The Office of the Chaplain United States House of Representatives

Message from the Chaplain
The Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin

Photograph of The Reverend Daniel P. CoughlinTo serve as Chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives is truly an honor and a privilege. To be both a minister of the Lord and an officer serving the United States government responds to a twofold call to serve others and offer prayer that unites Heaven and Earth.

With 435 Members in the House and their staffs, plus all the other wonderful people who serve here with committee work or in the Chamber, including teenage Pages, my pastoral duties are many and varied. My goal is to meet the needs of this working community on a personal level. The problems that weigh on hearts and the confusion that at times blocks clarity of thinking become my concerns.

The formal prayer before each legislative session of Congress, and even before days of pro forma sessions, casts a light on the day that awakens faith and calls forth a nation to stand with its leaders and affirm: “In God We Trust.” But daily prayer for the Members of the House cannot end there.

I ask people across this great country to join me in praying for the Members of the House of Representatives. Know the Member of your congressional district by name and raise his or her name before God each day with us here in the nation’s capital.

Pray for me, also, that I may be always rooted in prayer and a good instrument for accomplishing God’s holy will here. Only by being free in the Spirit can I serve all the people here, regardless of their faith persuasion or denomination. Only by listening attentively to each person can I offer good counsel, encouragement, and gentle correction.

Thank you for your interest in and support of the Members of the House.

Opening Prayer

02/05/2010
Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin

Lord God our life–long Teacher, Lawgiver and Guide we praise You and bless You for all those who are a part of the education and spiritual formation of the children of this nation.

May parents, teachers and school administrators be the best teachers both by what they say and by the way they live.

Inspire children to be industrious and responsible in their school work. Grant our young people determination and perseverance especially when the subject matter they face seems complex or difficult.

May those in higher education aspire to be good and even great leaders in the future. May they seek every opportunity to investigate, to learn and to excel.

Make their homes true schools of love and their classrooms true adventures in learning more about their character and about the world in which they live. By their endeavors and advancements, Lord, may they give You honor and glory now and forever.
Amen.

Thought of the Day

“I hope that God will supply for everything and I feel a confidence in his divine Providence which keeps me above all troubles. So I remain calm and in peace in the midst of a thousand worries and complicates in which I should have expected, naturally speaking, to be overwhelmed.
. . .
Let us accept everything from the hand of our good Father, and he will keep us in peace in the midst of the greatest disasters of this world, the fashion of which passes away in a flash. Our life will be holy and tranquil in proportion as we trust in God and abandon ourselves to him. Without that self abandonment, this is no solid virtue, no sure repose.
”

—Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J.
Abandonment to Divine Providence

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