The Pastoral Prayer for Sunday, May 17, included the Prayer for Young People by Luiz Carlos Ramos, translated by Paulo Gustavo França.

God, we thank you
for the young people we have now and for the young people we once were;
for the youth we see now and for youth we once had;
for the young [people] in our midst and for the young [person] that still lives within each of us.

We thank you
for the ongoing transformation of the world the youth foster
and for the constant transformation you cause in the life of each youth.

God who makes all things new,
keep these young people from conforming to this present age;
that they may not be formed by the media, by today’s trends or bad habits;
but that they may be transformed by the renewing of the mind
and by the gift of their bodies as a living offering, holy and pleasing to you.

That these young men and women may not be merely happy, but joyful;
that they may not be only healthy, but mindful;
that they may not be just strong, but open-minded;
that they may not be only intelligent, but that they may become wise;
that they may not be youthful in their look, but in their essence;
in a word, that they may not be the child of this present culture,
but [children] of the Living God,
so they may embody the Love,
work for Peace,
and may practice Justice.

We pray
in the name of Jesus Christ,
the young person who not only revolutionized the world with his ideas, but also saved humankind with his love.

Amen

Photo by Nooralbdeen Ahmad