The Finca Prayer Novena (Part 1 of 10)

At the farm we pray a lot.  It is a catholic orphanage run in part by Franciscan sisters, hence we pray quite often.  The quiet time amid the craziness of daily events and the regularity it brings to our days is rather calming.  One prayer we say every morning is the Prayer of the Farm. 

Daily Finca Prayer

Lord Jesus, protector of orphans and all who depend on you, as we begin this day we turn our hearts towards you. We give thanks for the gift of your great love and for the chance to serve you in all that we do today.

We ask that your grace and mercy be poured out on our beloved Farm of the Child, on our children, on our house parents, on our Franciscan sisters, on our volunteers past, present, and future, on our board members, on our support personnel, on our benefactors, and on all whom we serve in Honduras through our various ministries.

As a member of this community entrusted with maintaining, protecting and strengthening this mission, I ask for the following in order to better carry out my responsibilities:

A humble heart free from the desire of being esteemed,

A meek heart that bears with everyone,

A patient heart happy in the most trying circumstance,

A peaceful heart at peace with self and others,

A heart poor in spirit detached from the things of this world,

A heart full of love that finds happiness in suffering with others,

A prayerful heart that loves to be in communion with you,

A holy heart whose only desire is that God may be known and loved by everyone,

A pure heart like Mary’s which seeks to love and serve God alone.

May we as a community be one in heart and mind so that we may help to bring about the Kingdom of God through your mission, Farm of the Child.

Amen.

Let us seek Mary’s intercession by reciting one Hail Mary.

This is truly a beautiful prayer, and also said so often that proves easy to get lost in its daily recitation. As a community, the finca is entering a time in which it is easy to become lost as well. Kids are finishing up their school year, New volunteers are about to arrive, ¨middies¨ are entering their second year and job adjustments, oldies like myself are facing a fast approaching departure date from the farm and reentry to the states, all are facing transitions in their own ways. Transition, just like a prayer recited daily at 6 AM prayer services, is an easy time to loose oneself as well.

In an effort to not get lost in either during my last few months at the farm, I came up with an idea. Maybe all of us serving at the farm should take a step back and really listen to each line of the finca prayer in an intentional manner, and these reflections could in turn ground us and help us remain present within the finca during these times of change. Then as we enter the last week of this time of transition, the week in which my class says farewell, we may truly enter it ¨one in heart and mind¨ as the finca prayer says.

I shared this with Allison, our volunteer coordinator, she (being her normal amazing and always supportive self) said that it not only sounded good, that we would do it together as a volunteer community. So we are. My personal plan within this is that each week I will publish a short reflection on the line we focused on the previous week (so please feel free to call me out if I get behind!). I hope you enjoy them.