully?
Mary Beth Marquard, HM

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for July 26

 

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Unfolding into Ever New Ways of Being ~ We are always changing though we have no awareness of it as it happens. Change isn’t frightening; it’s an essential part of living. It is a “God-given dimension of all creation.”  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 19, 2022

 

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Mysticism  of the Masses ~ This week’s prayer considers the modern day mystics who utilize gifts and manifestations of the Holy Spirit to proclaim God’s love. They work from noise and confidence, not just from pulpits of marble and gold but from the scrap wood and re-used nails of worship and hope. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 12

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Faith in Action  ~ What does it mean to live our faith? Usually, it takes the form of action, but spiritual action is not the same as mere movement. Action is listening to the Spirit guiding us into a place where faith and the decision to DO something is created in our hearts and lived out heartfully in the world. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for July 5

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

The Ground is Holy ~ All life is sacred – everything is holy.  Each day is another miracle.
Each day is an opportunity to see God’s presence.
In my little garden I find joy in the worms, in new buds, in the smell after a good rain, in a gentle breeze, and especially in the baby deer that stayed for two days.
Every day is another chance to fall in love with God and God’s creation! Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 28

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Love is Enough ~ The Universe powerfully responds the instant I realign with Love. My body, mind and spirit must all be facing the same direction to move forward. Silence, meditation, reflection will help me go beyond my limitations and recognize and align my Source of Life with my true self. Naja Yasbek

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for June 21

 

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Let the River Carry You ~ Much of what we do in life takes effort and fortitude and persistence. But what energizes the spiritual life can be quite the opposite. It is less about persistence and more about letting go and flowing with the river of experience, without resisting where it is taking you.  Syndie Eardly

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 14

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Everywhere ~ The Mystery of God is beyond all words and names. The way to see / know God is in God’s creation: in ‘what is’ as Richard Rohr puts it.  In her powerful song I Feel You Everywhere Jan Phillips expresses God’s presence all around and within us. Subhana Graf

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for June 7

 

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Spiritual Alignment ~ The Universe powerfully responds the instant I realign with Love.  My body, mind and spirit must all be facing the same direction to move forward.  Silence, meditation, reflection will help me go beyond my limitations and recognize and align my Source of Life with my true self. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for May 31

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Ô Soul where art Thou? ~ What is the soul? Where is the soul? Do animals have souls? Where does one’s soul go after death? So many questions about this mystery that is life.  Naja Yazbek

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for May 24

 

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

The Body of the Cosmos ~ The prayer this week revolves around fresh interesting insights into the communion bread that we are invited to “take and eat.”  Hopefully it will provide some help in our understanding of its “ingredients.” Ron Konkoly

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for May 17

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

We Walk Together ~ How important it is for each of us to enter the kiva of our being—that place deep within us, the very ground of our being just as the kiva is a place within the earth– where we encounter the Divine essence of reality. We go into the deepest part of our being alone but it is there that we find each other. Ginny Drotar

 

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for May 10

 

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

be serenely present ~ God has created for us a life and world where we can be and should be serenely present? And yet, we are not. What stands in our way? How come we don’t reach out and grab what is readily available in our natural world? Being a contemplative means living in balance and harmony with all of creation. Let us lean into this deep enjoyment Pope Francis speaks of in Laudato Sí. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 3

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Everywhere is the Center of God’s World ~ We are so totally one in God’s sight, if only we could see and experience our reality as God does. My favorite line from this prayer is from Trommer’s poem: “Let us choose love as if our lives depend on it.” Carol Kandiko, CSA

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 26

 

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Awaken to the Mystery of Being Here ~ In this week of Easter we celebrate Mystery…the Mystery of the Risen Christ; the mystery of Mother Earth; the mystery of self.  We share a deep interconnection—Amen, Alleluia! Betsy Nero

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 19

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Here in This Place ~This Centering Space place.
We are drawn together as one body – the gatherers and the gathered –
celebrating and rejoicing in the banquet of community. Subhana Graf

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 12

 

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Stillness ~ Centering Prayer is an excellent time to practice being still for short periods of time.  Quiet, contemplative prayer happens when we are still and open ourselves to the Spirit of God.  It can be a short time to disconnect from technology and the world news and time to connect to God in brief communion.  “Be still and know that I am God.”  Mary Beth Marquard, HM 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 5

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

We are Easter People Living in a Good Friday WorldIt sure feels like we have been living in a Good Friday world for a long time now.  It is hard to see hope and light . But as Resurrection people we believe and we have faith…that the night will turn to day, that suffering ends, that good people win, that love will prevail.  It’s the 100th Monkey phenomena…going from 99 to 100 there will be change and conversion and love wins…every time!  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 29

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Undoubtedly Here and Now ~ This week’s prayer reminds us of God’s promise “I will be with you.always…”  God truly is Lord of the mountains and valleys of our lives. Right now, millions of people are clinging to that belief as prayers for the situation in Ukraine find their way to God’s Heart. . Ron Konkoly.

 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 22

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

We Are the Place Where God Dwells ~ We need each other to be the wholeness of the Body of Christ.  Diarmuid O’Murchu describes this reality as the Companionship of Empowerment.  Each of us as the unique expression of divinity in our own being must join together to become the unfolding of God’s full vision. Together we are the place where God dwells on Earth. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 15, 2022

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Hope Lives in the Light ~ Through darkness and doubt often come the greatest creativity and faith. This is where hope comes from. Our faith is strengthened every time we go through a period of questioning: “Why do I believe this? Do I believe at all? What is the basis of my life?” When we are at rock bottom, everything becomes clearer and it is then in the darkness that we find the hope that becomes our light. When we embody hope, we become the heroes we need. We become the heroes the world needs.

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for March 8

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Respect Your Magic ~ In her book The Seeker and the Monk, Sophronia Scott reflects on Thomas Merton’s journey of discernment as he wrestles with the intense passion he has for writing and his belief that he needs to give it up to pursue the spiritual purity of becoming a contemplative monk. It is something many of us struggle with as we try to discern what God is calling us to do or be in the world. As both Sophronia and Thomas wrestle with their inclinations to become writers, they both come to accept that pursuing their passion for writing might be just the thing that most  delights the heart of God. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 1

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

To See as God Sees ~ For a brief time last week we saw “the good earth” as the snow piles melted. As we long for Spring, join us in celebrating the wonder of creation, the change of seasons, the variety of life around us. Try not to take it for granted. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 22

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Experience Your Life as an Incarnation ~  Jan Phillips says that “activism is my spirituality in running shoes.”  Just as Richard Rohr advocates “Action AND Contemplation”, she describes “one energy manifesting in two forms: as wave and particle, yin and yang, thought and action.”   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 15

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Giving gratitude without restraint ~ Are we not happy when people express gratitude to us for our kindness or generosity? Why as humans do we often forget to express gratitude to God for the good in others and in our beautiful world? Today let us take time to appreciate the God who overflows with love for us. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 8

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

God is Everlasting Light ~The Love of God allows all of us to be light bearers to the world. We are working together with the Divine Love to bring about peace and goodness in the world. That was the intention all along. We are challenged to step up to our calling and live in the Light and the Love! Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 2

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Choices ~ This week’s prayer is about choices. Our lives are filled with them! A quick peek at the practical, spiritual and imaginative aspects of our choices helps to reveal the power they have “on the road taken.” Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 25

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Don’t Give Up: Labor on In Glory ~ What is it that keeps us going when the journey in life, health or justice feels long and hard? Are there sources of energy and hope that we can tap into at such times? MLK and others on the long road to peace and justice certainly asked these questions. They kept up the struggle for equality in a way that reflected faith in a loving God for all and showed us how to tap into the Source of hope energy to bring the Kin-dom into reality until “Heaven and Earth are one.” Ginny May Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for January 18

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Sacred Hospitality ~ Jesus said “Wherever, whenever, two or more of you gather in my name, there I am in the midst of you.” This goes beyond mere physical presence. We are growing in the realization that our spirits can gather in the presence of Holy Wisdom and we are One. It is God’s hospitality that we experience in every moment.  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 11, 2022


Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Restore me to all of CREATION ~ Peace on Earth can best be achieved by living as if we believed in the unity and the sacredness of all life. Let us celebrate another year of life by rededicating ourselves to living in harmony with each other and with all of God’s creation. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for January 4. 2022

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Open Up Both Your Eyes  ~ What a beautiful season for us to open our eyes to what is around us.  The season brings so much light and color and joy.  But going deeper…open the eyes of our hearts to what lies beneath.  Be open to everyone’s story, troubles, joys, faith,…humanity.  And be open—with open eyes—to all of God’s love and beauty.  The beauty of this place we call home.  All of creation is meant to be seen and loved. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 28

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Mary, Did You Know ~ The social justice statement of the “Detained Christ Creche” of Eastminster United Church is the physical setting for the song.  It is the familiar tune, but is not the same gentle, sweet song you expect. The lyrics have been adapted to turn it into a fierce restatement of Mary’s Magnificat, her passionate response to receiving the news that she was to bring God’s son into the world. Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 21

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Who Are the Poor? ~“The Psalmist says:  “God hears the cry of the poor.”  Who are the poor?  The stranger I see under the bridge?  Someone I pass in my Christmas rush to shop?  You?  Me?  So many people are crying out. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer forDecember 14

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

…for all that will be “Yes” ~ “Yes” assures us that everything is possible.  A child fully expects to find the gift he asks for under the Christmas tree. In prayer during Advent, we ask ourselves: Are we willing to wait and to trust the One who answers our prayers? Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 7

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

From Christmas to Christmas   “Metamorphosis means a change from the form or nature of a thing into a completely different one by natural or supernatural means.” Today’s prayer asks us to examine some of our beliefs about the Christ Child not to change them but to refocus them to a maturity that Christmas expects of us. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 30

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

To Be Grateful Gratitude in the hardest of times seems like an impossibility, but it is there to be cherished tenderly in that small space between the cries and sighs of life’s troubles. Hold on. Do not be afraid. You are not alone. Each day holds in these promises a wonder of being alive in the embrace of the One accompanying us on our journey no matter what comes. For this we can be grateful. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for November 23

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Own Your Day ~ Own Your Path ~ We really ought to write on our hearts everyday that this is the best day!  It’s all here for the taking…the beauty, the love, hope, unbelievable joy, goodness, adventure, peace, calm…all  of it. Own it—the day and the path! Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 16

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

O Autumn, be myTeacher ~ Popular culture depicts heaven as a reward for good behavior.  By passing through heaven’s gates, one enters the Kingdom of God.  While this image is built upon many Scriptural passages, the Gospels present us with another view.   Jesus teaches that the Kingdom of God is here, ”in our midst” and that He has come to bring “abundant life” to all who follow His example and receive His ministry.   If this is so, this week we ask “what is heaven for?” Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 9

