Thanks God, for giving me life; and talents for my participation in sports.
Help me to play well, to use my powers to the full, to see them as gifts from you.
Be with me when I need to play hurt, when I have to deal with the pain of injury,
disappointment, loss.
Keep me aware of the brotherhood/sisterhood I have with all athletes, even when
they are opponents; free me from the temptation to fake, to foul, to cheat.
I need to see that dedication to the cause will mean suffering, but let me know that
it is the kind of suffering that leads to new life and greater maturity.
Help me play with heart, and never lose heart.
Most of all, help me never to quit in my efforts to be open to you. For I believe your
full coming into my life is the way to real life, in all I do; I believe it is the way of my
becoming the truly human person you destined me to be.
Amen.
Excerpted and adapted from Day By Day: The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students by Thomas
McNally, copyright 2004 by Ave Maria Press, Inc., P.O. Box 428, Notre Dame, IN, 46556,
www.avemariapress.com. All rights reserved.
