I pray that I may let my child live his own life and not the one I wish I had lived.  Therefore, guard me against burdening him with doing what I failed to do. 

Help me to see his missteps today in perspective against the long road he must travel, and grant me the grace to be patient with his sometimes slow pace. 

Give me the wisdom to know when to smile at the small mischiefs of his age and when to show firmness against the impulses he fears and cannot handle. 

Help me to hear the anguish in his heart through the din of angry words or across the gulf of brooding silence; and, having heard, grant me the ability to bridge the gap between us with understanding.  

I pray that I may raise my voice more in joy at who he is than in vexation of who he is not, so that each day he may grow in sureness of himself. 

Help me to regard him with genuine affection so he will feel affection for others.  Then give me strength, O Lord, to free him so he can move strongly on his way. 

Amen.

Fr. Mike Durso, S.J.