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

 O Autumn, be my Teacher ~ Autumn is the season, more than any other, that reminds us of the full abundance of God’s love and grace. The generous harvest we bring in from the fields, the stunning beauty of the landscape, and the gathering of friends and family for Thanksgiving all speak to us of the constancy of God’s presence in our lives.  Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for November 2

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

What if… we lived life in radical amazement. What if…our religion was each other. What if…we recognized that the universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. What if…we saw ourselves as an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.  What if… Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 26

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Open My Eyes ~ Open my eyes, open my ears, open my heart,
Lord, so you might reveal yourself in me. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer forOctober 19

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

Willing to Begin Again ~ With each in breath we receive the gift new life. With each exhalle we give that gift away. We’ve been breathing through a lifetime and without paying close attention to the birthing and dying drama that has always marked our being here. Cool Autumn breezes can make us aware of our our being and of the Giver of Breath and Life who is always with us. As Joyce Rupp prays “Let me know the blessing of your presence in this ever-birthing life of mine.” Carol Kandiko. CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 12

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Handing Over TimeAs summer relinquishes its time to the ever volving autumn, we acknowledge the transfer of time from season to season. Our consolation is that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 5

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Fall in Love with Your Life ~ To participate fully in your own life is to fall in love with life as it is coming to you every day. Mysterious, at times excruciatingly difficult and at turns beautiful beyond words, life is a gift to open each morning with hope and trust. As Richard Rohr has written, our culture has “moved away from deep participatory experience into nonparticipation to the extent that each autonomous individual is on his or her own, especially those with economic privilege.” The invitation today is to join in the dance of a shared life, not as individuals but as a community together on the way to the “kindom” of God. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for September 28

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Live Yourself into a New Way of Thinking ~ At various times in our life, we may find ourselves caught in a kind of prison – maybe a prison of the mind, or a prison of the body or a prison of possessions – that we long to escape. We are so used to thinking a certain way about our life, our acquaintances, our needs that it is difficult for us to change to something we know might be a better pathway for our spiritual grown. Fr. Greg Boyle gives us a clue when he invites us to take a leap into new way of living in the world. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for September 21

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Come Into My Waiting Embrace ~ Oh, God, how you tap and knock; you invite and holler; you whisper and you call.  But, am I listening?  Am I paying attention to all the ways you reveal yourself to me each and every day?  It is good to remember back to when I heard  you call my name.
Renew me now in your love. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 14

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

WHAT’S GOD GOT TO DO WITH IT? ~ We are still fighting about Covid.  Natural disasters plague the country of Haiti. There is political unrest in Cuba. Afghanistan has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 falls on Saturday this week. Join us in prayer. Ponder these questions:How does a person shift focus from “me” to “we?” Where is God in all of this?  Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 7

Tuesday, August 31, 2021


God Is For Us  ~
 Ancient words of blessing, comfort, and promise are ideally suited to our times and circumstances.  Many virtual choirs have sung them for our hope and encouragement.  Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 31

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

I am lovingly and wonderfully made  ~      As humans we are most often conscious of our weaknesses, but God says:  “We are beautiful creations.”

We are creations of God.  We can radiate Love and Light if we turn our face to God realizing all of God’s creations are beautiful, me included, despite my weaknesses.

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 24

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Imagine Integrity ~  We say words of concern and compassion. We express feelings of frustration and anger. We focus our care and outrage at injustice and bigotry. God calls us beyond thinking and feeling to the action that brings about change in our world. Consider where your actions reflect your beliefs!
Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 17

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

May I Have This Dance? ~ In the midst of the rise in the pandemic I thought a visit to God’s playground would be a place of refreshment and encouragement. Everyone’s favorite prophet, Zephaniah, shares this vision. And, finally, the song sings of the vision of God’s people who ask “Can I have this dance?”
Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 10

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

The Many Names of God ~ What would happen if we let go of being right about who and what we call God and simply let God be? What if we let God love each person uniquely so that God became real to them in a form and a name they could understand? Love is the measure. Love is the guide. Love is the Name that holds all other names without limit or judgement. Ginny May Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for August 3

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Everything is Connected…
Everything!
We are all part of the grand web of life! The interconnection we share with all of God’s beings is miraculous, joy-filled, challenging, and life giving. Let us embrace, love, and respect every aspect of this interdependence. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 27

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

The Universe is Praying in Us ~ Sometimes we say, “I am having trouble praying” or “My prayer life feels dry right now.” Instead of attempting to perfect our prayer life, what if we stepped back from the formality of prayer and imagined that the Universe is praying in us, all the time. Perhaps our presence here, and our participation in all that we do, is God’s voice praying through us – an effortless prayer that calls only for our attention to the thing in front of us. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 20

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Everything is Grace ~ This week challenges us to find the Presence of the Divine in every moment of the day. This is a challenge because we sometimes separate hours of “day-to-day” living from our “prayer-time.”  We choose to pray, meditate, journal or complete a myriad of spiritual practices before (or after) we go about our daily chores.  Merton sees our days as simply “walks with God” and St. Paul instructs us to “pray always,” “strengthen one another,” “be grateful,” and remember “everything is grace.” Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 13

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Faith and Trust ~ Jane Marczewski, who sings under the name Nightbirde, is a joyous embodiment of faith and trust in God in difficult circumstances.  Her song “It’s Okay” expresses the same feelings as the well-known prayer by Thomas Merton.  She sings of being lost, but it’s okay, it’s alright.   Merton confesses that he has no idea where he is going, but will trust God always.  Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 6

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Summoned to the Heart of God and to Community ~ God is constantly calling us to be loved and to love others. There are so many twists and turns in life as we attempt to be faithful, yet God assures us we are not alone.  So many blessings await us if we continue to say “Yes!”  Though we may have to adapt and change on this winding road and at graced crossroads, God will be with us, along with a community of believers, to help us participate in the divine mystery of transformation. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 29

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Holy is the Essence of all Things ~ How have we come to understand and experience ourselves and all creation as separate entities? We are relearning that we are totally interconnected in our being Let’s take time to re-imagine and re-experience the reality that One Source is our reality. We all exist because of and within Holy Oneness. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 22

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Draw us with an irresistible beauty!~ To live a life of intention; this is our goal and our hope as we pass through this life.

We are meant to live a life in abundance…increase our kindnesses…be people who care…heal others’ sorrows…and drink from the golden fountain. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 8

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

The Whole-li-ness of Being Human ~ The desire to be holy can become an occupational hazard for the spiritual seeker. We tend to think holiness means being more than human and too often strain to do this by trying to rid ourselves of any perceived imperfection.  The result is never communion but only disunion with ourselves and others. One day, in Christ-mindfulness, may we finally realize that Love is inviting us to become wholly human and discover not perfection but wholeness. Ginny May Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for June 1

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Yours is a Holy Work ~ Annie Dillard once wrote, “A man who struggles long to pray and study Torah will be able to discover the sparks of divine light in all of creation, in each solitary bush and grain and woman and man.” I love this reminder that all of creation matters, that every human life matters, and that each of us here for a purpose. That purpose is our Holy Work. For each of us that work takes on its own blessed aspect, sometimes lowly sometimes exalted. We are called to accept and honor all aspects equally, because it all matters, becomes color and tone for the majestic painting of creation. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for May 25

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Why God Created June ~ With more of the COVID restrictions lifted and weather improving day by day, many of us are experiencing the beauty of springtime and the freedom to enjoy walking outside through our neighborhood and in our parks. Prayer this week expresses gratitude for such freedom, leading us to hope for more time to rediscover the gifts of nature, that’s “why God created June.”  Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 18

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Love Your Neighbor! ~  Jesus told his disciples to love one another as he had loved them.   He said that the greatest commandment was to love the Lord Your God with all your heart and mind and strength and that the second was like to it – Love your neighbor as yourself.  Teresa of Avila tells us how important this is – to us as well as to our neighbors.   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 11

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Path to Life ~ The Psalmist tells me God will show me the path to life (Ps. 16:11). To hear God speak to me and guide me on my journey, I must deliberately go slower, to pause for a while, to be still.  Centering Space offers this opportunity, which is not a luxury, but a necessity for my soul.  Surely God’s mercy and love will be with me on this path as I open myself to the Spirit. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 4

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

The Mystery of Emergence ~ How amazing that we are always capable of and invited to more – more life, more meaning, more passion, more love. The gifts of the Creator are unending! The journey through time begins and ends and begins continuously. Carol Kandiko, CSA  

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 27

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Nothing But Now ~ This week’s prayer focuses on the preciousness of the present moment. Eckhart Tolle helps us begin to understand the value of mindfulness and its contribution to centering prayer. Thich Nhat Hanh guides us to practice the path to a “wonderful moment.” Even though Easter has passed, we need to celebrate the gift of the risen Christ today, May our prayer be experienced in Love.  Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 20

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Welcome the Stranger ~ Easter invites us to realize that as Christ has died, so has he risen and is with us still. In our daily lives, we can open ourselves to seeing all things with new eyes. We are invited, as the disciples came to understand, that welcoming strangers as the Christ illuminated the very presence of God within them. May we become as the disciples, full of anticipation, hope and hospitality as we enter into each day. Ginny May Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for April 13

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

There is Still Light ~ The promise of the Resurrection is our assurance that the light which is the Christ is alive in our world and our lives. In this Easter week, we take our cue from a prayer by Kathy Galloway: “Christ our life, you are alive — in the beauty of the earth, in the rhythm of the seasons, in the mystery of time and space.”  Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 6

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

we must be hollowed out ~ This is our second Pandemic Holy Week.  It bears a bit of reflection and asking ourselves what has changed in our hearts?  How have we been made new?  As we finish this Lent of 2021, what is it that we will offer the world going forward?  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 30

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

As Spring approaches and restrictions from the pandemic are loosened, we might be tempted to arise and experience the joy and freedom of a “spring break.” Yet, many of us are still feeling isolated and challenged. The homebound, the homeless, prisoners, and refugees at our borders are no doubt struggling with feelings of powerlessness. How will we respond to the suffering of others? Let us be a Light in the darkness proclaiming the Good News to those yearning for it. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 23

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Let Us Pick Up the Stones.  In this solemn season of Lent we draw nearer to the mysteries of life and death and resurrection.  Let us be mindful of each sacred moment of our lives.  Pádraig Ó Tuama tells us to “pick up the stones over which we stumble…and build altars.”
Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 16

