Guide us in our meeting today,
so that everything we do might begin by your inspiration,
and be carried out through your grace,
so that all of our intentions and actions might seek only your service and
well-being of the students entrusted to our care.

Through Christ, our Lord.

Offered and written by Tim Howe, S.J.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank you for the gift of life, and for the gift of those lives who dedicate their efforts, in the Ignatian tradition, to nourish both the mind and spirit. We ask that Your spirit be among us today as we consider our responsibilities to our Jesuit Institutions, our president, our faculty and our students.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

Offered and written by Stephen Cuntz

God of Love,

We are meeting today regarding ordinary and extraordinary matters of Xavier University - matters which will ultimately affect the students who have entrusted Xavier to engage them intellectually, morally and spiritually.

Be with us in our discussions.
Give us insight and courage to do Your will with compassion and reverence, as stewards and companions for the benefit of the entire campus community and beyond.

Help us to know and believe in the gifts you have given us as Trustees, both individually and collectively.

Inspire us to solve the challenges we may face and to take joy in our shared triumphs, both mundane and grand.

In faith and hope, we trust in your presence and guidance today.

Amen

Offered by Karen Wells
Written by Debra Mooney

Be present with us, O Holy Spirit, for it is in your name that we are specially gathered together.

Come to help us in our affairs, and be pleased to enter into our deliberations.

Let it be you, first of all,who inspires our suggestions.

Grant that we may act wisely in service to Xavier University.

Keep us by the gift of your grace in harmony with your will, so that we may act as one with you.

Amen.

Offered by Donna Jones Baker

Let us pray

God of Wisdom,
We are gathered here today to serve You and conduct the affairs of Xavier University.

Give us knowledge and strength to do Your will with a proper balance of eternal values and our present needs.

May we accept our responsibilities, act with courage, and uphold the education of tomorrow’s leaders.

Grant us a sense of justice and wise stewardship both now and forever.

Amen

Offered by James Wainscott

All loving God, we gather this morning in your name and in your service.

Give us the grace to serve you well.

Instill in us the humility to discern your will and the generosity to carry it out.

Grant us, especially, the virtue of gratitude:gratitude for the privilege of our calling,
   gratitude for the abilities we bring to our work, and gratitude for all who accompany us on the journey.

These things we ask of you this and every day.

Amen.

Offered by David Joyce

As we look to and plan for the future of Xavier University – and our own personal future – let us hand over to God the feelings that are deep within each of us, participants in the ongoing creative activity of God.

HOLY CREATOR,

   give us patience to trust in Your slow and constant
   creative power.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything
   to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way
   to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
   that new creation is made by passing through
   some stages of instability –
   and that it may take a very long time.

Help us to be patient
   and understand Your ideas mature gradually within us.

Enable us to let them grow,
   let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Help us not to force the future
   as though we could be today
      what time, grace, and circumstances
      will make of us tomorrow.

Only You can say what this new spirit,
   Gradually forming within us, will be.

We give to You, Loving Creator, our faith
   and trust that the benefit of our believing
      is a deeper realization
   that Your hand is leading us
      when we accept the anxiety of felling ourselves
      in suspense and incomplete,
   waiting for Your plan to unfold in its own time,

We trust in Your creative power,
   Source of all that is and all that will ever be.

Amen!

Offered by John LaRocca, S.J.
Written by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
(paraphrased by Darrell J. Burns, S.J.)

 Holy God,
   we gather here as members of this Board
   and we thank You for calling us together.

It is our privilege and our responsibility
   to support, foster, and advance
   the mission of Xavier University.

We accept this task in total dependence upon You,
   for it is You Who began this work
   You Who guide it and will bring it to fulfillment.

Send Your creative Spirit upon us:
   open our hearts to recognize Your presence among us;
   open our minds to respond to Your calling.

Enable us to draw upon the wisdom and experience of yesterday
   as we respond to the questions and concerns of tomorrow.

Give us freedom to speak the truth boldly and with kindness;

Give us patience to listen openly, without prejudice;

Give us confidence to discover and explore new possibilities;

Give us wisdom to discern what is right and good and just;

Give us courage to participate in Your ongoing work of creation.

We call upon the intercession of St. Ignatius to confirm our prayer
   and to support our endeavors.

All glory, honor, and praise are Yours, Holy God, for all ages.
Amen.

Offered by Ann Hoffman
Adapted from a prayer written by Darrell J. Burns, S.J

Good and Loving God,

We thank you for creating the world in all its beauty.

We thank you for memory, which enables us to build on the experiences of the past;
for imagination, which admits us to a wider world than we could otherwise know;
and for foresight, by which we plan for the future.

Bless this unseen work that we do on behalf of Xavier’s many students who,
through their Jesuit education,
will strive to make a difference in the world.

We ask this in your name.

Amen.

Offered by John Maydonovitch
Written by Joe Shadle

God of Love,

We are meeting today regarding ordinary and extraordinary matters of Xavier University, matters which will ultimately affect the students who have entrusted Xavier to engage them intellectually, morally and spiritually.

Be with us in our discussions.
Give us insight and courage to do Your will with compassion and reverence, as stewards and companions for the benefit of the entire campus community and beyond.

Help us to know and believe in the gifts you have given us as Trustees, both individually and collectively.
Inspire us to solve the challenges we may face and to take joy in our shared triumphs, both mundane and grand.

In faith and hope, we trust in your presence and guidance today.

Amen

Offered by Jessica Zeller
Written by Debra Mooney

Opening Prayer for the Meeting of Xavier's Jesuit Identity Committee

Chair :
Let us pray.

All:
Good and loving God,
We gather this morning in your name.

The gifts of our Ignatian heritage invite us to be part of a tradition
that builds on the wisdom of the past
with a vision open to the opportunities of the future.

Bless this vital work that we do on behalf of Xavier’s students
who, through their Jesuit education,
are challenged to make a difference in the world.

Give us the grace to serve you well.
Instill in us the humility to discern your will
and the generosity to carry it out.

We ask this in your name. Amen.

Offered at every meeting of the Jesuit Identity Committee 
written by the staff of the Center for Mission and Identity