Gracious God, we come to you at the beginning of this academic year
with our many feelings, expectations, fears and hopes.
Help us to remember, however, we have the comforting
assurance from you: "I will always be with you."
Loving God, for all of us this is a time of transition. It is transition
from the work and leisure of summer back to the classroom.
It is transition from time spent with family and friends.
Give us patience with ourselves as we transition as well as
patience with one another.
Faithful God, this beginning is totally new for some among us.
Turn the sadness of leaving families to openness to new friends
and opportunities. Turn the anxiety about academics to a quiet confidence in the way
you have blessed us in the past.
Give us a new perspective to see persons, events, and academic work as an
invitation to develop the many gifts you have given us to be used in service for others.
Creator God, some in our community are moving into their last year at Marquette.
Bless them with your gifts of awe and wonder at the friends they have made,
the way their minds and hearts have been changed, and the many opportunities
that lie ahead. Give them the gift of discernment to make the right choices about the future.
Finally, God, give to each member of the Marquette Community the seven
gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge,
reverence, and awe and wonder.
Amen.
God of wisdom and might, we praise you for the wonder of our being, for mind, body, and spirit. Be with our children as they begin a new school year. Bless them and their teachers and staff. Give them the strength and grace as their bodies grow; wisdom and knowledge to their minds as they search for understanding; and peace and zeal to their hearts. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lord, Our God, in your wisdom and love you surround us with the mysteries of the universe. Send your spirit upon these students and fill them with your wisdom and blessings. Grant that they may devote themselves to their studies and draw ever closer to You, the source of all knowledge. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Angel of God, my guardian dear; to whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule, to guide. Amen.
Lord God, your spirit of wisdom fills the earth and teaches us in your ways. Look upon these teachers. Let them strive to share their knowledge with gentle patience and endeavor always to bring the truth to eager minds. Grant that we may follow Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, forever and ever.
Lord Jesus, we ask for Your help as we begin this new school year. Allow us to experience Your presence in the many blessings You put before us. Open our eyes to the new challenges and exciting opportunities that this new school year brings. Open our heart and mind to new friends and new teachers. Give us a generous spirit to be enthusiastic with our studies and courage to accept new opportunities. Help us to be attentive to one another and let us experience Your presence in our new friends. Jesus, inspire us to do our best this year! Amen
Lord, Give us insight to see realistically "what is"; but make us dreamers and give us vision of all the possibilities for "what can be." Use us as your instruments to form, inform, reform, and transform those who come to us. We ask this in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen
Loving Creator, Map your goals for us in our hearts. Make our classrooms oases in the busy world. Make them places of warmth and trust. May our affirmation of our students enable them to know that their opinion counts. Free them to stretch themselves as they seek holistic growth in a safe, nurturing, Christian environment. Amen