[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6031]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 6031]]

            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES--Thursday, April 1, 2004

  The House met at 10 a.m.
  Monsignor James C. Kidder, Pastor, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, El 
Dorado, California, offered the following prayer:
  O God, our loving Creator, our experience of Your fidelity in our 
lives can often be overshadowed by our fears of the future. We know the 
uncertainty of our plans and the difficulties we face in our 
aspirations. We need hope. Not false hopes that are unstable, but the 
hope of faith that can support and give courage. Your fidelity, Lord, 
is unchanging. You do not retreat. You do not know deception. Your 
fidelity is our hope.
  Help us to be mirrors of Your fidelity, for the first, the last, and 
the greatest gift we have to offer others is our life. Help us to exist 
for those who entrust their well-being to us. A complete gift as great 
as this does require Your fidelity to us.
  On this first day of April which could be filled with pranks, 
illusion, and humor, we thank You for the ability to laugh, which is a 
gift from You to release the tensions pent-up within and to open our 
eyes to envision Your truth all the more. We thank You, too, for the 
gift of a smile, a wonder that we can freely share to brighten the days 
of others. May we go forth today to share that gift generously. Amen.

                          ____________________