God of all, my heart is full of wonder, as I consider the mysterious and magnificent ways your spirit and presence are at work in the world. In the beginning your spirit hovered over the churning chaos, and with a word you began to create order, to bring forth life, to create a hope where […]
Blessing the Animals: A Prayer of Thanks for Spiders, Bats, Bonobos, and Beloved Pets (February 22, 2024)
You who created them and called them good: Bless again these creatures who come to us as a blessing fashioned of fur or feather or fin, formed of flesh that breathes with your own breath, that you have made from sheer delight, that you have given in dazzling variety. Bless them who curl themselves around […]
Let Us Be Free From War: A Prayer for Countries Facing Terrorist Insurgency (October 19, 2023)
Words Found in the Rubble after the Final War Yes, we lived in a time of darkness and did nothing. Yes, we looked up and we saw the sky on fire and we knew that we had made the flames with our own hands. Yes, we wasted every breath on rage. Children, if any of […]
We Have Inherited a Garden: A Prayer for Climate Action and Our Common Home (October 5, 2023)
Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden; we must not leave a desert for our children. (This quote is lifted from a joint appeal signed at the Vatican October 4 , 2023 – the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and […]
Fire, Earth, Water, Air: A Prayer for a Scorched Planet and the Amazon Rainforest (August 10, 2023)
*The framework for this week’s prayer is drawn from “The Four Elements and the Creation of Man,” written by Vladimir Moss, an Orthodox Christian theologian and historian. https://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/articles/453/-four-elements-creation-man/ FIRE. “‘God is a consuming fire,’ says the apostle (Hebrews 12.29). And of the created angels who are filled with the Spirit of God it is said […]
A Prayer in Many Colors: Mount Mayon, Pakistan, and Children Found in the Amazon (June 15, 2023)
God of bright yellow and green, the sun smiles on the earth, friendly and hopeful. You invite us to breathe in a new day. We hear the birds greeting one another, the squirrel’s playful chatter and in the distance there’s the sound of bullfrogs and spring peepers vying for airtime. Welcome to this fresh new […]
You Keep My Lamp Burning: For a Kenyan Shelter and a Russian Protest Artist (January 19, 2023)
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. ~Psalm 18:28 (NIV) Great bearer of light, there is so much beauty that partners with darkness where the undercurrents of sadness and tragedy dwell. May we find beauty in darkness and honor the lessons offered to us. We thank you for the […]
No One Can Be Saved Alone: A Year’s End Prayer for Ukraine, the Climate, and the Common Good (December 29, 2022)
Good and gracious God, We your people, your sons and daughters gather these days on the close of a year. Joys and challenges of 2022 are to be acknowledged, while we look forward in faith to 2023. We are encouraged by Pope Francis’s January 1, 2023 World Day of Peace Message entitled: “No one can […]
God With Us: A Christmas Blessing for Every Person and Every Nation on Earth (December 23, 2021)
When the child was born – that child, you know – God blessed the world with light, with joy, with gladness. It wasn’t the first time God had proclaimed the goodness of creation. That happened right from the beginning. And over and over again, through many peoples and cultures and religious traditions. Nor will it […]
Let Justice Roll Down: Earth Day Prayers After the Chauvin Verdict, for India and Chad (April 22, 2021)
“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24 Dear God, Justice. Justice. Justice. This is what we cry out all the day long, Lord, as we pray for a more equitable world for the people whom you love so deeply and infinitely. God we pray that we might […]