Health Care Prayers

A Prayer for Justice in Health Care

O most Divine healer!
You healed those who approached
Through a gentle touch or word.
None who came to You were denied.
Let Your justice roll down on this country.
Let it convert those
Who place wealth above health.
Bless those who are ill
Needing treatment,
But who lack the money to pay for it.
Let this country’s style of government
Change to serve its people
Not corporate interests.
Bless those who are today’s healers,
Doctors, nurses, and all medical staff.
Let them be filled with Your mercy and compassion,
As they touch the ill, the suffering, the dying.
Bless them in their mission
In service to all.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Tom Miele

O God,
you are life,
source of all that is.
By your word
you brought forth sun and moon,
stars and planets,
plants and every green thing,
animals and all that has breath.
By your wisdom
you evolved our fragile home
through the millennia.
By your mercy
you sustain your creation,
today and everyday.
By your might
you guide your people
through sunshine and storm.

In one particular time and place,
you made yourself known to us in Jesus,
whose ministry took him to the margins,
to those whom society had declared
unclean, undeserving, unworthy.
In a spirit of mercy and holy rebellion,
Jesus reached across boundaries
and healed by his touch,
restoring life and life abundant
to those who had been cut off from community.

Your healing is known
across all faiths and among all cultures.
So inspired by the great love you have shown us,
make us agents of that same holy rebellion–
the divine obedience that manifests
your love and mercy for all whom you have created.

Bless the work of our elected officials
and the ministry to which you have called them.
Remind them of the communities they have promised to serve,
and inspire them to strive for justice,
especially for those most vulnerable,
that all may have access to quality health care,
and so all may be strengthened in body and spirit
to serve your planet and your people.

Send us forth with your blessing,
on this assembly gathered here,
to be a blessing to all we meet,
to receive blessing from those we least expect,
to bear one another’s burdens,
and to love, fiercely and unapologetically;
in the strong name of the Holy One
to whom we pray.
Amen.

Almighty God, help us this day to direct our attention and concern to the poor, needy and sick in our local communities. Let us hear their hopes and their struggles. Help us to respond in an effort to restore their faith and their belief in their human dignity. May we find within ourselves the conviction to always put the powerless foremost in our minds and hearts. Let us so live that all who know us may know that you are a God who cares, when they experience our care and concern. Let us draw strength from each other as we share our talents for the good of the people we serve in all of our facilities- – We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Prayer for the Uninsured

Father of goodness and love,
hear our prayers for the uninsured members of our community
and for all who are in need.
For those who seek care but find that it is out of reach,
may they find consolation in your healing presence.
For all who are blessed with health and security,
may they work to fulfill the needs of those who are sick and insecure.

For leaders who make decisions that affect the health and well-being of others, may they strive to ensure the fundamental right to health care.
We ask this through Christ our Lord
who healed those who believed.

Amen

US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Petitions for the Prayer of the Faithful

Priest: As Gods children, we are aware of Gods unending compassion, care and concern and so we confidently pray:

Lector: That we may be the agents of Gods healing power to those most in need, we pray to the Lord.

For the uninsured, that they may be encouraged by your presence and given new hope by the love and care of their brothers and sisters in Christ, we pray to the Lord.

For the sick and suffering, that God may give then courage and strength to share the suffering of Christ, we pray to the Lord.

That as we strive to address the needs of the uninsured we may be moved by the compassion, love and concern of the Good Shepherd, we pray to the Lord.

For all engaged in health care, that they may be strengthened to always show mercy, compassion and love, we pray to the Lord.

Priest: God, our Father, you extend the Kingdom of Christ to embrace the world, bringing healing and redemption. May the Church be a powerful sign of your healing power, revealing your unending love for us in Christ, Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

US Conference of Catholic Bishops

Prayer Service – Healing Disparities in Health Care

CALL TO PRAYER
LEADER: As we gather this morning, let us reflect quietly on God’s presence with us, now and always.

Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to draw attention to the great chasm that exists between the poor and the powerful ones who are indifferent to their suffering.

READING Luke 16:19-23
A reading from the Gospel of Luke. There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.

Pause for reflection.

LEADER: Jesus calls us to be aware of the chasm in health care today, the disparity in care that results in worse outcomes for persons who are made vulnerable because they are unjustly kept outside the mainstream of community life. Jesus calls us to act for justice. He calls us to bring comfort and healing to those who do not sit at the table today. Jesus calls us to advocate for persons on the margins of society, and to promote and defend human dignity.

READING
Psalm 85:8, 10-12

LEADER: Show us, Lord, your love; grant us your salvation.

ALL: Near indeed is salvation for the loyal; prosperity will fill our land.

LEADER: Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss.

ALL: Truth will spring from the earth; justice will look down from heaven.

MUSIC
Suggested: “Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service,” by Albert F. Bayly

LEADER: With Jesus’ call in mind, let us pray together.

ALL: God, our creator and the ground of our being, we give you thanks for all the blessings of this life, especially for the gift of each other and our work. Every person is a treasure, every life a sacred gift. Through our work we strive to diminish the chasm of disparity and bring about greater justice and equity. We ask your blessings on our work today and on all those in our community who need our care. We ask this in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Lynette Ballard

Catholic Health Association

Other Prayer Resources

Catholic Relief Services

The Forward Movement of the Episcopal Church