Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. ” —Prayer of Saint Francis
Resurrecting Christ, you turned the world upside down and inside out when you revealed that there is life after death and love always has the last word. Therefore, we uplift our prayers for this broken and bruised world to you so that you might transform them into sources of hope and healing.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Holy One, we yearn for the day when swords will be beaten into plowshares, yet war and violence continue to plague many corners of this hurting world.
- We pray for your children in Ukraine as the war wages on. Thousands of lives have been lost and more than three million people have fled from the country. We pray for those in neighboring countries as the impact of the war spills across their borders. We think of Poland and Bulgaria as Russian officials have cut off their gas shipments.
- We pray for your children in Sudan where more than 160 people have been killed, almost 100 injured, and thousands are fleeing the violence of tribal clashes in the Darfur region.
- We pray for your children in Ethiopia where the twenty Muslim worshippers were killed during an ambush in the Amhara region.
Comfort your children whose lives are shaped by terror and tyranny. Loosen the grip hatred has on the hearts of those have been hardened by greed and trauma. Mend the wounds of all who are in pain.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Be with your children in Mexico as protests and outrage grow with the increase of violence and rising rate of disappearance of women and girls. It is reported that more than 24,000 women are missing nationwide. Let us humbly acknowledge this is not just happening in Mexico, but all over the world. God, protect all those who are abused, fearful, or neglected. Be with those who are being trafficked, those who are trying to escape domestic violence, those who yearn for a way out, and those with no way out. May they know they are loved and not alone.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
O Great Physician, we are hopeful even upon hearing the news that we are entering another phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet so many of us are exhausted and fed up not knowing what will happen next. Infection rates are rising around the world, access to vaccines remains inequitable, and lockdowns continue in Shanghai, China. Grant us the space and time to grieve all that has been lost. Bring rest to the weary, healing to the sick, and relief to those who hurt.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Maker of Heaven and Earth, you made a world of unsurpassed beauty and called it good. Yet we so often overlook or ignore the blessing of creation. A recent report from the United Nations states that forty percent of the land on earth is degraded, mainly through modern agriculture. This means the land is less fertile, stores less carbon, and supports fewer species. We repent for the ways, known and unknown, that we have degenerated or disregarded the earth. We also pray for all your children in danger because of climate change:
- Millions in India enduring a brutal heatwave that is disrupting the rhythms of their lives and sources of their livelihoods.
- Almost 2 million children are at risk of starving to death in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia as the region faces one of its worst droughts in decades.
- Over 430 people have died and thousands are without homes as a result of the record-breaking rain in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa.
O Merciful One, we hand over to you all the fragments and broken pieces of our lives that we don’t know what to do with—ruptured relationships, broken families, words unsaid, truths unacknowledged. There is no limit to your forgiveness, so we give to you all that may feel beyond repair and restoration. You continue to recreate and repair this world out of your abundant love. Help us to be attentive stewards of your creation and caregivers of all humanity.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Christ, you said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” May these prayers make a home within our hearts and inspire us to share that peace with the world.
Amen.
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