Dear Lord Jesus Christ, on the day of the celebration of the Jubilee 800, and just before Christmas, I wish to pray before you as a member of the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary. Gratefully, joyfully and humbly I beg for your graceful help for the brothers who announce your Kingdom in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China, Philippines, Spain, Venezuela, Myanmar and Timor Leste. We pray for the civil authorities and citizens of these countries. Help us all, Lord, preach in these beautiful lands your Good News of love and salvation, be the voice of the voiceless and defend the poor, the unborn children, the neglected elderly, the migrants, the refugees and other ethnic groups excluded from the table of life.
Beloved Emmanuel, I humble ask your grace and blessings for the local churches where we minister: bless our bishops and priests and religious women and men and the lay Christians. Help us be part of the local community of disciples and cooperate harmoniously with all the agents of evangelization. Aid us to be faithful and joyful in preaching your Good News the Dominican way, which is based on contemplative prayer, supported by community life, enlightened by continuous study of your Word, and witnessed by a simple life style – all for the salvation of souls, of all peoples.
Dear Son of God, I pray for the global Dominican Family and in particular for the Dominican Family in the Asia/Pacific Region. I beg you, Lord, to strengthen our resolve to be a family united in communion and mission. Help us cooperate with each other and rejoice together for the marvelous works done by our brothers and sisters. Before your divine presence, I humbly ask for forgiveness for the offenses the brothers of our Province – past and present – have committed in our ministries and in our relations with other Provinces in Asia. To you, dear Lord whom we preach, I offer our determination to walk together, as a true Dominican Family, by the path of dialogue, reconciliation, prayer, and love. May our Jubilee 800 be – more than anything else – the unique opportunity to be truly converted individually, to renew our communities and thus be able to preach You, Lord, with enthusiasm and zeal, and not only with our words, but also and mainly with our good deeds. Like our Father Dominic, we all point to you – only to you -, beloved Jesus Christ!
Merciful Good Shepherd, we pray to you for our youth. Please, Lord, touch their generous hearts to answer your call. Bless in particular all those who are at present on the path of Dominic: our postulants, novices, simply and solemnly professed brothers, our deacons and our recently ordained priests. May we the mature and elderly brothers listen also to their voices and be attuned to the changes that are needed to live the Dominican life in our changing world. May they be a sign of joyful hope for the whole Dominican Family!
Before you, our Crucified Lord, I remember our crucified brothers and sisters today: those maligned, persecuted, martyred; those silenced by various powers; those who feel perhaps that you have forsaken them! With my brothers here present, I remember also those in our convents and houses who are afflicted by mental or physical illnesses. Certainly, you are with them all, Lord. May we, too, be present in their life with fraternal compassion and tender care!
Dear Jesus, we are working for you. Indeed at times we fail, but we are always your servants. Remember, Lord, that we have left family, country, roots to be your missionary disciples. Take good care of our parents, brothers and sisters, our families. Bless those who are alive and grant peace to those who are already with you.
With Mary, Our Lady of the Way, with our Father Dominic, our brother Thomas, our sister Catherine, our brother Martin de Porres and all our saints, particularly our martyrs, we ask for your graceful help. We place our prayers of petition in your heart of mercy. Merciful Lord, as we long for your coming at Christmas, we praise you, we thank you, we adore you – we hope in you! To you be honor and power and glory forever and ever. Amen
(Fausto Gomez OP. Macau, St. Dominic Priory: December 22, 2016)