A Prayer for Seminarians

Protect them from all the diseases we know and we don't know in mind and body

Make them compassionate priests

Priests after your own heart 

Priests that will work to restore the Catholic faith 

Priests who will treat those who are less fortunate than them with respect, honor, and generosity

Priests who will give those in need of food, some food

Priests who will be a friend to anyone, regardless of their faith, gender, or age

Priests who will treat animals with kindness

Priests who will do what is right, just, and fair. 

Amen

Teach Your Children God's Virtues

Oh heavenly Father, who gave the virtues of 

kindness, compassion and all other virtues to men

That we may teach virtue to our children

and that they may teach virtue to their children

That we may do what is right before both God and men

Amen

The Way of Holiness

Oh God, writer of both old and new testaments

Our God who has given us light, truth, and the way of holiness.

Show all men the path to righteousness, help them to be holy.

Tutor them in kindness, compassion, and all the virtues of Christ.

Help them to do what is right, just, and fair.

Amen

Psalm 24

To our God belongs the whole world and all it contains

the whole world and all who live in it.

This means that God owns the entire world, all people, nations, and species of creatures.

He founded it upon the oceans and established it on the waters beneath.

This is symbolic of God who founded our world on the purification of baptism.

Who may ascend to Yahweh's mountain, who may stand at Yahweh's holy shrine.

The mountain is the mountain of our hearts and the shrine is the shrine of the blessed sacrament.

The man who has clean hands and a pure heart is one that 

Speaks truth and his heart is meek and humble.

He does not lift up his sole to a false God.

This means that his God, Jesus, has first place in his heart.

Amen

Queen of Esther Symbolizes Queen Mary

King Ahasuerus represents King Jesus

Queen Esther represents Queen Mary

Haman represents the devil

Queen Esther prayed for her people

For three days and three nights with her hand maidens

In order to go into the King's presence and ask him for a favor

The King put out his royal scepter to her 

And she invited him and Haman to come to a banquet

At the banquet they asked her what is her request 

And she invited them to come to a second banquet

Because she found favor in the King's eyes.

Just like Mary found favor in the eyes of Jesus

At the second banquet everyone ate

Queen Esther begged for the life of her people

This is equivalent to Mary asking God for our eternal life

And to be spared from the hand of the devil.

Amen

Isiah 53 and the Fulfillment in Christ

As the prophet Isaiah saw, in the time before crucifixion

He saw a prophecy about the crucifixion of Christ.

In his words, "he bore our grief and carried our sorrows"

This is symbolic of the cross that Jesus literally and figuratively carried.

Isiah said he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

In New Testament Jesus was whipped for our transgressions 

And a crown of thorns was laid upon his head for our iniquities.

Isiah said, "we all, like sheep, have gone astray. 

We have turned everyone his own way, 

And the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all."

The Romans laid the cross on Jesus which was symbolic of our iniquities.

Our iniquities are not actually heavy, but they are heavy to the Lord,

Just like the cross on Jesus' shoulders was heavy.

Just as a crucified man would smell bad to us,

So would sin smell bad to a Holy God.

Amen

The Millennial Reign of Christ

Oh Christ, you will reign for a thousand years

And then forever and ever.

During the millennial reign there shall be peace on earth.

The lion shall lay down with the lamb

People shall beat their swords into plowshares,

Their spears into pruning hooks,

Neither shall there war nor injustice.

Those who were once vulnerable, shall be safe.

Crimes will disappear from the earth.

Amen