Your Ocean of Love

                “My Lord, my God, my loving Creator, I humbly bow my head and ask what I can do to show my love for You today. Love my neighbors? Love them all - broken and healed, lost and found, weak and strong, humble and proud. They are all Your people and they all have You inside them. You created them all in Your likeness so I must love them all as Your creations.

                “Many have distorted the image You created by the lives they have led and the choices they have made. So many of these choices are the same ones made for the same reasons over centuries and centuries of time. Our human weaknesses and tendencies are the same throughout history. The way we play out the choices changes due to the changing environment and changing world we live in, but the motivations and underlying reasons for what we do remain the same from the beginning of time – pride, self love, and a warped sense of who we are.

                “We need to remember, as all man has needed to be reminded throughout history, that You created us, You are all powerful and above all, You created us out of love in order to love and be loved. We need to stay focused on loving You instead of clinging to that love just for ourselves. The love You give is dynamic and meant to flow back and forth between us and You and all those around us as it flows between You and the Father and the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t just flow one way or stay within one, it flows and moves and grows and transforms everything it touches. It never remains the same. Love is meant to grow and share. It is not measurable, containable, or controllable. It is a living moving force like the ocean waves that constantly move, grow, go back on themselves, gain power and crash in different places without ceasing.

                “I close my eyes and I can feel the sand beneath my feet. I feel the spray of the cool ocean air on my face. I smell the refreshing salty air. I hear the waves turning and folding over onto themselves. The foam hisses and the wave melts into the shore. Lord I melt into You. You love is like the ocean, vast and all encompassing. Your mercy engulfs me in all my imperfections and makes me one with the ocean like a drop of water falling into the shore. The foam surrounds me. I am purified as the waves crash onto the sand and then I am pulled out into the current, into the vast depths of Your love.

                “Oh dear Lord, show me how to call all Your people to swim in this ocean. Send me the grace I need to love everyone as You do; to shows them the way to the shore. May they see my love for You and for Your people and may it inspire them to jump in the water. Some may only let the water touch their toes at first but I pray that they will soon jump in completely, the way a little child jumps into the water. May the waves of love and mercy flow over us all without ceasing, cleansing us of the human weaknesses and imperfections that have plagued us throughout history. May the ocean waves wash off the sand that covers our shining skin. May we be made clean in Your mercy and then be made one with Your ocean of love.

                “Oh Lord, I hear the gentle crash of the waves and the hiss of the foam calling to me. I feel the warm sun on my face and the sand under my toes. Lord, I want to run into the water with all humanity by my side.”

Save Your Lost Sheep

                “My dear Lord, what do You ask of me today? How can I show my great love for You today? I see such sadness around me – people dying, people mourning, people lost consciously or subconsciously, people tied in chains of anger and frustration, people tied to heavy burdens of financial responsibility, people living as slaves to masters of the world. They are Your lost sheep, braying in the darkness of the storm. Dear Lord, shine the light of Your love, lovingly but boldly calling out to them. Tell them to bring their burdens, their sorrows, their chains to You. Assure them that You will take their suffering and use it to help them return their souls to the beautiful state they were in at their conceptions. All the burdens and cares we place on ourselves will be transformed into the jewels we give to You. Take these burdens and send us forward on our journey to You.

                “For those poor lost sheep that cannot see or hear through the storm, who may be stuck in a ditch, caught in a tangled bramble – dear Jesus, go to them. Send Your blessed Mother first to the lost sheep so she can console them and prepare their hearts to see You coming for them. Then, gently lift them up in Your arms. Bandage their wounds in Your healing mercy so they can be restored. Carry those who can no longer walk. Carry them back to the safe path where the storm clouds have cleared away and the bright sun of Your eternal Father is shining down in majestic glowing rays, illuminating the path to His Kingdom. Place Your lost sheep in the warmth of Your loving embrace and heal them so You can lead them once again, straight to Your Father.

                “Oh Holy Spirit, breathe the pure breath of God through us all so that we can be purified from the world’s pollution and we can be energized by the Truth. Lord I pray that the sadness of all can truly be turned into dancing. Help me to see a reason to rejoice in every situation I encounter - both good and bad, joyous and sad - so that my life here on earth will mirror Your Kingdom in heaven.”

Make Us All One

                “My dear Lord, today I am deeply moved by Your intimate prayer to Your Father the night before Your crucifixion (John 17:11-26). Your deep love for us permeates that entire prayer. Your desire for ultimate unity with us and You and Your Father is so deep and pure, I hear You implore Your Father to join us with You as You are joined with Him. You want us to feel and experience the same love the Father has for You. You want to share all the gifts your Father has given You with us because You truly and deeply love us in the same way the Father loves You. The words “Jesus loves us” have taken on a whole new level for me after intently listening to Your heartfelt prayer. My heart is literally bursting right now, fulfilled and overflowing with divine love.

                “I feel so close to You Jesus right now. Your words to Your Father mirror my deepest desires to be with You. What You want for us, I earnestly crave as well. Oh heavenly Father, hear Your Son’s prayer. Holy Spirit, join us through this intense love. Protect us from the evil in the world that constantly waits in the shadows for an opportunity to leap out and snatch us away from this precious divine gift of love. Mark us as Yours for all eternity. Consecrate us in the truth of Your Word. May we bask in Your brilliant glory, all joined together as one holy, loving family. Dear Holy Trinity, joined together as one all powerful being, bring us together with You, not just as a gathering, but as a melting together of all our hearts and souls filled with intense love into Your Blessed Sacred Heart. Make us all one.”