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Living SimplyKeeping our relationship with God simple will make our lives less complicated and easier.  We are not alone on this journey.  God is everywhere.  God is near.
Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 9

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

A Living Prayer ~ Mark Nepo describes how living authentically is what is means to be fully alive. Pope Francis prays with us that we might move beyond ourselves to find truth. Linnea Good challenges us to make our life a living prayer.  It’s up to us to put all these challenges into action. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 2

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

THE FOREVER COMING OF CHRIST As we enter the first full week of Lent the tendency is to begin to focus on the HISTORICAL events of Holy Week and Easter.  The ponder and readings of this week’s prayer encourage us to reunite with this Christ of TODAY as we seek Him everywhere.  The song takes us on a holy road through history to acknowledge a universal truth.  Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 23

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Lent: Longing for Our Real Lives The saying, “it was like being hit with a bolt of lightning” describes those moments when we see ourselves with a clarity that is shocking and often painful. We weep for what we have missed! Either for what we have been ignorant of and the damage we have caused or in joy for seeing with gratitude. At its best, such a revelation can open our hearts and minds to a deep change.  Lent, and Ash Wednesday in particular, is a time to intentionally open our eyes to see clearly into a change of heart that God is calling us to-a true metanoia. Ginny Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for February 16-17

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Less is More! ~ This title seems to resonate with me the more the years pass and the older I get.  I never understood it’s meaning when I was young.  How can less be more?  What does that even mean?  But now with so many years behind me I am beginning to see its deep meaning.  That by reducing stuff, and busyness, and worry, it clears the way for me to see and live “the more.” With less in my life I have time for the simple things, for the little moments, and the everyday joys. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 9

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Choose Awareness ~ Leo Tolstoy once said, “If I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.”  We get so embroiled in the minutia of our days, we often lose track of who we really are in relationship to God, the Holy Spirit, creation and each other. We must build into our days the simple choice of awareness to keep us on the path to Love. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 2 – 3

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

The Blessing of God ~ Suppose a good friend brings you a box of chocolates specifically chosen for you with love, yet you pick and choose which ones you will accept. We do this all the time with gifts. Our prayer today suggests that when God is the Giver, we do best to accept the whole gift and keep our hearts open to receive the blessing that is there. Each moment is a gift from God. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 26

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Love will Find You ~ Fr. Liam Lawton sings “Live to be holy, humble and lowly, then Love will find you and dwell in your heart.  That Love gives us the courage to be lightbearers in the world as we are encouraged by Jan Phillips and Jan Richardson.  In these times we must Stand for Love. Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 19

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Compassion ~ The world is crying out, suffering. Both the poor and the rich are in need of compassionate love. Mother Teresa tells us: “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” How can I arise today to respond to God’s call to be compassionate “in my neck of the woods?” Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 12

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Every Day’s a New Day ~ Happy New Year! This week we consider that the person we are, remains the person we have always been. Resolutions to find a new job, to lose weight, to learn to cook, to finish that novel are each opportunities worth pursuing. However, we realize that real change comes from within. Loving ourselves is perhaps a greater challenge. Becoming “our true selves” is a lifelong accomplishment.
Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 5

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

HOPE FOR EVERYONE ~The “Year of Our Lord 2020″ is a handful of hours to completion. We consider the need for hope for all in our beautiful song of Hope. Cynthia Bourgault has us look at the deeper side of a Christmas treasure. Our reading presents an opportunity to consider the value of the Manger-Child in our own lives. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 29

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Becoming Love: Blessed Am I ~ Maybe we have heard it before, but maybe we can hear it new again: We are all called to be Mary. We have each been chosen.  We are all invited to carry Christ to those in need, to those we love and to those we might call  enemies–into a world that so needs the touch of compassion.  In simplicity, we can live this out wherever we are, in whatever way the Moment offers to us. We can return to the root of our own becoming real in the world in the Love that showed us we are more than our wants, more than our fears. Ginny May Drotar

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for December 22

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Learning to Wait – Joan Chittister, OSBWaiting is very difficult for me.  I am a terribly impatient person.  It is a real curse.  I think that’s why I appreciate Advent so much because it forces me into a quiet space of longing and waiting.  And so in these final days of Advent time I seek patience, stillness, and a waiting that is pure gift. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 15

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Jesus is the Architect of our Restoration ~ Have we ever needed to be restored more than this year? As a family or a nation or the world, we have all experienced heart-wrenching and life-changing events. What I have faith in is that we can experience this restoration of spirit even when all about us is seemingly in chaos. People have experienced spiritual restoration in concentration camps or after a tornado has taken all their possessions. Spiritual restoration is being restored to what really matters: Our connection to God, to family, to compassion, to kindness, to life itself. Truly the themes of Christmas and the message, the gift that Jesus taught and exemplified in his brief time on earth. Syndie Eardly
Click here for the prayer for December 10

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

WAKE UP!  Now is the time for people to wake up.  In the rush of the holiday season, we recognize that Love is in the air.  As Christmas nears, we recognize that the Beloved is within our midst.  “All around us, we have known him.”     Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 1


Tuesday, November 24, 2020

No Matter What happens, we can be grateful for the steadfast cyclical interconnectedness of the natural world.  Leaves turn color and drop, winter begets spring, bulbs burst for the into bloom and so it goes. Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, and Natalie Sleeth help us to understand that our calling is to respond to the responsibility and privilege to do God’s work in the world and remain steadfast is service to Life – No Matter What. Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 24

Tuesday, November 17, 2020


Fulfillment Through Service ~
As human beings, each of us is called “to be all that we can be.”
Service to others will help us accomplish some form of fulfillment within ourselves here on earth,
and at the same time, help the world to heal and become more whole
. Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 17

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Embracing the Dignity of Difference ~ One of our most human traits is being unique. There will never be another you! Consequently we desire to belong, to feel loved and accepted. Once we find ourselves at home in a circle of family or friends, it becomes a challenge to welcome in the “stranger.” But what a gift when we can listen to another and discover there a unique image of the Creator.        Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 10

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

THE DARKNESS OF WAITING ~ This week’s prayer coincides with election day and the inevitable day after election day. As we wait for the results, a flood of emotions fills us and yet a sense of numbness seems to take our breath away. We are present in the darkness of unknowing. But our providential God is here with us and once again reminds us that we are worth more than the sparrows. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 3

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

 Awakening as the Beloved ~ There are times it is as if we are all living in a dream of living separate lives and that what we do is of no consequence to anyone else. We imagine that choices are made, words are said, and resentments are given safe harbor without it making a difference in anyone else’s life, let alone our own. Yet the reality is that we embody God’s co-creative power for making the  world as it is. We are invited into this divine dance of love by God’s vulnerability to us in unconditional love. God, in love, is vulnerable within our heart where the quiet reality of who we are lives in poverty. Can we open ourselves to our divinity within and accept the invitation to create, to live in full communion for the Kin-dom to come, to create on Earth as it is in Heaven?
Ginny May Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for October 27

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

May a More Beautiful World be the Desire of our Hearts – Charlotte Zalot, OSB 

Dying to self in order to be a better version of self is the great challenge. But everything we need, want, desire is already here in our midst.  Embrace it! Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 20

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Creation is Love, Dancing in Freedom ~ Even in challenging times, we can be reassured by the fact that we have been enlisted by the Creator to participate in the ongoing creation of the universe. We feel constrained by life, sometimes, hemmed in by demands or necessity. But the truth underlying the surface reality is our inherent freedom to choose and act and spread love liberally through our gratitude for all that is, in our generosity to others, and in following the creative instincts of our hearts. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for October 13

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Rebuilding the Soul of the World ~ We are certainly living in troubles times.  Our prayer this week reminds us that being united amid disagreements is essential to being Americans. We must not abandon our pursuit of the common good.  We sing together with the Youngbloods  a song which first appeared in 1967: “Come on people now, Everybody get together…”  We did it then, we can do it now. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 6

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Notorious! Halleluiah! ~ May her memory be for blessing. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was a person of deep Jewish faith.  Her life exemplified the Jewish commitment to justice.  Our prayer celebrates her life and dedication to her faith with the words of praise in Psalm 150 sung in Hebrew to Leonard Cohen’s melody. Subhana Kathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 29

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

rejoice in this harvest season ~ In the Northern hemisphere, we are preparing for Fall.  In the Southern hemisphere, they are preparing for Spring.  Both are times of transformation.  Times to remind of us that we are continuously being called to transform ourselves into our best selves.  As we live in the pandemic, we are being forced to change our “normal” ways of living.  We can use this time to allow blessings to reveal themselves, to accept these blessings and be transformed from the “normal” to someone new and possibly exciting.  Mary Beth Marquardt, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 22

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

The Simple Joy of Divine Union ~ “You must be perfect,” we learned, “as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Now that is a goal that has befuddled and condemned many of us over the years. An impossible goal is a disaster waiting to happen. But learning to live in peace and love with our God, ourselves and each other, that is the joy of Divine Union, that is the perfect acceptance of imperfection. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 15

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

OVERWHELMED ~ So many deep emotions are being experienced by the vast majority of our world’s population at this time; emotions that have the potential to divide or unite, to wound or to heal. In this prayer we are invited to a deeper awareness of God’s presence within us all. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 8

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

To be Correct or to Connect? ~ We are living in polarizing times.  We all feel pressed to take a stand on every issue and find ourselves in our corners defending our positions. Who is right, who is wrong?  The questions and divisions divide us with no sense of how to find our way back to each other again. Let us look to Christ’s example to help us find the way to peace and to our deepest oneness.  Help us to find ourselves in each other again. Ginny Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for September 1

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

The Unobstructed HeartIn the difficulties we currently face in our society, it is a challenge to trust in the unfolding of the creation story. With the constant barrage of negativity and divisiveness as portrayed in the media, and the fear engendered by the constant doomsaying and bickering on social media, our tendency is to close our hearts, become defensive or worse, lose hope and faith in each other. Anthony DeMello challenges us this week to rise above the illusion and approach life with an unobstructed heart, holding fast to the voice of the Beloved. The result, he tells us, will be an upswelling of love for others, for our incarnation and for our world. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 25

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

 Allow God to Fill You Up ~ I am enthralled with Joan Chittister’s book, The Time is Now.  Pondering prophets past and present is a good way to waste time.  I am challenged  in this present time about what it means to be a peacemaker and just what that means for me in my corner of the world. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 18

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

We’ve Got Options ~ We pray still for those who are demonstrating in our cities, that they may be safe. Let their message be heard and their needs be identified. May we move with them from protest to action. We’ve got options. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 11

