January 19, 2025
January 19, 2025
As our new president of the United States commences his office, I think it most appropriate to share a prayer composed by Archbishop John Carroll, the first American bishop, so that we may offer our prayers for divine guidance as he leads our country.
We ask you, Almighty God, who through Jesus Christ has revealed your glory to all nations, that your Church, being spread throughout the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of your name. We pray, O Lord-through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted and judgment decreed-that you assist the President of the United States in his administration, that it may be conducted in righteousness, and that it may be eminently useful to your people, over whom he presides, by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by faithfully executing the nation's laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and let it shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety and useful knowledge, and the perpetuation to us of the blessings of equal liberty. Amen.
Whether we cast our vote for the president in office or not, it is incumbent upon us to offer our prayers for him as he tackles the many challenges facing our nation. Let us pray that he is a leader after God's own heart, for that is where his true greatness will lie.
Please remember that this Wednesday we as a country mark the Day for the Sanctification of Human Life. Please make every effort to attend Mass on this day and to perform some act of penance, either by fasting or extra prayers and good works for the intention of the respect for life from conception to natural death and reparation for those who disregard the sanctity of life. God is the giver of life and only God has the right to decide when life comes to its conclusion.