Prayer to Find Employment

Dear Saint Joseph, 
you were yourself once faced with the responsibility 
of providing the necessities of life for Jesus and Mary. 
Look down with fatherly compassion upon me 
in my anxiety over my present inability to support my family. 
Please help me to find gainful employment very soon, 
so that this heavy burden of concern will be lifted from my heart 
and that I am soon able to provide 
for those whom God has entrusted to my care. 
Help us to guard against bitterness and discouragement, 
so that we may emerge from this trial spiritually 
enriched and with even greater blessings from God. 

Amen.

Prayer for Social Justice

Lord Jesus, 
Carpenter and King, supreme Sovereign of all men, 
look with tender mercy upon the multitudes of our day 
who bear the indignities of injustice everywhere.
 Raise up leaders in every land dedicated to Your standards of order, equity, and justice.
 Grant unto us,  Lord Jesus, the grace to be worthy members 
of Your Mystical Body, laboring unceasingly to fulfill our vocation in the social apostolate of Your Church. 
Sharpen our intellects to pierce the pettiness of prejudice; to perceive the beauty of true human brotherhood. 
Guide our minds to a meaningful understanding of the problems of the poor, of the oppressed, of the unemployed, of all in need of assistance anywhere. 
Guide our hearts against the subtle lure of earthly things and undue regard for those who possess them. 
May we hunger and thirst after justice always.


Amen. 

Prayer to Overcome Depression

Just as day declines to evening, 
so often my heart declines into depression. 
Everything seems dull, every action feels like a burden.
If anyone speaks, I scarcely listen. 
If anyone knocks, I scarcely hear. 
My heart is as hard as flint.

Then I go out into the field to meditate, 
to read the holy Scriptures, 
and I write down my deepest thoughts in a letter to you.  
And suddenly your grace, dear Jesus, 
shatters the darkness with daylight, 
lifts the burden, relieves the tension.
Soon tears follow sighs, 
and heavenly joy floods over me with the tears.                                                                                         
Aelred of Rievaulx

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