A Prayer for our Deanery Study

Prayer for the Monmouth County Deanery Study

Heavenly Father, you call us, the people of the Catholic Church of Trenton, to proclaim and advance the Kingdom of God in Monmouth County.

We are united by our baptism in Christ. With Jesus our Lord, with our Holy Father Benedict, and with our bishop John, we form a community to discover the realities that affect our mission.

You call us, as you called St. Peter, to look ahead, to "put out into the deep," confident that our nets will be filled and our parishes made more vibrant. Inform our dreams of a renewed church. Because our work is in the cause of the eternal Kingdom, we must set our hand to the plow. Though our history is one of pride and accomplishment, open our eyes to the reality of the present and fix our gaze toward the future. Set us on the right course as we design new ways of being Church.

Father, give us the grace to rediscover the Church as "mystery," as a people gathered together in the unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit and to know that in this mystery lies the Church's holiness. Let the aroma of holiness fill us and guide our words and actions.

Lead us to a spirituality of communion. Give us the courage to go forward in hope, straining to what lies ahead, in faith that the Risen Lord accompanies us on our way. May he be a light unto our path and illumine our destiny.

We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.