Eternal Spirit,
In this short week, we ask for your mercy and peace that passes all understanding.
Since Good Friday, we live anew because Christ has died.
We entered the Holy Saturday of deepening grief and perhaps a profound surrender.
Christ has Risen!
Easter joy arrived, and we are reminded that the door to paradise has been opened by Christ!
Yet, again, we suffer and grieve anew. The world, the worldly world, the one of principalities and nation states warring, threatening annihilations, and as famine continues unabated, as human rights and the rule of law are trampled — you ask us to stand in this Easter peace.
Breath upon us the ability to live in Christian anticipation and trust. All of this feels too hard. The world is so impatient. The news cycles collapse one on another. The world feels in tumult and we are suffering in so many ways. Shine a light on our imperfections, our deep trespasses, our debts and sins that we may wake up and know your will.
Awaken us, Truth Giver,
Support the crews of journalists and reporters. May they be truth tellers. May they ask the hard questions. Protect them as they observe and gather the news, those who stand amidst the horrors of our warring, who walk among the starving man-made famines, those documenting the tribulations of people detained, displaced, bombarded, and killed. Shoulder these messengers in their necessary and earnest work.
Support our spiritual leaders to speak Your wisdom. May they take to heart Christ’s words to the broken world. Help us endure. Lead us into a space of compassion. Splash clarity in our eyes in this time of upheaval. Stand us on solid ground during a time of nations fracturing nations.
“Lay down your weapons,” says the voice of Pope Leo from the Vatican.
Pain bearer,
It is night, and over 6,200 children in the U.S. are not at home. They will not get on the bus in the morning to go to school. They will not be sent off by their families to play and learn. Bring compassion to the men and women, the officials who run detention centers in the U.S. Awaken them to the fear and anguish that these children must endure in this unsustainable practice of confinement. Support those giving legal care to these children to see their way past these injustices, reuniting them with families and their communities. Bring them home.
Life-giver,
We pray for the Iranian people in such tribulation, making human chains around power plants, bridges, waiting in shelters, hearing and fearing the bombs. The news reports that a synagogue in Tehran, Iran, was bombed. Lord, have mercy.
Peace maker!
We pray for your wisdom to instill reserve and painstaking diplomacy into these so-called ceasefires. We hear of Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt in these deliberations with Iran. We hear reports in Gaza and Palestine, where death and famine continue. Genocide unravels a people with over 72,300 dead over three years. We need your peace, not the so-called ceasefire-type peace where on April 6th, a militia backed by Israel was followed by Israeli Defense Force (IDF) drones and missiles as they attacked the Al-Maghazi camp in a now severed Gaza. The killings continue daily. We groan and pray. Over 730 Palestinian lives have been taken, and over 2,000 have been wounded since the ceasefire.
We pray as the bombardment of Lebanon continues. A strike by Israel, named “Operation Eternal Darkness,” kills an entire family in the southern Lebanon safe zone and targets civilian structures, killing hundreds in the past day. May leaders come to their senses. May we stop funding war. May their people speak up and say: Stop. Enough.
Source of all that is and that shall be,
We receive news of Mexico’s support to Cuba and of U.S. lawmakers’ announcement after a visit to Havana that the U.S. sanctions are “economic warfare.” Lord, you know who is suffering, to those too weak to speak, too suppressed to be heard.
Earth-maker,
We hear of the mixed news of survival and death as miner Francisco Zapata Nájera was rescued alive after 14 days in Mexico. One of his fellow miners is still missing, and one was found dead. We pray for their families and the rescue teams that endure. Rescuers pulled the survivor from a depth of 300 meters (985 feet). In our darkness, you are with us.
Great Mystery,
We have flung ourselves into space to circle the moon aboard the Orion spacecraft paired with the European Service Module on its Artemis II Mission. The mind and passions of humankind have used science and engineering in good will, laying stepping stones into deep space. We are in wonder at our abilities to explore your creation. May the Artemis Accord signed by nations and agencies from European Union (27 member states); the European Space Agency (23 member states) headquartered in Paris, France; the UK (UK Space Agency), Germany (The German Aerospace Center), Japan (Japan Aerospace Exploration Space Agency), Israel (Israel Space Agency), Italy (Italian Space Agency), South Korea (Korea Aerospace Research Institute), Canada (Canadian Space Agency), United Arab Emirates (Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre) and many U.S. research and development entities bind us on a path of peace and reason, collaboration and discovery.
Good Word Bringer,
Eastertide tells us of Christ’s presence and the Spirit’s coming to gather us in your name. Help us to understand your tool of prayer, of prophetic witness, of our need to practice focus in the midst of chaos that seeks to upend and distract. We seek to hear Your voice; may we know it is you speaking through us. We are grateful to be reminded by Rev. Dr. William Barber, Repairers of the Breech and Moral Monday, of our spiritual tools. May we use them. Amen
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