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Curmudgeons of Joy ~ We are whole and in a threshold time.  We have no time to waste.  Joan Halifax says that “Being awake is love.”  Steven Charleston, an elder in the Choctaw Nation and the retired Episcopal Bishop of Alaska, encourages us to be “curmudgeons of joy”, being stubborn in faith, optimism and love moves the heart.  Settle in.  Let it do its work to soften the heart.”   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 4

Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Wisdom Emerging Among Us ~ Wisdom Spirit is with us. 
Prayer is at the heart of our lives.  We value being “contemplatives in action.” If we truly believe that we are ALL sisters and brothers, then it is a no-brainer, we will use our resources (and our last breath) to ensure all people have the freedom to live in a dignified manner.  The Spirit can guide us in this sacred time.  We need to claim the opportunity of NOW.
Mary Beth Marquard, HM

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 28

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Let the Gospel Come Alive ~ What I learned from this prayer: “The great evil of American slavery was the fiction that black people aren’t as good as white people.” (Bryan Steverson) That  to love God is to touch the hatred in our world with love so that we all can be healed. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Most of all I felt the healing grace of Bryan Stevenson speaking of our culture as one, not a black culture and a white culture, but an American culture. It was healing.  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 21

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

That’s Not All… This week’s prayer is entitled: That’s Not All From Matthew’s excitement over having dinner with his brother tax collectors and Jesus to ending up being one of the twelve; Ilia Delio a renowned physicist, learned cosmologist and author thought she was going to simply wash her hair one morning; Henri Nouwen tells us the rest of the story of the sower; and our song pays homage to our “that’s-not-all” God. May you be surprised with new gifts as you enter into the silence. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 14

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Surrender with an Open Heart ~ Every day we read the headlines and see the bad news; there is no glossing over it. People are suffering, jobs have been lost, we miss hugs from our friends, and sleep with our worries.  Yet, as painful as our struggles can be as individuals and as a world, we can allow for these times to become opportunities for transformation and growth if we can surrender to this moment. We can go into the difficulty in our lives and let it break us open to the creative life to be found within. Our lives can become our best teachers.  We can have, as Richard Rohr calls it, “forgiveness of reality as it is” and enter into the mystery of where God is leading us. God wants no less than the best for us—our full communion and co-creation into a beautiful life, a kingdom of heaven on earth in the here and now even in the midst of reality as it is. Ginny May-Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for July 7

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Destined to Discover Our True Essence ~ Amidst our current challenges,  it is absolutely revitalizing spiritually to contemplate the words of M. Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic scholar from Turkey, who reminds us that we are destined to discover our true essence. True, it can be difficult to imagine a destiny of love and unity in a political and social environment that appears to breed everything but those realities! But as we work towards a healthier and more peaceful existence, we can fortify ourselves with the knowledge that, as Gulen says,  “No matter what happens, the world will come to this path sooner or later. Nobody can prevent this.” Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for June 30

Photo by Simon Migaj from Pexels

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

 Silence is the Key to Everything ~ If indeed silence is the key to everything, we might just be able to heal the world.

It makes sense to me if we go deep within and silence the inner noise and become still then naturally we find our center and our truth.  And from there we are able to care for one another and our planet.

Perhaps it can be that simple.  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 23

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Without a vision, the people perish. (Proverbs 27:18) With the events of the past few weeks in mind, we wonder just who determines “the new normal.” We the people coming out of quarantines and curfews, have choices to make. We have power to change the world. We pray for healing and insight, for solidarity and commitment to restore the core values of our country. “All are created equal and deserving of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  Let it be so. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 16

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

All My Soul and Every Part of Me  ~  Scott Snyder had a transcendent early morning experience on a mountain peak while getting ready to operate a ski lift.  The chorus of Steve Earle’s song “Every Part of Me” became his mantra.  “I love you with all my heart/All my soul, every part of me”.   The love song, written by Earle when out on tour and missing his pregnant wife, became a universal paean of love to everyone and everything.  He says “Find that song that moves the heart.  Settle in.  Let it do its work to soften the heart.”   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 9

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Man has no Body distinct from his Soul, William Blake – Even during our time of stay at home, we may have had many distractions to keep us focused on body and neglecting soul. Or maybe now that we might be venturing out a little bit, more distractions may cause us to stray from a focus and body AND soul that we maintained during stay at home.  This prayer reminds us that we are never body without soul even if we ignore one or the other. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 2

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Walk on the Path of Life with Awareness – Being in lockdown seems to make some of us feel like we are going crazy. Amazingly enough, that isn’t all bad. Both Rumi and Ted Loder speak to a kind of spiritual “madness” that reflects the mysterious unknowability of God. The musical duo Maati Baani show us how to turn our anxiety into joy and love.When we let go of what we expect “normal” to be, leaves us open to receive the unexpected wonders of God’s generosity. Carol Kandiko

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 26

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Rx: Hope:  take one every moment as needed ~ I used to think: where are we going? “I am the alpha and omega” used to strike me as a way of acknowledging the overwhelming greatness of God. Today we honor God Omega. God at the end. This time of isolation is also a time of incubation. Nurturing our connectedness to the Holy One with a new hope, a fragile hope. Today we are somewhere on the path between the alpha and omega. Fear and hope walk the path together. We need to choose Hope. We ask God to heal our world with the only hands He has on this earth – ours. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 19

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Finding Peace in Silence ~ Many of us have had more silence in these past weeks and months than we have had in a long time. Sometimes it can be wonderful and peaceful, and sometimes it may be hard to relax when we are full of noise. If we can let go into the silence, we may find an intimacy that holds us and comforts us in these hard times. Come to the quiet and be with yourself in God’s presence. Be at peace. Ginny May-Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 12

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Prayer in the Pandemic ~ In difficult times like these that affect so many aspects of our lives, it is difficult to know exactly WHAT to pray for, or how to pray. Sometimes even a wordless prayer can be heard the loudest. Join us as we explore the many ways we pray during the pandemic, and how the pandemic may in fact change how we view and value the world and each other. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 5

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

To Walk in the Sacred Way ~ Remembering the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and living in the midst of this pandemic, there is wealth to learn from the environment.  Many articles and reporters are sharing how the skies are clearer, smog has lifted, wild animals are cautiously coming out to explore.  We are not alone here – as Americans or as humans.  We share this planet with many creatures and it is our role to protect her at all cost.  Earth Day is indeed everyday.  We simply have to live as though we really believe it. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 28

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

 Rising Above Ourselves ~ These are challenging times. Albert Camus wrote: “What’s true of all evils in the world is true of plague (corona virus, as well).”  We see examples of “rising above ourselves” as witness to the incredible resilience of people.  Many of us find being out of work, confined to our homes and keeping distance overwhelming. So too, those “heroes” who continue to work unnoticed, serving the public. This week’s prayer encourages all of us to stay “in the present moment” and find meaning for the future. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 21

Photo by Rob Blair Photography used with permission

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

All My Soul and Every Part of Me  ~  Scott Snyder had a transcendent early morning experience on a mountain peak while getting ready to operate a ski lift.  The chorus of Steve Earle’s song “Every Part of Me” became his mantra.  “I love you with all my heart/All my soul, every part of me”.   The love song, written by Earle when out on tour and missing his pregnant wife, became a universal paean of love to everyone and everything.  He says “Find that song that moves the heart.  Settle in.  Let it do its work to soften the heart.”   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 14

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Remember the Goodness of Love ~ In this Holy Week, as in years past, we hold together the sin of humanity, our own, and the love of God with more vigor than in any other time of the year. This is why I have chosen parts of this prayer that touch on both. Although we may see sin and love as polar opposites, our reaction to them are quite the same. We go to God with both our sin and our love. This year, as we quarantine during Holy Week it is important to remember that in all things God is our constant companion.  When we see all the people doing great things for others in this pandemic, we know these loving responses are gifts from God shown in the actions of an individual’s response to LOVE, however they define it. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 7

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

The Circle of Life has a Great Love at the Center of It  “Love makes the world go ’round.” These lyrics from my childhood are simple when understood beside the words of e e cummings’ expansive poem: “I carry your heart with me.” I recomend that you read the poem first as God’s voice speaking to you and then also as you speaking from your heart to God. Then listen to the poet read it himself on YouTube. May Love grow in our hearts during this time of being still. Sister Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 31

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

That’s Not All… This week’s prayer is entitled: “That’s Not Al” from Matthew’s excitement over having dinner with his brother tax collectors and Jesus to ending up being one of the twelve; Ilia Delio a renowned physicist, learned cosmologist and author thought she was going to simply wash her hair one morning; Henri Nouwen tells us the rest of the story of the sower; and our song pays homage to our “that’s-not-all” God. May you be surprised with new gifts as you enter into the silence. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 24

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Transformation in the Dark: Hope in a Time of Disaster  ~  What can be the guiding light that gives you hope in a time of disaster?  Author Rebecca Solnit says, “To be hopeful means to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.” From a spiritual perspective, we encounter the deepest realities of our lives stripped down to what is most essential and life giving without all the distraction. We are invited—and sometimes forced—to consider what really matters and are awakened to wonder how we can enter into the mystery of life with others rather than independent of them. Ginny May Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 17

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

You Are God’s Temple ~ God’s gift to us is our very being and the place where we live.
Our role is to care for both with all our passion and care.
We are indeed God’s temple and we live within the temple of God,
so we have to give our full attention to the planet and all her creatures. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 10


Tuesday, March 3, 2020

A Time for ListeningAs we enter more deeply into Lent, let us become saints and poets, listening for the voice of God, speaking to us in soft whispers beneath the cacophony of our busy lives. Kairos time. God time. Let us just BE in the days ahead. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 3

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Sit for awhile and do nothing Moving from Mardi Gras to Ash Wednesday this week, we will ponder the wisdom of three active contemplatives and their emphasis on taking time for silence in order to respond to the noisiness of any day. Hopefully, as we move toward Springtime, nature can lead us into deep appreciation of the passing days and by “doing nothing” for awhile each day, we will have the energy to meet the needs of others. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 25

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

There is a Presence in Us! ~ We so often look for proof of God’s existence outside of ourselves. But there is a deep within mystery that we each carry and are able to access when we let go of our need to be in control and our strong belief we know all there is to know. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 18

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Love does that – In our spiritual journey, in our lives and in our understanding of God, love grows, love frees. With great spiritual leaders, like Meister Eckhart, we can both learn and be inspired to expand this understanding of love and then live it. Our prayer this week, centers on Eckhart’s belief as well as his inspired work. “Love Does That” reminds us of Valentines, those we remember and those who are living today. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for February 11


Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Beyond “Our Father” – Culture and language strongly influence the way we look at the world.  In the book Prayers of the Cosmos, Neil Douglas-Klotz explores the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes as expressed in Aramaic, the spoken language of Jesus, or Yeshua, as he would have been known.  Using the root syllables of each word and line, Douglas-Klotz constructs several possible translations illuminating layers of meaning that Yeshua’s hearers could understand and interpret based on where they are in their spiritual journey.  In The New Zealand Prayer Book of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa there is a version of the prayer that takes into account the earth-based spirituality of the indigenous Polynesian peoples.  Both of these wildly disparate treatments go far beyond “Our Father”.   Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 4

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

…On Earth as it is in Heaven… With today’s focus on environment, cosmology, church, politics, impeachment, abuse and drugs, etc., I thought an hour of reflection would be appropriate to dwell on the simple fact that the Creator of the Universe has chosen to reside in each one of us. To me the reading and reflection remind me that I have to be cautious as to where my fortune lies. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 28 29


Tuesday, January 21, 2020

When will I ever learn to live in God? Being in the world as a lover is what we are all meant to be. A lover of God and of life. Of other humans, animals, plants, and of all creation. Just like St. Francis, this is what it means to have a monastic heart: to be in love with God in all of the forms that God reveals himself to us. Together in this state of divine love incarnated, we have the potential to realize and create the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus promised awaits us within. Yet, so often we place conditions on this experience of union with our deepest self. We protect ourselves with ideas about God that limit full communion and with the reality that already exists. So what is the answer to the question when will I ever learn to live in God? Is it now? Or will we wait until we die to live in God? Can we let ourselves begin to taste this wonderful gift of life now? Can we take small steps that will make big changes? Will we say yes when our chance comes today to be You-as-Christ in the world? Ginny Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 21-22

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Live as Much as Possible at a Higher Level ~ My hope for the new year is to be more intentional in my love of strangers and my love for God.  I understand the dictate from St. Basil about giving away from our abundance and I want to work harder at doing that in this new decade.  My riches are many – physical, relational, and spiritual –    I want to share more freely. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for January 14-15

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

My only aim is to finish the race The beginning of each year gives us an opportunity to take stock of where we are headed. And though we begin the journey towards our particular destination with great enthusiasm, we know from experience that there will be plenty of twists and turns, obstacles and stumbling blocks on that journey. Our task is to keep our eyes, minds and hearts on the underlying and ultimate spiritual goal of our vision and purpose, and not be drawn off course by the inevitable setbacks.  Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer for January 7& 8

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

The Eternal Ecstasy of Being~The Energy of Love is about balance and chaos, movement and ecstasy.  From Leonard Cohen’s poetic prose to Ruth St. Denis’ words translated into song by Anahata Iradah and Prema Dasara, we journey through the universe of love.  In the words of Iranian poet Hooshang Ebtehaaj,  “you are the ancient wayfarer whose real home is love”.
Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 17

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Trust in the slow work of God. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ~In this time of Advent, the dark season, and soon the start of winter, we are waiting. Not waiting for a baby to be born who will be Jesus, but waiting for God’s communication to us, individuals who follow this Christ. As we wait, we are listening, yearning, learning for the words meant just for us. We can’t be quite sure how/what/why these words are for us, sometimes they don’t quite seem to fit at first. Then we sit wait and listen more for a clearer understanding. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 10

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

To seek God is to find God ~ There are so many ways we have been taught this basic insight. We image the Creator in our very being. It is God who holds us in existence. The One we seek is already present in our deepest self. All that is required of us is to open our awareness, our consciousness and breathe!            Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 3

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Waiting ~ The prayer this week comes from a wonderful realization that each day we are asking God to be born again in the stable that is us. Ironically we are waiting for advent to begin this Sunday so today we are waiting for the waiting to start. We need a savior everyday in our lives but we also need an incarnation, a re-birthing of our own spiritual journey everyday of our lives. Whether it is our 20th or 90th year of our life celebrating advent, let each day of this 2019 waiting season be cherished and celebrated. The song we hear today is certainly Mary’s song. But, let it be our personal advent song every day as we wait for our first 10,000 years to begin. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 26

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

It’s Never Too Late ~ How many times have we started a spiritual discipline only to have our efforts fade away into forgetfulness or boredom? Yet God is with us in this too as part of our journey is to discover how helpless we are and how much we need God’s graces to bring us home to ourselves.  So we begin again, because it is never too late to make the contemplative journey.  It is a long process but if we can give ourselves over to the service of Love, we will discover the richness of God in our lives. Ginny May-Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 19

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

What did you do…  when you knew? Drew Dellinger  I have really been struggling with the concern over climate change.
Daily the news identifies yet another sever weather incident— increased wild fires, severity of hurricanes, extreme flooding, hotter temperatures, melting ice caps, etc.
The Native Americans teach that individuals should make decisions based on how it will affect seven generations from now.  So what will my great-great nieces and nephews inherit?
I am looking at my choices differently and trying harder to be more conscious.  We are all part of the web. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 12

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

I Seek Strength ~ A Hopi Creation Story emphasizes the spiritual truth that true strength does not come to us from the exterior world of form, but from inside of us, in our connection to the Great Spirit. It is in prayer and meditation that we replenish the energy needed to navigate the challenges and demands of our lives. It is here, that we find not only strength, but wisdom, compassion, equanimity, acceptance and perseverance. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 5

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

We are truly blest! ~ November 1, the Feast of All Saints, is the anniversary date for Centering Space. Our prayer this week includes the intentions of all who have placed them in our prayer basket from the beginning. We remember especially those who join our weekly  circle from the mysterious realm of heaven. Surely we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! We are truly  blessed. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 29

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Praying the News ~ Are you finding it difficult to read the paper these days or listen to the news?
For so many in our neighborhoods, cities, and around the world daily life is threatening and desperate. Join us for prayer this week. Sit in silence and consider human suffering and the doubt that arises, causing us to wonder: Where is God in all of this? Does anyone care? With the psalmist, we ask the question: “ What can the just one do when things fall apart?” Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 22

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Silence is the fullness, not emptiness Many people struggle with silence whether it is new in their life or they have been attempting or doing for years. We belong to such a doing culture that silence is not encouraged or modeled very often. Our prayer time at Centering Space is a great way to begin, to continue or renew the gift of silence in our lives. With this season of Autumn, the invitation of quiet in nature and in our homes is all around us. This prayer asks us to deeper to the root and find the gift of silence as a gift to ourselves and the world.  Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 15

Tuesday, October 8, 2019


A Celebration of This World
 Our lives are an integral part of this world.  We are born to live, not just survive, as Ann Mortifee sings.  The small kindnesses we show to one another as a matter of course are the true dwelling place of the holy here on earth. Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 8

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Treasured  ~ Often we sense that our higher power is watching carefully over and participating in our lives. It creates in us such an internal contentment. Out of that contentment we say: “I love You, You are wonderful, such a treasure to be in Your presence” and you hear a reply: “I love you, you are wonderful, such a treasure to be in your presence.”
The prayer today focuses on our “Mutual Treasureness”  Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 1

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Love without Conditions There are times in life when we feel as if it is going along fine. We have our possessions to keep us comfortable– Big TVs, nice cars and two dozen pairs of shoes. We feel loved by God as long as things are going our way.  No one we love is having problems and we are almost sleepwalking, unknowingly suffocating our life force in the security of thinking we can eat, drink, and be merry without end. In this dream of security, we may lose our way. We might find that what appears to be comfort is really a prison of complacency and conditions, far from the vulnerability of faith that Gods calls us to as co-creative partners in this Divine Project on Earth.  We are invited to open ourselves with gratitude to childlike newness and defenselessness as we become participants in the ongoing creation of life.  Ginny May-Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 24

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Holiness Comes Wrapped in the Ordinary  Macrina Wiederkehr  ~
I return again to the theme of the little things. Ponder for just a moment the few things that come immediately to your mind that bring you great joy.
What little things bring you to a place of gratitude?
Joy is so close.  God’s love is always within reach.  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 17

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Let the Universe Prepare the How ~ Often, we push hard towards what we think we want in life, impatient and demanding that it happen within our own predetermined time expectations. We fail to appreciate how benevolent the Universe is, and how, in God’s own time, it will all be provided to us. We just need hold the vision. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 10

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

...the breath that weaves you into existence The Hebrew word that expresses “the breath that weaves you into existence” is ruach.  The same word expresses wind, breath, and spirit.  Ruach Elohim is Hebrew for the breath or spirit of God. The breath that flows through all beings interconnects us, like a current connecting all the particles in the ocean of life. Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 3

Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

for life means the fullest possible give and take between the living creature and its environment Evelyn Underhill In the social climate so heavy with divisiveness it is important that we remember our oneness. Not just as a passing thought, but remember it in our deep consciousness so that we can live from this center and be less distracted by the noise. This prayer draws on several traditions that call on Spirit as our place of oneness. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 20

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

When we heal ourselves, we heal the world. Mark Nepo ~ Those of us who have a sense of the oneness of humanity and all of creation can sometimes almost imagine it, but how often do we experience it in our daily lives? This week’s prayer is an invitation to deepen our awareness of the interconnection of all that God has created, an interbeing that is rooted in God.
Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 13


Photo: Pixabay

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

 How else would God speak to me?  Joan of Arc ~  My conversations with God are often filled with lots of me talking and God listening or God talking and me not listening. If I don’t find the right place and time will God interrupt my day and tell me what I need to hear? Will he speak to me in the middle of the night, silenced by my poor excuse that “it must be a dream” or “it’s just my imagination?’ Would God speak to me during the mass or would he respect the regiment of my worship? This week a brief look at the answer: YES. Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 6

Photo: Sharon Konkoly

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

I go to nature to be soothed and healed,
and to have my senses put in order. J
ohn Burroughs
We are all connected…when one of us is broken a bit of the whole is broken.  Our planet is struggling and we are struggling.  Our interconnection is essential to our lives and the time has come for us to make significant efforts to adjust our lifestyles and be a better companion to our Mother Earth. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 30


Photo: Betsy Nero

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Peace within us, peace reflected out to others. ~ Etty Hillesum was a Jewish woman living in Holland who encountered the unspeakable loss of humanity in her “age,” as she calls it—the age of the Holocaust. Through her suffering and her willingness to experience the suffering of others, she grew into a mystic that still speaks to our times. The question that consumed her, and finally transformed her, was how to discover and eventually incarnate her inner experience of God no matter what was going on outside of her. Can we too ask this question and allow ourselves to be used as an instrument of God’s peace? This is the question for our age in our time here on earth today. Ginny May-Schiros
Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 23
Photo: Rebecca Zahn

