A Prayer about Comfort for Caregivers
Do you know a caregiver who needs comfort?
In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Matthew 26:12
Precious Jesus,
Thank you for this affirmation
of Mary’s tender caregiving actions.
May we remember
that while she cared for you before you died,
she could not save you.
May we see that she, unlike the disciples,
seemed to believe you
when you said you would die,
and that she came alongside you
to help you die well.
We pray today for all caregivers
who are watching their loved ones die.
Fill them with your surpassing peace
in the midst of anxious moments bedside.
As beepers blare or breathing becomes shallow,
remind them that it is neither in their job description
nor in their power
to prevent their loved one’s death.
Free them from any guilt or sense of failure
about the care they have given.
Give them the hope of resurrection,
the hope that their loved one will soon be well
in a way they never can be on this earth.
And send us, Lord, to comfort the caregiver,
to sit with her,
to listen to her,
to cry with her,
to feed her,
to care for her
in her grief and sorrow.
Give us the wisdom and insight only your Holy Spirit can give
about how to care for the caregiver
in these agonizing moments.
In your caregiving name. Amen.
Read Matthew 26:6-13, 25:31-46.
