Baccalaureate Prayers 2013

in Uncategorized
May 19th, 2013

Dearly beloved, let us pray.

Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Eternal.

We pray today for our graduates here at Boston University:

We give thanks for their achievements

We give praise for their wisdom and understanding, and

We ask you to guide them to hear the sound of the genuine in themselves,

That they may continue to excel in leadership, scholarship, and service,

That they may come alive to lives of fulfillment and joy, and

That they may prosper and flourish in their vocations.

We pray for the parents, families, and friends of our graduates:

We give thanks for their accompaniment to this point,

We give praise for their perseverance and dedication, and

We ask you to empower them in a new manner of nurture and guidance,

That they may find ongoing joy and satisfaction in the accomplishments of their graduates,

That our graduates may continue to find nourishment in the traditions and values of their roots, and

That they together might enter into a new manner of relationship in mutuality and partnership.

We pray for the faculty, staff, and administrators who have guided this class of graduates throughout their years of study:

We give thanks for their leadership, scholarship, teaching, and service,

We give praise for their graceful presence and compassionate shepherding,

We ask you to empower them to persevere in the ongoing work of forming, informing, and transforming students at Boston University,

That they may find ongoing fulfillment in teaching and guiding as sources of inspiration for their scholarship,

That their striving for wisdom and understanding may bear fruit in compassionate service of this community and the world, and

That future classes of graduates may attain to similar and greater heights of achievement as those who graduate today.

We pray for the greater Boston University community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni:

We give thanks for the greatness this University has achieved and will achieve to the divine glory,

We give praise for the great cloud of witnesses who provided and provide vision for this campus and community of learning, virtue, and piety, and

We ask you to inspire our hearts and minds to pursue and attain to even greater knowledge and insight,

That the ordering of our society and its affairs might be improved,

That justice and mercy might prevail, and

That your glory may be known upon the earth.

We pray for the members of the Class of 2013 who have died:

Austin Brashears, Binland Lee, Daniela Lekhno, Lu Lingzi, Kanagala Seshadri Rao, and Christopher Weigl:

Grant to them eternal rest, O God, and may light perpetual shine upon them.

Grant consolation and peace to their families and friends, and to those who mourn, and

Guide our community toward healing, wholeness, and reconciliation.

In all of these things, we fulfill your command, O God, as we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and so we offer you all praise and glory this day.  Amen.

–Br. Lawrence A. Whitney, LC+