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Let us start by letting things be themselves ~ Non-doing is part of every spiritual tradition. Jane Hirshfield tells us that it doesn’t mean that you don’t give a hungry person food. It means, though, that you are not trying to change things for reasons of ego or personal power. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 16

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

RISE AND SHINE ~ As we enjoy the beauty of summer days, we notice that our bodies and souls are nourished. Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a twelfth century Benedictine nun, now Doctor of the Church, speaks to us across time about the life-force we can experience in and through nature. She calls us to open our minds and hearts to the beauty we find in all of creation and to allow our Souls to speak of life’s journey: We make our way to Paradise in the company of others. We are never alone. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 9

Rob Blair Summit Metro Parks

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Place everything…  upon the altar of this moment… BE in this moment.  Dorothy Hunt serves as spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy (SFCMP).  She tells us to “Place everything you can perceive—Everything you can see, hear, feel, taste, or touch, upon the altar of this moment and give thanks.”  Canadian poet, singer, songwriter, actress Ann Mortifee sings that “This is a healing journey”. Subhana Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 2

photo from Pexels

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Open your eyes. Look at yourself. See the beauty that is you. We may hear many times in our lives that life is a gift and we are a gift. Do we say that to ourselves?  Do you believe in yourself as gift? Can you believe it in you sometimes, but fall short of really celebrating you? Loving Kindness starts with ourselves and then we bring it more fully, more enthusiastically to the world.  Sometimes we just need to take reflection time to remind ourselves that we are worth it. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 25

Ekaterina Shevchenko

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Summit Metro Parks

Love is what my life is for. We need each other. It is how we are created in the image of one triune God. What we need of each other is that each should be as fully authentic as we are able to the person we are fashioned to be. Take in your nature and nurture and all that your unique self has become and share it will all the other unique selves you encounter. This is God creating a wonderful world of Now. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 18

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Father God, Come Father Me. Because this week is Father’s Day I thought I’d focus on a few aspects of God as Father. I love the song not simply because of the lyrics, but for the enthusiasm in God’s love song. I believe He wants us to match the enthusiasm in our love song to Him. I wonder if His dancing is as heart-lifting as His singing? The “to ponder” seems to reveal the secret of the universe in a few short paragraphs. Could it be that simple? Henri Nouwen honors God as father/mother to us all.  Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 11

photo by Ron Konkoly

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

I have called you friend ~ The Religious Society of Friends, also called the Quakers, take their name from Jesus statement in the Gospel of John, “I have called you friends…” It is there that Jesus reminds us that he has shared all he knows from God so that we can go and bear fruit. To bear fruit, as the Quakers believe, we are invited to rely constantly on Jesus as our inner teacher and trust that he is walking with us through the challenges and triumphs of our lives. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 4

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Change our world one heart at a time ~
What’s love got to do with it?
Everything!  It’s what will save us, guide us, teach us, hold us together.
Without love …. What is there?
This wisdom from the Youngbloods in a 1960’s song reminds us…
Come on people now Smile on your brother

Everybody get together Try to love one another Right now.
So let’s do it, right now.  Betsy Nero

Photo: Tim Hite Summit Metro Parks

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 28

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

The Cry for Love and Communion ~ Community is something we are all part of whether intentionally or unintentionally, and living in community has its challenges.  Community is in our relationships, our family life, places of work, our neighborhoods, and our country. Jean Vanier, as a humble servant of the poor and disabled, showed us how to love in our communities in the most real ways.  It was not theoretical to him. It was in the day to day of life that love became a reality in community. It was always about finding love together and never about someone “doing” something for someone else who was somehow perceived as less. For Jean Vanier, and for Merton who is also mentioned in this prayer, being and loving others was a discovery that the beauty and pain of community can lead us to new life. Ginny May-Schiros
Photo: Judita Tamosiunate

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 21

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Elusive Holiness – Called outside to embrace the new season, we too “bloom where we are planted.”   We ponder the message that holiness consciously connects us with of all living things..   We are indeed “life-long learners.”  Cheryl Keehner

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 14


photo from Summit Metro Parks

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Place everything…
           upon the altar of this moment… 
BE in this moment.  Dorothy Hunt serves as spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy (SFCMP).  She tells us to “Place everything you can perceive—Everything you can see, hear, feel, taste, or touch, upon the altar of this moment and give thanks.”  Canadian poet, singer, songwriter, actress Ann Mortifee sings that “This is a healing journey”. Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 7
photo from Pexels

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Everything is holy now! Peter Mayer – This prayer invites us to remember our faith from years past and bring it forward to all that we know and celebrate about God’s love for us right now. “Everything is holy now” repeated over and over in our song to remind us that all is the gift of God’s love. No one and no thing is separate from God’s continuous prodding love for all of creation. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 30

photo bynguy-n-y-n on unsplash

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

the mystery of emergence – Two lines stand out to me from Marty Haugen’s wonderful Easter song. “Now in each human form, You shall be the risen one.” Somehow in becoming Christ, Jesus exposes our oneness with God. And in the mystery of that experience “We your kingdom shall be.” The whole song gives voice to the disorienting and exhilarating experience that ought truly to fill our hearts and very beings when we ponder this awesome reality. Happy Easter! Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 23

Photo from Summit Metro Parks

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

“Today you will be with Me…. Jesus came to validate, illuminate and celebrate the Spirit of God that had brought all of creation forward from the darkness that covered the earth. With the words, “it is finished” Jesus enters the three days of transformation to resurrection to a new direction – love. The Son of God’s work was finished but our work as God’s children had just begun. I have always been overcome with emotion over the words: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Anima Christi as a reading this holy week allows us to consider where in our lives we needed sanctifying, saving, inebriating, washing, strengthening, to be heard, to be hid, to be assured, to be malignant free, to be called, forever. Happy Holy Week. Ron Konkoly
Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 16
photo from Pixabay

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

 Shine Your Holiness – We use the words Holy Season or Holy Week or Holy Days, but have we discovered what it is about those days and our time within them that is Holy? And what or who is a holy person? True holiness is a mystery that the Jesuit priest Anthony De Mello explores in his book The Way to Love. True holiness shines out effortlessly from within like a bright star in the sky that guides others in the dark of night.  We are drawn to such people, yet we all hold this same possibility within ourselves. The world needs our starlight and our holiness. May you shine brightly for others with true holiness.
Ginny Schiros
Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 9
photo by Tim Joyce

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Awaken to the mystery of being here. As I make my way through Lent I am still pondering what is this journey I am on?  How am I making changes in my life so to be living the Gospel?  How am I in relationship with others? The readings for this week are helpful as reminders to “Get out of myself and into the holy city, into actual relationships with other people and with God,” and “Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.” And so I respond, “Lord your summons echoes true when you but call my name. Let me turn and follow you and never be the same. In Your company I’ll go where Your love and footsteps show. Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.” Betsy Nero

 Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 2

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Do All the Good You Can ~ We are impatient beings! We want the problems of our world resolved today. But we are called to be part of a silent revolution that is never going to grab the headlines by making big dramatic changes to the world. We are called to keep our eyes and our hearts on the far horizon and be willing to take the little steps every day to get there by simply doing all the good we can, wherever we can.  Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for March 26-27

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Love’s gifts poured out into the world! ~This week we enter a new season. Greeting springtime, we turn toward the light and embrace the challenge of freeing ourselves from winter’s dormancy, in order to come again to life, to vibrancy, renewal and joy. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 19

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Joy Comes as the Gift  Joy to the World! In our prayer we will ponder the timeless wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.   Their dialogue, facilitated by Douglas Abrams, is captured in The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World (Avery: 2016).  They identified qualities of the mind and of the heart that are pillars of joy.  Subhana Cathy Graf

click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 12

Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Everything is part of the oneness of the universe. The Chinese have meditated on the concept of yin and yang since before 700 B.C. In the recent past the Western World has become open and interested in their ancient teachings and tradition.  Tonight we will prayer and reflect on the concept of yin and yang because we sometimes see our world being driven apart and even within ourselves the process of taking in the divisions of the world can be very disruptive.  Praying and listening to the call of oneness, as developed in China, can bring us more peace and calm. Peggy Gerovac

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for March 5

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Letting Go into God – Somehow all of this prayer’s readings fit together for me. The listening that is necessary to recognize God’s call to grow and change. Accepting the challenge that change is necessary for growth and letting go of what has been a great comfort inn order to fall into the arms of “the One who turns things upside down.” Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 26

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

The Kingdom of God is Within You – Like a cry from deep within without words and revealed in images beyond expression, the duduk sings for you in this prayer. Prayer begins with words and ends in this prayer with something so deep within that the soul has no action other than to give consent for the communion to take place. This inmost prayer is without understanding the source of so great a love or the meaning of surrendering to the Holiest Love within. Give yourself over. Let the song be sung in you. Enter into the temple and don’t be afraid.  Ginny May-Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 19

 Photo: Rachel Hettler. White Sands National Monument, NM. 

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

“What you have seen me do…”  ~ It has always amazed me that Jesus said we would do even more than He had done on earth. Great confidence in prayer and life’s direction have been the fruits of that passage for me. The contemplative walk with the“One I love” has shown me a hint of the extent to which I am loved. If Jesus was in the flesh on the east side of Cleveland embracing and providing a healing touch, He could not be on the west side of Cleveland with a person who hungers for His love…..But we can be there, and our brothers and sisters can be everywhere in town. Our simple piece of the Body of Christ. When Jesus walked the earth, He did these things one at a time. Now Jesus comes to us one at a time so that together we can each do all of these

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for February 12 

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Let Suffering Soften Me ~ We have so many options when suffering creeps into our lives. We can become bitter at our fate. We can lash out at others, playing the blame-game. Or we can “live into the sorrow, live into the loss” and learn what it has to offer. It can strengthen us for future challenges. It can make us more acutely aware of others’ suffering. It can soften us towards all other human beings, even though their suffering may be hidden from us. Ultimately, it can draw us closer to God, allow us to surrender to the mystery of all life and open our hearts to be grateful for what remains in spite of our loss or suffering. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the Prayer Booklet for February 5

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

God of hope, help me to live joyfully in this imperfect world.

Entering this new year I realized I wanted a different focus than the usual of giving something up or taking on a whole lot more.  I wanted simplicity this year.  So I settled on HOPE.

I want to be person of hope and possibility.  I don’t want to get lost in the negativity that is enveloping our world.  I want to believe in goodness, love, decency, kindness, service.

