World in Prayer

Sharing in God’s loving compassion for all

Complicit as We Are in Humanity: A Prayer of Confession and Wonder (February 2, 2018)

Our prayer is for ourselves, complicit as we are in humanity. We pray for the humility to admit that we understand, sometimes participate, in the sins of humanity: the sin of tribalism that sets Turk against Kurd in mortal combat, the sin of denial that tries to reduce the horrors of the Holocaust to verbal […]

Holy Child, Bless Us All: A Christmas Prayer for Every Nation on Earth (December 28, 2017)

Holy child God from God, Light from Light Wisdom from before all worlds began Pain bearer Soul healer Life giver Challenger and Comforter Love beyond Love, beyond Love: Bless us all. As is our custom, in this Christmas-tide, we pause from praying about international events, to pray for everyone, in every nation in this world: […]

Come and See: A Prayer After Barcelona, Charlottesville’s Aftermath, and the Ischia Earthquake (August 24, 2017)

  The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from […]

Lead Us From Darkness to Light: A Prayer for Peace 72 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 10, 2017)

Dear God Today we pray for peace. We remember those who perished with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan 72 years ago this week. The monuments and memorials and parks in these cities and other cities and lands having suffered holocausts remind us that our prayers are mighty and necessary.  Help us to […]

Steal Into Our Hearts, O Holy Child: A Christmas Prayer for Every Nation on Earth (December 28, 2016)

Steal into our hearts, O Holy Child. Steal into the aching places, the lonely places, the lost places; Steal into the joy-filled places, the delight-filled places. Steal into our hearts, and fill them with tenderness and love. Steal into our nations, O Holy Child. Steal into the power-hungry and the powerless; Steal into the peace-makers and the […]

Seek the Peace of the City: Prayers for the Colombia Ceasefire and Italy’s Earthquake Dead (September 1, 2016)

In an ancient time, our spiritual forebears were conquered and exiled. And the prophet Jeremiah wrote them a letter about how to deal with their calamities. In the various spirits with which those banished people listened to his letter read out, we open ourselves to you in prayer, O God. Jeremiah, speaking for you, told […]

Make Us Story-Tellers and Memory Bearers: A Prayer Remembering Elie Wiesel (July 21, 2016)

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place […]

Lord, Have Mercy: Prayers for Libya, Syria, Nauru’s Detained Refugees, and the Legacy of Jo Cox (June 23, 2016)

Violent protests, burning and looting in Pretoria, South Africa, over mayoral election… Foreign supporters of ISIS have taken over Sirte, Libya, murdering, torturing, crucifying Muslims and Christians… Russian fighters are dropping cluster bombs in Syria, indiscriminately endangering and killing civilians and children as well as fighters… Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Violence and hatred […]

For God So Loved the World: A Christmas Prayer Naming Every Nation in Its Own Language (December 23, 2015)

Christmas 2015 For God so loved the world (such a beloved world, to warrant such a gift) That he gave his only Son (such love, to be born amongst us) To live and die as one of us (so strong with tenderness, such joy in sorrow) To imbue us with a spirit of adoption      […]