Good morning, digital neighbors—a prayer for the end of this year and the beginning of the new one. I am sure I will see you around our digital neighborhoods on Locals or Substack. Know of my prayers for all of you, known or unknown. And while I am just another traveler on the internet with you, my door is just as open to you as it is to my flock at both of my parishes. There I strive to be a good spiritual father; here I try my best to be a good neighbor.  Many thanks for all of you who make these communities I enjoy full of life, humor and worthwhile thought.  Off to the prayer and last day of 2025!   Peace from your neighborhood Padre!

Dear Father, for whom the beauty of your world became the medium of the Incarnation, grant us the power, through newly awakened senses, to respond to the beautiful in our daily lives—whether within the familiar frame of household chores or the majesty of Nature’s changing moods.

May we see it in the dancing eyes of a happy child, in the sweat-gleaming muscles of toiling workmen; let it touch our heart and ear through the careless laughter of young girlhood and the quiet wisdom of silvered age. Teach us to recognize it in Autumn’s scudding clouds, in the liquid grace of gliding fish, and in the restrained strength of a champing horse.

But more especially, sweet God, may the manifestations of Your beauty be most truly seen in high thought, in the sacrificial life, the spontaneous gesture, the encouraging smile, the patient ear, the apt word—all of which are but a reflection of the peerless life of your blessed Son, Jesus Christ, whose sorrow was turned to joy and for whom death was defeated in the Resurrection. – Melville Harcourt

Short Prayers for the Long Day

Russian countryside -Олег Мороз - Unsplash