And I want to be that person who is immersed in all of it making it a part of my life!   Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 29

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Living the Dream ~ Eleanor Roosevelt once observed that “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. We honor Martin Luther King and his dream of establishing in our country “the beloved community” achieved by non-violent activism.  Coretta Scott King, his widow, captures our theme by observing:  “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members, a heart of grace, and a soul generated by love.”  Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 22

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Through acts of sacrificial love God takes what is broken and creates something beautiful“The universe is not trying to break you, my dear, it’s trying to find a way to wake you up, so that you will see  what is real, and worth fighting for. It takes time to heal, but it also takes courage.”  Unknown Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 15

 Created by the people and ministries of Bethany Presbyterian Church 2018.
Words and photo by The Reverend Sharon Grace Sherwin Budin

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

No one is spared both the wondrous mystery and the confusing pathos of life’s complexity. Ron Rohlheiser I’ve called this prayer “Tension and Wonder.” It is the human condition. We wonder about the greatness of God and creation, yet we spend our time often in the mundane and possibly frivolous. Yet this what it is to be human, drawn to God and all that is, yet, living the tensions of life, struggles and imperfection. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 8
photo by Dome, slakti dome

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Simple Gifts After the delightful chaos of the holiday season, we settle into a brand new year that begins with the peace of winter. Among the most valuable resolutions that we can make is the one that says, “I’ll attend more to the Presence of Love in my life.” I’ll let go of what is superfluous. I’ll be aware of all God’s gifts as they come and will share the precious life I’ve been given with those who have been given me. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for January 1

photo by Rob Blair Summit Metroparks

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

NOT THAT FAR FROM BETHLEHEM ~ We celebrate in a special way the continuous birth of Christ in our hearts, in our very being. Our prayer today helps us arrive at the manger. The manger that is us. We are not that far from Bethlehem.  Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 18

The Nativity by Arthur Hughes

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Christ walks the earth as your neighbor. Dietrich Bonhoeffer  ~ The book, The Mystery of Holy Night, is a collection of reflections and sermons by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. This book has been a real challenge for me.  The reflection Those Who Go to the Manger Will be Transformed asks if this Advent and Christmas event is one where I am a bystander or am I drawn in to be converted.  This book of reflections is helping me to ponder the idea of what it is I am waiting for this Advent. What is this mystery of the Incarnation and what specifically does it mean in my life right now? How am I being called to be Christ for others as our world carries so many troubles – fleeing immigrants, apocalyptic fires, homelessness, debilitating poverty? How am I responding to despair and hopelessness?  For Bonhoeffer it is clear that one cannot be a spectator but must be an actor.  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for December 11

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Let Us Love the World to Peace ~ We can’t create a peaceful world by wishing, but we can Love the World to Peace by living our lives by a few simple rules. By choosing to move through the world in a way that creates peace within ourselves, peace will spread effortlessly to others. In this way, we can move the world to peace with every breath we take. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for December 4

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Listening to the Silence ~ Elements of our prayer this week highlight the format of our weekly prayer circle gatherings: friends sitting together in silence, welcoming the Spirit’s presence in a word, a phrase, a reflection drawn from daily life. We pray for peace within and among us all. We remember those who have asked for prayers. Will you join us? All are welcome. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 27

Photo by Kevin Lanterman, Summit Metroparks

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

What if…  What if… we lived life in radical amazement. What if…our religion was each other. What if…we recognized that the universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. What if…we saw ourselves as an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.    What if… Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 20
photo by Subhana Cathy Graf 

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

May your thoughts come to us… From our own lives and from the lives of the Native Americans we have learned to listen so that we can learn who we are. We listen to Spirit, to nature, to each other, to the music, to all of creation to hear what is ours to take and make a part of who we are. In the silence we can invoke the Spirit to inspire us, from all that we know and all that we desire, to find and live the truth of our own one unique life. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 13

photo by Andrew James on Unsplash 

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Becoming by God’s Grace – Being called a co-creator can feel overwhelming. What a responsibility! Where to start? Then I remember the “co-” part. The process of creating, bringing into being is not my responsibility alone and there is actually a preferred starting place: which is with myself, remembering that God doesn’t abandon my own becoming to me alone. Each of us has the life-long gift of becoming by the grace of God. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for November 6

photo by Tim Hite, Summit Metroparks 

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Increase my Love – If we look at all the problems in the world and allow ourselves to feel the pain in them, we are tempted to draw back in fear. If it isn’t fear that our lives would be disrupted by getting involved, then it is our fear that we just don’t have enough of anything to make a difference. But compassion doesn’t ask us to save the whole world. God’s compassion living within us asks us to reach out to the person nearby who needs our help now. We are asked to commit useless and powerless acts of love that would seem to be a drop in the bucket, but together, with everyone doing their part, the Kingdom of God would be at hand. What we need is an increase in our love and courage to do something—anything!—in this moment, and leave the rest up to the Eternal Lover of All.  Ginny  May Schiros

 Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 30

photo by Ginny May Schiros 

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

It’s the Little Things – It’s true what “they” say – it’s the little things.

The little things we can always find to do for someone else.  Help out in the littlest ways.

Call a former neighbor who moved to assisted living; clip a person’s cat’s nails; take flowers to someone just because; do someone else’s yard work.  But also remember people in prayer.  Stop for a moment and remember someone who is struggling.  Stop and pray for that person who asked for prayers.  Because they believe…they believe that prayer works, that God is listening, that help will come, that healing will take place.  And their belief helps my unbelief. Amen. Betsy Nero

photo by Betsy Nero                 Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 23

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

What is being asked of you? Life is not a straight road to a destination that is known or that we consciously choose. It is a shifting kaleidoscope that startles us into making choices, navigating new situations, adjusting to dramatic tides. Our prayer today calls us to abandon the busy, ego-centric thought process that resists change and follow a path of surrender that asks – from an open, accepting and spiritual perspective – what is being asked of me in this moment? Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 16

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Love is life believing in itself. This week, it seems appropriate for us to consider the experience of Native Americans and reflect on their wisdom and their ways.   When the Mayflower landed in 1620 near Cape Cod, they met the Wampanoag Tribe whose land included the eastern coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The tribe was officially recognized by the federal government, 267 years later, in 1987. Recognition allowed them to receive benefits from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Our theme (LOVE IS LIFE BELIEVING IN ITSELF) is taken from a poem composed by a present day elder of the Wampanoag.   Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 9

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Nothing ever disappears, nothing is lost.   Every experience contributes to our growth and formation in relationship to the Divine. Seeing and hearing with the eyes and ears of our hearts opens us to the beauty and wonder of God’s creation.  John O’Donohue’s Beauty, The Invisible Embrace describes how everything “becomes part of the inner temple of the soul”.   Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for October 2 

Grandmother Grapevine Dragonheart by Tarana Wesley, used with permission

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.  Pedro Arupe  With all the negativity in the world; name calling, telling the worst of people, people hurting people, we need to remind ourselves what we really are about. Love is the mission of each of us. This love is received from God. Time and again we need to remind ourselves how passionately God loves each of us.  When we take the time to pray and ponder this great love, hardships and struggles can ease in very small ways and very great ways. This prayer brings us to reflect on the greatest love through the words of Simone Weil and Pedro Arupe, SJ         Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 25
Photo: Dome, shakti dome

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Lovely and Radiant in God’s Light – We have been taught that each of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place for God. That is only a very rough sketch of the intimacy that God shares with us and with all creation. The immanent, creating, healing presence that defines our very being may be hidden from our own view, but shines always, lovely and radiant, in God’s Light and Love!   Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 18

photo: Pexels

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Forgiveness: The Joy of Inner Belonging – When we know we are loved deep within for who we are, we are changed and realize our capacity to love others. We may look on the mistakes we have made and feel we haven’t been good enough or won’t ever be free enough to belong completely to God. Our fears about living a life of faith to its fullness come out of our misunderstanding about how completely we are already sustained by the love of God no matter what we do. Just as we may view the world’s goods from a perspective of “not enough to go around,” we may even view faith from a perspective of lack. Does God really love me, knowing how I have failed to live a life of faith at times? Will I have to change to receive this love? Does God have enough time for me when there are so many other big problems in the world? And if I am loved, then what will I be asked to do in return? What if I don’t have enough self, money, time, or whatever left over for me? All of these questions come out of a belief that in this moment we aren’t already being loved. Allowing ourselves to realize Divine love is the moment we find the Christ within ourselves and can share that love with others in the world.  Ginny May Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 11

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

The Quest for God is a Journey   Many of us are familiar with Thomas Merton’s prayer about not having any idea where we are going. The line that really strikes me is “the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please you.”

Wilkie Au writes that the meaning of will is yearning. So in reading this reflection I am comforted by the fact that I do in fact yearn for God while I may not always be following God’s will. And I am comforted still by believing that God yearns for me.

Gerry Straub’s prayer speaks to this as well, “The quest for God is a journey, a pilgrimage to the depths of the soul.” I recognize this quest. And while there may be several and different paths, the quest is there and I am committed to it.   Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for September 4

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Many Big Bangs 

The words of this prayer are meant to help us understand the God of new beginnings and to incorporate this understanding in our lives and to learn the gift of staying in the present moment. Someone once said that the sum of our spiritual journey is simply “Holding hands and walking home together.” Ron Konkoly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 28

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

What is Spiritual Experience?  Of course God reveals Divine Mystery in the Scriptures and through the life of Jesus of Nazareth. But the immensity of Godhood is also revealed in the whole of creation. Especially in those unique and personal moments of insight and awe that can be so easily missed.  Spiritual experience is grace and gift! Stay alert, you never know.   Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 21

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Roots and Wings  In our prayer this week, Psalm 78 announces that “each generation sets its hope anew in God.”

Joan Chittister expresses her sense that “There is no such thing as an age of unbelieving.”

In your experience, is this “good news” or just “wishful thinking”? Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 14

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

We are matter, kindred with ocean and tree and sky. We are flesh and blood and bone. To sink into that is a relief, a homecoming. In so many ways we have absorbed or “learned” that our bodies and ourselves, our bodies and our minds, our bodies and our souls were separate.  Living our lives in this paradigm can cause us each our own issues. It also limits us from understanding our full relationship with God, how we live it and how we express it. This prayer seeks to help us understand and believe that God made us incarnational because God loves us fully, body and all. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for August 7

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Same Heart, Same Mind, Same Spirit  

There are at least two ways of considering unity. For one, we imagine separate beings merging together to form a new whole. The other, more what Jesus was speaking of in his prayer, is our waking up to the unity that already exists. That we might realize that we are created as a whole and might live that reality into a future of peace and love.   Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 31

Miliwanga Wurrben

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The Gift of Courage What is courage?  And do I have it?  Not sure.

