“O God:
You bring hope out of emptiness, energy out of fear, new life out of grief and loss.
As Mary returned to mourn yet found unspeakable joy, so comfort all who have lost their homes
through persecution, war, exile, or deliberate destruction.
Give them security, a place to live, and neighbors they trust to be, with them,
a new sign of peace to the world.
Amen.”
Found at ucc.org
“Spirit of God,
We have heard your call to share in building up the Kingdom of God.
Fill us with the desire to change ourselves and to change the world.
Enflame our passion for justice into a commitment to address unjust situations and structures.
Deepen our concern for our sisters and brothers in America and overseas who endure the burdens of poverty, war, exploitation and persecution.
Let us enthusiastically play our part in the mission of the Church in the modern world.
Banish any complacency in our hearts and minds.
Teach us to recognize the lack of justice.
May we always act in the Spirit of justice.
May we envisage, pray about and create a different sort of world
in which injustice is replaced with a renewed sense of solidarity and care.
Enlivened by the Spirit, may we go forth in the peace of the Holy Spirit to love and serve the Lord.
Amen”
“Father, you have given all peoples one common origin.
It is your will that they be gathered together
as one family in yourself.
Fill the hearts of mankind with the fire of your love
and with the desire to ensure justice for all.
By sharing the good things you give us,
may we secure an equality for all
our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
May there be an end to division, strife and war.
May there be a dawning of a truly human society
built on love and peace.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord.
Amen.”
Attributed to Catholic Online // Found at Social Justice Resource Center
“Merciful God, the Creator God who masterfully designed the human frame, hear our lament. How long will Black girls be denied their humanity?
Treated as if they have no pain or as tho they cannot feel pain? How long will Black pain be punished? Our creativity cursed, success blocked, or drive pathologized by being given standards to meet unattainable to others?
How long will Black women’s grief and anxiety be ignored as they are labeled irresponsible or haughty? God of Hagar, see, restore and avenge your daughters. Grant healing and protection. God of the tired and misused Black women, hear our prayer”
“Those who are worn out and crushed by this mourning, let your hearts consider this:
this is the path that has existed from the time of creation and will exist forever.
Many have drunk from it and many will yet drink.
As was the first meal, so shall be the last.
May the master of comfort comfort you.
Blessed are those who comforts the mourners.”
Found at Jesuit Resources
“Bless those who mourn, eternal God, with the comfort of your love that they may face each new day with hope and the certainty that nothing can destroy the good that has been given. May their memories become joyful, their days enriched with friendship, and their lives encircled by your love.”
(Vienna Cobb Anderson)
Found at Jesuit Resources
“Bless those who mourn, eternal God,
with the comfort of your love
that they may face each new day with hope
and the certainty that nothing can destroy
the good that has been given.
May their memories become joyful,
their days enriched with friendship,
and their lives encircled by your love.”
Found at Jesuit Resources
O Christ,
Thou Lamb of God,
slain for the sin of the whole world,
with penitent heart I come to Thy Cross,
pleading for mercy and forgiveness.
My sins — and they are many —
have added to the burden of Thy suffering
and have nailed Thee to the accursed tree.
For me Thou has tasted the agony of the utter darkness
that I might not perish but have everlasting life.
Have mercy upon me.
O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
embrace me with Thy love,
and forgive me all my sins.
Thy death brings healing to my soul,
peace to my mind,
cleansing to my heart.
If Thou wouldst mark iniquity,
I could not come;
for my hands are unclean,
my lips are sullied,
and my heart is blackened by sin.
But beholding Thee bleeding,
despised, forsaken, dying, pierced,
I come to be cleansed and forgiven.
O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
grant that I may hate sin and wickedness more and more
as I behold Thee in Thy great agony.
My grateful heart today finds hope in Thy words,
comfort in Thy promises,
salvation in Thy finished work on the Cross,
by which Though has overcome sin, Satan, and death.
O Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
grant that I may daily walk by faith,
crucifying all sinful desires
and giving myself and dedicating my all to Thee.
Keep me faithful to the end of my days,
until I stand before Thy throne to worship Thee,
the Lamb once slain but now living and reigning forever,
adored by the multitude of heaven.
Hear my cry, Redeemer of my soul.
Amen.
