Prayer for the Church

Heavenly Father, I pray today for our church, the same church you instituted 2000 years ago. It has endured persecutions, unfair attacks and criticisms, it has survived heresies and schisms, it has weathered inquisitions and apostasies, but is still going strong. With the 12 apostles as the home base, we are now up to 1.2 billion members. Grant all these Catholics strong adherence to what they believe and profess and may they be an example to others who are still searching for the truth.
We pray for our Pope who has been an indefatigable witness to his mission to bring everyone together and proclaim a church that is open and accessible to one and all. We pray for the cardinals and bishops helping him in this mission and may they in turn direct and inspire the priests and lay people entrusted in their care to preach and to embrace a message of love, compassion and true commitment to what they believe.

We pray today as the Body of Christ, all of us working for one scope, that all may be one, and as splintered as many sects and cults have become, may they realize their mistakes and come together as part of the one true church, holy, Catholic and apostolic.
We pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life, as we show gratitude for all the missionary priests who have been serving in foreign countries where vocations are scarce. We pray also in appreciation of our churches, Cathedrals and Basilicas where our faithful gather to worship, and may God always bless our forefathers who have sacrificed everything they had to build these monuments of faith.
And may we continue to be grateful for all that the Catholic church owns - the Bible, the Catechism, beautiful liturgy, convents and monasteries, retreat houses, chapels and shrines, statues and religious art, and most importantly, what is in our heart, the belief and hope of an even stronger church, as long as we stay close to its founder, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.