Prayer Team
Scripture
“The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” (James 5:16)
Mission Statement
The mission of the Social Concerns Prayer Team is to lift up those in need through intentional, faith-filled prayer—interceding for the suffering, the lonely, and the vulnerable, and trusting in God’s healing mercy to reach hearts and lives through the power of united prayer.
Ministry Description
A Ministry of Intercessory Prayer
- Offers intentional prayer support for individuals and families facing physical, emotional, spiritual, or financial hardship
- Partners with the Mary Queen Social Concerns Ministry by lifting up specific needs and intentions in prayer
- Receives regular email updates that include:
- Names and intentions (first names only or anonymous as needed)
- Monthly prayer themes
- Scripture passages to guide reflection and intercession
- This is a no-meetings ministry—just a shared commitment to pray intentionally for those we serve through Social Concerns. Prayers can be offered from home, at your own pace, and in your own way
- Open to anyone who feels called to compassionately intercede for those in need
- Trusts in the power of united prayer to bring comfort, hope, and healing through God’s grace
How to Participate
- Send an email to chrisaustgen@maryqueenchurch.org to receive monthly email updates and prayer intentions
August Prayer Theme: Elder Care
“Even to your old age I am he, even when your hair is gray I will carry you.” — Isaiah 46:4
As Catholics, we pray for older adults because every person retains God-given dignity at every stage of life. Aging may bring illness, loneliness, grief, reduced independence, or fear of becoming a burden, but it never diminishes a person’s worth. Older adults also carry wisdom, faith, memory, and experience that enrich families, parishes, and communities.
We pray for their caregivers because their work is a profound act of mercy. Many care for loved ones with patience and tenderness while facing exhaustion, worry, financial strain, and difficult decisions. Prayer asks God to strengthen them, give them rest, and remind them that their loving service reflects Christ’s compassion.
In praying for both older adults and caregivers, we affirm a culture of life in which no one is forgotten, discarded, or left to suffer alone.
July Prayer Theme: For Victims of Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery
"Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed."
Isaiah 1:17
Human trafficking is bigger than many people realize. It includes forced marriage, forced criminal activity, forced labor, and sexual exploitation. In 2024 alone, the National Human Trafficking Hotline identified nearly 12,000 trafficking situations involving more than 21,000 potential victims in the United States. Worldwide, an estimated 50 million people are living in conditions of modern slavery. Children are among the most vulnerable victims, especially in cases of sexual exploitation.
For Catholics, human trafficking is a grave sin because every person is created in the image and likeness of God and possesses a dignity that can never be bought, sold, or exploited. Through force, fraud, coercion, and abuse, victims are stripped of their freedom and treated as commodities rather than beloved children of God.
The Catholic Church condemns all forms of human trafficking and modern slavery. As followers of Christ, we pray for victims and survivors, for the conversion of traffickers, and for an end to all forms of exploitation.
Let our prayers effect their rescue and be their hope.