Day Nine: January 20

For our new President, Barack:

Lord, be with him always. The weight on his shoulders is more than a man can take; he needs you to carry much of that burden.

Give him all the gifts of your Holy Spirit:

Knowledge: for the job that he has been given requires that he knows much and learns far more. He must also know what he does not know, that he may find advisors to help him.

Understanding: for to know is not enough; he must understand the meaning of what he knows. He must comprehend what his advisors tell him.

Judgment: for he must take all that he knows and all that he is given and discern what is true, what is good, what is valuable. And he must be able to judge who is the best advisor in any situation.

Wisdom: for everything above is meaningless without wisdom to pull it together; wisdom to find what out of an overwhelming flood of information is truly important.

Courage: not only physical courage, for the job is dangerous no matter how many try to protect him, but intellectual courage, to be able to reject the "nice-sounding" solution that does not stand up to logic, and even harder, moral courage, that rejects the easy or convenient and holds out for the right, though all around him fight against it.

Piety: let him return the thanks and obedience to you which is your due, and let him remember that you are always watching what he does, for good or ill.

Fear (Awe) of the Lord: let him realize that this is his Sanity Clause: for he will spend the next years surrounded by those who will flatter him that he is the most powerful man on earth, that he holds the power of a god, that he *is* a god. Let him remember always that you are to him as he is to a single ant. Sustain his understanding of his place in the universe and his sense of balance. Protect him from the terrible temptations of ego that go with this job.

Love him, Lord Jesus. He needs to feel your love.

Comfort him, Blessed Mother. He needs your consolation.

Strengthen him, Breath of God. For the strength that he needs far exceeds the strength of the natural man.


Lord, Hear our Prayer.