A Prayer for Peace of Heart

TO OUR MARQUETTE FAMILY IN CALIFORNIA

by Kathy Coffey-Guenther, PhD, Senior Mission and Ignatian Leadership Specialist

I once heard an older Jesuit once remark on a retreat years ago that “the only thing that we can be sure of is that we are all in tiny boats in big seas.” He went on to remind us that, hopefully, most times, those seas may be still and clear and beautiful, and those times of still seas and clear waters will help to strengthen and prepare us for the times when we are tiny boats in stormy seas.

The stormy seas help us to remember that we are not in control and sometimes all we can do is to hang on, trusting that God is with us in the boat, trusting that God is with us in the seas, and trusting that God is holding all with love and tender care.

This is a deep challenge, to trust and hang on amidst fear and time and threat and lengthening struggle and discomfort. And yet the call is to hang on, to remember the times of still and clear sailing that will come again, to remember that we aren’t in our boats alone- that God is with us and that we have always have companions in the seas with us.

Today we want you to remember that your Marquette family is with you. Your Marquette family of alumni and students and faculty and staff and parents and friends around the world is with you.

Today, we hold up your suffering and discomfort, your fear and confusion, your exhaustion and threat of danger, and we ask God to protect you, to guide you wisely, to whisper to you and surround you with God’s love and care for you and yours, to remind you that you are never alone. We ask God to bring you angels on earth and in heaven to help give you what you need this minute, this hour and this day to take the next step and the next breath to be safe and courageous and smart.

We ask God to send you people of faith to hold you in those moments when you don’t feel that your faith or will to believe in the good is strong enough to hold you in hope. We ask God to hold you and your families in God’s love, that this experience may draw you closer to one another and to your communities. We ask God to help in your grief for what may be lost, and we ask God to help you grow in your imagination for what is to come. We ask all of these prayers and blessings and consolations in the name of Jesus. Amen.

With love and care from your Marquette Family