Prayer to the Holy Spirit

I was recently asked about the prayer I prayed at the beginning of the Theology On Tap talk. Here it is:

Heavenly King,
Comforter,
Spirit of Truth,
everywhere present and filling all things;

Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life
– come and dwell within our hearts,
cleanse us from all stain,
and save our souls, O Gracious One.

And here it is in audio form:

holy_spirit

March For Life Discussion: Live and let live

Today I’m continuing my series of posts in response to the Facebook discussion a couple of weeks ago concerning the March For Life.

In my previous entry I briefly looked at what I think can be done to raise the standard of dialog between pro-life and pro-choice advocates. I would now like to start looking at some of the particular issues which were raised during the exchange. Today I would like to focus upon the opening comment from a former schoolmate:

“I kinda just wish people would stop telling other people how to live their lives….I’m pro-CHOICE, not pro-telling-people-what-to-do….”

As a pro-lifer, you hear sentiments similar to the one expressed above with considerable regularity and, on the surface, such a position seems extremely commendable. In fact, it is one of the sacrosanct secular doctrines in contemporary culture.

Live and let live

I think that respecting other people’s opinion is a good thing, I do. I mean, nobody likes to be told what to do, right? However, there are some immediate problems here. For a start, the statement self-refuting. As soon as you tell someone that they should mind their own business, you’re attempting, at least in some measure, to impose your own will on another person. That means you’re breaking your own rule and not minding your own business!

In the remainder of this post I would like to look at whether the live-and-let-live ideal is consistently applied…

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Music Monday: The Prayer

I’ve decided to start doing Music Monday posts. In these entries I’m going to share some of my favourite songs, in the hope it adds some joy to the beginning of your work week – it is a Monday, after all…

Today’s post is “The Prayer”, performed by Andrea Bocelli and Katharine McPhee:

I pray you’ll be our eyes, and watch us where we go.
And help us to be wise in times when we don’t know
Let this be our prayer, when we lose our way
Lead us to the place, guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe

La luce che tu hai (I pray we’ll find your light)
nel cuore restera (and hold it in our hearts)
a ricordarci che (when stars go out each night)
eterna stella sei (the light you have)

Nella mia preghiera (Let this be our prayer)
quanta fede c’e (when shadows fill our day)
Lead us to a place, guide us with your grace
To a place where we’ll be safe

Sognamo un mondo senza piu violenza (We dream a world without violence)
un mondo di giustizia e di speranza (a world of justice and faith.)
Ognuno dia la mano al suo vicino (Everyone gives the hand to his neighbours)
Simbolo di pace, di fraternita (Symbol of peace, of fraternity)

La forza che ci da (We ask that life be kind)
e il desiderio che (and watch us from above)
ognuno trovi amor (We hope each soul will find)
intorno e dentro se (another soul to love)

Let this be our prayer, let this be our prayer
Just like every child, just like every child
Need to find a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we’ll be safe

E la fede che (It’s the faith)
hai acceso in noi, (you light in us)
sento che ci salvera (I feel it will save us)

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