Archbishop Hebda offers opening prayer for 2017-18 legislative session

Delivered to Members of the Minnesota State House of Representatives

God of all Creation,
The majestic beauty of our State reminds us that you are the source of all blessings.
At the beginning of this new year and of this legislative session,
we humbly ask for your blessing
on our legislators and on all who collaborate in their work.
Bestow on them an abundant share of your wisdom
and a deep desire to serve the common good.

May they be instruments of your providential care,
most especially in the lives of those who are most in need — our children, our elderly, those who live at the margins of our society.
May they be bridge-builders,
helping us to strengthen those bonds that unite a very diverse population,
encouraging us to honor the innate dignity of each human person,
and inspiring us to respect the differences in culture and experience
that have traditionally strengthened our common life.   

May they be wise stewards of the many resources — human, natural and economic — with which you have so richly blessed us.
May they help us to restore the honor and dignity of the great tradition of public service that has long distinguished our State and
may they and their families be given a glimpse of the fruits that flow from their sacrifices as they dedicate themselves to pursuing the common good over self-interest.
We ask all of these things of you, O Lord,
trusting that you are indeed the source of all that is good.

Amen.