Ever since reading the Joan Chittister chapter “The Gift of Courage” from her book Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, I have been wondering when have I displayed courage.  Joan quotes Friedrich Durrenmatt, “This is the only art we have to master nowadays: to look at things without fear and to fearlessly do right.” She goes on to say, “It is the call to courage that is the seedbed of hope.”

So in this week’s prayer I am concentrating on how I am being called in this present moment to get out of my fear and look around to see what I might do fearlessly to help another.  How might I be called right now to speak the truth, stand my ground, and stand up for someone who might need me? Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 24

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

The Good News Is … You Are Alive!

In this age of troubling news, Thich Nhat Hahn turns our attention to the good news of our lives. The good news, he says, is that we are alive and can focus on and appreciate the linden tree, blooming sweetly after a long winter. We can be grateful for those good, decent people around us who work hard each day at their jobs, care for their families, plant a flower,  and donate time, money and goods to those in need. He invites us to ignore the cacophony of the world’s

negative news and focus on the beauty and possibilities of our lives. Syndie Eardly

Edit Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 10

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

The sacred beat of life ~ The words of the Declaration of Independence call us to reflect on the foundation of our democracy. In this week when we celebrate our determination to create a society free from tyranny, how do we reconcile the promise of freedom to pursue “life, liberty, happiness” with the news and pictures we see of our borders?

How will we ever make American great again?  Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for July 3

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

To Reveal Ourselves is to Heal Ourselves ~ Words have power.  Intention has power.  Our attitude, imagination, and creativity contribute to revealing who we are as whole children of God.  We must be mindful of our thoughts, words, actions and interactions to ensure that we are following God’s purposes for our lives and for God’s creation. Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 26

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

“For what is happiness but growth in peace…”  May Sarton  – “When the pressures of life become our main focus, happiness can feel like a distant hope or memory.” (Jenneth Graser) Prayer and reflection can be a tremendous tool to help us live in the happiness that is all around us yet passed by in our attention deficit lives.  Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 19

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

The impeded stream is the one that sings. Wendell Berry – The image of the stream interrupted by rocks is one that I understand fully. Life is all about interruptions and obstacles. There are rocks throughout. It is a matter of asking what to do with them when they cross my path. Joyce Rupp suggests to “sit awhile on the lake of life.” I’m learning that stopping perhaps on one of those rocks to sit awhile, to simply be, puts things back into perspective.  Betsy Nero 

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 12

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

A Mystery Holy and Profound – As children perhaps we thought that reaching adulthood was a pinnacle beyond which there would be no goal. Life’s purpose achieved!
But once arrived we discover ourselves continuing the spiritualprocess of evolving, becoming, emerging into the Mystery that lures us and walks with us toward unending growth and wholeness.  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for June 5

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

What keeps us from praying? So many of us talk about prayer, think about praying later, go to workshops on meditation, read books about prayer, set ourselves up for prayer with candles, beads, incense and more…Yes, we ask for help and pray for others, yet we don’t get around to praying in contemplation and resting with God. What is going on here? Is it that we are so afraid of going deep into the silence? Perhaps we fear the dark night that waits for all of us, not realizing that in that human place we will find the deepest of loves waiting for us with open arms to walk with us in the dark. Ginny May Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 29

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Pain Breaks us Open

In medical lore, pain is not THE problem, but is merely a symptom of the dis-ease. The pain forces us to seek answers. So it is in our spiritual struggles. The pain points to something that is calling us to prayer, to mediation, to awareness. Pain breaks us open. So instead of avoiding the pain, or anesthetizing it, perhaps the pathway is to sit with the pain. To befriend it. To listen to it. To look deeply into the heart of it and understand what part it may play in our unfolding spiritual pathway.  Syndie Eardly

Click here for a pdf of the prayer for May 22

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Astonished and Amazed After a winter that seemed endless, we find ourselves well past Easter and nine weeks into spring!
This week’s prayer calls us to wake up and be aware of the beauty unfolding before us. It’s time to be astonished and amazed by what needs to be born in us and to open our eyes to all we can become. The season is calling us to “rise and shine.”  Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 15

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Birth and death are only doors through which we pass.  Who are we?  What is this thing called embodiment? What is the relationship of body and spirit? What happens when we die?  When we are born?  Thich Nhat Hanh relates his experience following the passing of his mother.  Jan Phillips sings gratefully. Subhana Cathy Graf

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 8

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

God of Many Names ~ Sometimes we need to take the long look at what we are about today, how we got here and who is with us through it all. Many times we are who we want to be and sometimes we fall short. It is only when we take this long look with God that we can understand the fullness of it all and have the ability to take the next step. Peggy Gerovac

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for May 1

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Imago Dei: Image of God ~ I came across this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. during Holy week shortly before hearing the Richard Rohr reading. They have haunted me ever since. The prayer this week feels dark and heavy … but it is so filled with the living Spirit of God! It is an Easter invitation to love for each of us. Me first of all. Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 24

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Who is Love? It seems only natural to recoil when we see ugliness in the world. Most of us want to fight suffering either by running away or by destroying the affront to our sense or morals. But God has another way…the way of surrender and opening to let God’s love and light transform the darkness into light. Ginny May Schiros

Click to open a PDF of the prayer booklet for April 17

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Is There a Lost Child in You? I too have always loved trees. There were a few behind the barn that I went to for reading and journaling or just sitting and listening to sounds. Across the street from where I grew up there were acres and acres of woods. Great places for hiding and tree forts and endless hours of play with my neighbor Jim. A builder is now tearing through that space to build very large homes. Those majestic trees stood for hundreds of years. There were stories and wisdom and seasons of change within their trunks and branches. As I age and watch parents grow old and decisions being made about a generation that is winding down, I am recognizing a similar story of change and death.
I am drawn to Macrina Wiederkehr’s writings about childhood memories. And for a  brief moment here I have been lost in my child self. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 10

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

The Thing that is Destroyed is Transformed – The message in the Resurrection is that out of destruction comes transformation. The Resurrection is Jesus’ message that it is not over. There is more. Life transforms out of the broken shell of the chrysalis. In our prayer this week, Richard Rohr invites us consider that “the most miraculous thing of all is that God uses the very thing that would normally destroy you—the tragic, sorrowful, painful or unjust—to transform and enlighten you.” Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer for April 3

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

The Power of Presence: Being There – This week we join Christians throughout the world, closing their Lenten observance by reliving the events that led Jesus through his death to the Resurrection. We focus on the women recognized in the Scripture and in tradition who accompany Jesus on the way to Calvary. And we ask ourselves how many times in our days do we see the suffering of another. We are challenged to reach out in compassion, to “be there” instead of being an anonymous observer. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click to open a PDF of the prayer booklet for March 27

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

What you have seen me do, you, too can do and more.  Who are we?  What can we do?  We often underestimate ourselves.  We are reluctant to let our light shine, to fulfill the power that is inherent in us as children of God. Jan Phillips’ song is a hymn to the power of who we are and what we are born to do. This week’s prayer involves several ways of looking at the questions of our identity and purpose.  Subhana Graf

Click to open a PDF of the prayer booklet for March 20

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” This is not always easy for us to do. As we found out from Mother Teresa’s journals after her death, this wasn’t always easy for her either. However, the more were are open in our prayer, the more we are able to put our mind in our heart, the closer we are to God and all that brings to us and the world here and now.  Peggy Gerovac

Click to open a PDF of the prayer booklet for March 13

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Uniquely Loved. ~ Lent is that conversion time again. We don’t get converted once for all, but again and again we grow in self-knowledge leading to the Ultimate truth that all together we are one and each uniquely loved.  Carol Kandiko, CSA

Click to open a PDF of the prayer booklet for March 6

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Let me be your servant. ~ What does it mean to be a servant? This Lent I am choosing to put a different emphasis on my six week journey. Instead of giving up something I’d rather embrace…embrace prayer for those who challenge me; embrace service to those who are hungry; embrace greater gratitude; embrace love of enemies; embrace forgiveness.
This Lent is opening me up to greater servanthood. Lord show me the way. Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for February 27.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Beyond the words, we stand in awe. ~ For those who seek communion with God, there is a point where we realize it is a journey and not a destination. We cannot, of course, ever reach that place where we “find” God completely in this life, yet we still hunger for that union that gives life meaning. After all the ideas and words have fallen away, we stand in loving stillness before that which is Real. We stand in awe knowing we can never fully grasp the wonder of God who unifies us in a whole of which we are all a part of. Ginny May Schiros

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for February 20

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Everything you do is Sacred.~  As we approach the Lenten Season, we prepare ourselves for certain spiritual practices that draw us more deeply into the sacred space. This week’s prayer calls us to a different approach to Lent.  Instead of planning a to-do list of spiritual rituals, it invites us to awaken to a daily, simple awareness that life itself is sacred and that everything we do, each action of our hands, each encounter with another human being, is all sacred and blessed and filled with grace. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for February 13

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Do what you are doing – on purpose.~ We are invited this week to open ourselves to the grace of deepening our prayer and working passionately with others to bring about the social changes we know in our hearts are desperately need by each and all of us. We ponder the advice of two spiritual leaders: Thomas Keating whose life work has reintroduced the practice of Centering Prayer as a means of opening one’s self to the One who dwells within and developing a relationship with the Friend who Nan Merrill names in Ps.41; Wayne Teasdale, a lay brother formed in the Cistercian tradition (as was Thomas Keating) who devoted his life to promoting common ground among the leaders of world’s religions. He named mysticism as the key to that common ground and found hope in the possibility of uniting efforts to build together a new world: “an inter-spiritual community in an inter-spiritual age.” So much depends on the choices we make. Cheryl Keehner, CSA

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for February 6

 Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Jesus the Catalyst for New Possibilities ~ As we move into the last week before Christmas, we explore the idea that in being born into the world, Jesus became a part of the very essence of life and creation. Much more than an historical figure or church figurehead, Diarmuid O’Murchu says Jesus is a catalyst for new possibilities in the creation story. This powerful reality is something we can carry with us into the New Year, contemplating what this means for us in our daily life and within our own unfolding story. Syndie Eardly

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for December 19

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

The Stable of Our Love  Advent is so counter cultural. This season tells us to slow down and assess what our spiritual life looks like. It challenges me to ask the questions – How is my prayer life? What is my relationship with God? How are my relationships with others?  But our culture tells us otherwise. The messages of the world tell us – shop – more – consume. This year I want it to be different. I want to embrace the dark, quiet time. I want to reflect and deepen my prayer. I want to enter the stable and sit with Jesus. I want to slow down and be silent enough to hear my inner peace, to hear the world’s beauty, and to hear the message that Jesus brought at his birth.  Betsy Nero

Click here for a PDF of the prayer booklet for December 12

Click here for older prayers