December 16, 2011
Book of prayers written for everyday stresses and life’s challenges
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
Reflection
In the Advent and Christmas Scriptures, we see that God arranged for the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus to come from a small and insignificant clan and town. How and when have I observed God acting and speaking through persons whom I would not have expected or looked to initially?
Prayer
God of Surprises, You continue to come to us and communicate with us in unexpected ways. Touch our hearts, our eyes, and our ears that we will be open to recognize and accept all the ways You come to us and speak to us in our times. Amen
Franciscan Sister Jane McConnell knows what it is like to be a hospital patient — the result of a near-fatal car accident in 1997 and treatment for breast cancer on two occasions since then.
She knows what it is like to be a caregiver, too, as a hospital chaplain.
Now, as Director of Mission Integration, she emails a prayer every morning to the 4,000 employees of all the facilities at St. Mary’s Medical Center, headquartered in Evansville.
“Employees of St. Mary’s encouraged me to make a compilation of what I had sent out over the years,” Sister Jane said. She took their advice and her book has just been published.
“Daily We Seek You: Reflections and Prayers for Individuals, Caregivers and Ministry Teams” is the title of the book published by Outskirts Press in Denver.
The book features reflections and prayers for every day of the year.
Each reflection is a few sentences, followed by a prayer of two sentences — sent out to the thousands but taken personally by many of those who receive them.
Sister Jane is amazed at the way people have responded — often with a question, “Did you write this one for me? How did you know what I was going through?”
She was pleased, too, with the comments of the publisher, that her words were very appealing and that patients would relate to the language of her experience both as a caregiver and a patient.
There is a prayer before surgery, a prayer in time of uncertainty, a prayer in time of illness. There are prayers for the caregivers, too, to be used when they gather as a group.
Some of the prayers in the book are also printed individually on cards and available at St. Mary’s.
The book includes a forward by Bishop Emeritus Gerald A. Gettelfinger, who retired from the Diocese of Evansville earlier this year
The book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Outskirts Press, and the St. Mary’s Medical Center Gift Shoppe. Proceeds will be divided equally between two charities, St. Mary’s Care of the Poor Fund and Sisters of St. Francis Ministries.
Sister Jane said she hopes the book will give others peace and comfort during both everyday stresses and life’s most challenging times.