Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God; everyone who loves
is born of God and knows God. Whoever does
not love does not know God, for God is love.
–1 John 4:7
Sacred Heart, Love of all Loves,
turn my hesitant heart toward the people
I find difficult to welcome into my life,
especially the obnoxious and arrogant,
the know-it-alls and the have-to-be-rights.
Restore my inner sight to see with your eyes
the people who jolt my visible sensitivity
by their appearance and jarring behavior.
Forgive me for my emotional responses,
and the negative, mental judgments
that betray your expansive compassion.
Take my hand and accompany me
when I encounter snarly, irritable, upset,
and easily angered individuals.
Do not allow me to respond in like manner.
Fortify my kindness with your love
when I am with do-gooders, the self-righteous,
the envious, and the hypocritical.
Regenerate my faith in the goodness of humanity
when I come across betrayers, liars, cheats,
and the least-trusted.
God of Love, let me see myself honestly,
not apart from those I want to shun,
but as another human being among them.
I, too, am in need of transformation.
Love of all Loves, grant that I may grow
in greater awareness of my own
dislikeable traits and disturbing limitations.
May I love others as you love them.
May I find solace in knowing
all of us have a home in your heart,
the Sacred Heart.
May I remember that when I love others
I am loving you.