From the 1951 Lutheran Book of Prayer
“May the sweet light of change shine in the darkness,
May the first breath of each morning begin life again,
May the memories unfold as prayers for life,
May the love continue to fill the silence.
(Attributed to Zenju)
Found at Jesuit Resource.org
“Dear Lord, please give me...
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value, without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.”
Author Unknown, found at Jesuit Resource.org
“Almighty and Everlasting God,
comfort of the sad
and strength to those who suffer:
Let the prayers of your children
who are in any trouble rise to you.
To everyone in distress grant mercy,
grant relief,
grant refreshment;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Amen.
Taken from The 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship
“May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember the most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between
preserving their health or making rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care
for our children when their school closes
Remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those with nowhere safe to go.
May we who are losing our “margin money”
in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those with no margin to spare.
May we who settle into Quarantine in comfortable homes
Remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country,
Let us choose Love.
During this time when we cannot physically
wrap our arms around each other,
Let us find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Amen.
(author unknown)
“For all those who have fallen victim to hatred and inhumanity, for those loved ones who are left behind to mourn, for the souls of those whose hearts are cold, Lord, hear our prayer.
For the children who are being born into this world of conflict and violence, for women and mothers who suffer needlessly, Lord, hear our prayer.
For all those who have been forced into unemployment, who long to return to work, for all those who struggle to support their families, Lord, hear our prayer.
For the soldiers who are misguided in thinking that their bullets will bring about peace, for those who feel called to conscientiously object to military orders, Lord, hear our prayer.
For the children who cry in their beds at night and wonder "what have I done?"
For the mothers and fathers who must try to explain the unexplainable, Lord, hear our prayer.
For all the children who have died before their time, for the soldiers who allow their uniform to strip them of their humanity, for the healers who are denied the opportunity to use their gifts, Lord, hear our prayer.
For the redemption of souls of both victim and perpetrator, for those who commit themselves to the forgiveness of sins, Lord, hear our prayer.”
- Author Unknown
Found at Jesuit Resources
“Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it:
a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;
a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect;
a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
- Author Unknown
Found at Jesuit Resources
“A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's road side, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. Compassion sees that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.
Let us pray:
Ever present God, you called us to be in relationship with one another and promised to dwell wherever two or three are gathered. In our community, we are many different people; we come from many different places, have many different cultures. Open our hearts that we may be bold in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us. We pray in faith.
Amen.”
- Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Found at Jesuit Resources
“The dark shadow of space leans over us...
We are mindful that the darkness of greed, exploitation, and hatred
also lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.
As our ancestors feared death and evil and all the dark powers of winter,
we fear that the darkness of war, discrimination, and selfishness
may doom us and our planet to an eternal winter.
May we find hope in the lights we have kindled on this sacred night,
hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice
that spans the world.
In the heart of every person on this Earth
burns the spark of luminous goodness;
in no heart is there total darkness.
May we who have celebrated this winter solstice,
by our lives and service, by our prayers and love,
call forth from one another the light and the love
that is hidden in every heart.”
- Author Unknown
“Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
From the Book of Common Prayer (1979)
“Our loving Father, from Thy hand have come all the days of the past. To Thee we look for whatever good the future holds. We are not satisfied with the world as we have found it. It is too little the kingdom of God as yet. Grant us the privilege of apart in its regeneration. We wish the joy of fellowship with those sons of God who are bringing in the new day. We are looking for a new earth in which dwells righteousness. It is our prayer that we may be children of light, the kind of people for whose coming and ministry the world is waiting.—Amen.”
Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.
“Our Holy Father, we confess the weakness and sinfulness of our lives. We have often turned away from thee to seek our own desires. And often when we have done no evil, we have undertaken nothing of good, and so have been guilty of uselessness and neglect. From this sin of idleness and indifference set us free. Lead us into fruitful effort, and deliver us from profitless lives. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.
“O God, the Creator and Presever of all mankind; In whom to dwell is to find peace and security; toward whom to turn is to find life and life eternal, we humbly beseech Thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou wouldst be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, Thy saving health unto all nations. We also pray for Thy holy Church universal; that it may be so guided and governed by thy Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the [land?] of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally we commend to thy Fatherly goodness all those who are in any way afflicted or distressed in mind or body. Give them patience under the suffering and power of endurance This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.