“Lord, save us from trouble, but help us to be people who get in the way of injustice and trouble the waters of oppression. Thank you for whispering to us that we are beloved. Help us now to whisper your love to those who long to hear that there is a loving God.
Amen.”
Taken from: Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, compiled by Enuma Okoro, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, and Shane Claiborne.
“Eternal Father, You created us in Your own image and likeness, but sin has warped the minds of men and throughout the world there is much injustice and much carelessness of the rights of other people and personal responsibility.
Lord when You are excluded from the hearts and consciences of men, the inevitable result is that people suffer and Lord, there is much injustice and corruption taking place in our world today, not only in the lives of individuals but also in the corridors of power and the council rooms of many nations.
We pray Lord that You will right all the wrongs that are taking place in our world and vindicate those that are being treated unjustly. Keep us Father from trying to take matters into our own hands for vengeance is your and You will repay - but Lord in your grace and mercy we pray that you would give justice and peace to all those that have been cruelly and unfairly treated by their fellow man and may injustice and carelessness that they have had to endure be the means to draw them into Your saving arms of grace - we ask this in the precious name of the Lord, Jesus.”
- Author Unknown
Found at Jesuit Resources
“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
“God, you have given all peoples on common origin.
It is your will that they be gathered together
as one family in yourself.
Fill the hearts of humankind 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 your name.”
- 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)
”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)
“Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through 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.
“Most Gracious and all wise God; Before whose face the generations rise and fall; Thou in whom we live, and move, and have our being.6 We thank thee [for?] all of thy good and gracious gifts, for life and for health; for food and for raiment; for the beauties of nature and the love of human nature. We come before thee painfully aware of our inadaqucis and shortcomigs. We realize that we stand surrounded with the mountains of love and we deliberately dwell in the valley of hate. We stand amid the forces of truth and deliberately lie; We are forever offered the high road and yet we choose the lo to travel the low road. For these sins O God forgive. Break the spell of that which blinds our minds. Purify our hearts that we may see thee. O God in these turbulent day when fear and doubt are mounting high give us broad visions, penetrating eys, and power of endurance. Help us to work with rewed vigor for a warless world, for a better distribution of wealth, and for a brotherhood that transcends race or color. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.”
Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.
“O God our eternal Father, we praise thee for gifts of mind with which thou hast endowed us. We are able to rise out of the half-realities of the sense world to a world of ideal beauty and eternal truth. Teach us, we pray Thee, how to use this great gift of reason and imagination so that it shall not be a curse but a blessing. Grant us visions that shall lift us [strikeout illegible] from worldiness and sin into the light of thine own holy presence. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.”
Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.
“O thou Eternal God, out of whose absolute power and infinite intelligence the whole universe has come into being. We humbly confess that we have not loved thee with our hearts, souls and minds and we have not loved our neighbors as Christ loved us.4 We have all too often lived by our own selfish impulses rather than by the life of sacrificial love as revealed by Christ. We often give in order to receive, we love our friends and hate our enimies, we go the first mile but dare not travel the second, we forgive but dare not forget.5 And so as we look within ourselves we are confronted with the appalling fact that the history of our lives is the history of an eternal revolt against thee. But thou, O God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us for what we could have been but failed to be. Give us the intelligence to know thy will. Give us the courage to do thy will. Give us the devotion to love thy will. In the name and spirit of Jesus we pray. Amen.”
Taken from a short collection in the King Papers simply called “Prayers” and available here.
This responsive reading was inspired by the following Tweet from Latasha Morrison:
Because I can breathe, I don’t want another person to die at the hands of police brutality because they can’t breathe. What will you do with the breath in your body?
Creating, Sustaining, and Saving God,
Hear us in these heavy times
because it feels like no one else does.
People of God take heart, for the Scriptures tell us:
“God hears the hearts of the afflicted;
He encourages them and listens to their cries,
He defends the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that people will no longer terrorize us”
(Psalm 10:17-18)
How long?
How long, O Lord?
People of God take heart, for the Scriptures tells us:
“everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”
(Joel 2:32)
How long?
How long, O Lord?
I don’t know.
It feels too long.
I know.
It feels too heavy.
People of God take heart, for the Scriptures tells us:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)
But it doesn’t feel that way.
The oppression feels too heavy.
Another video.
Another life taken by authority
By those who are supposed to protect
People of God take heart, God has word for you:
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.”
(Isaiah 10:1-2)
But it keeps happening:
Alton Sterling
Tamir Rice
Trayvon Martin
Philando Castile
Eric Garner
Bothem Sean
Breonna Taylor
Amaud Arbery
George Floyd
And so many more.
Live cut short
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
(Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail)
Creating, Sustaining, and Saving God,
Remind us of our mutuality
Their suffering is our suffering
George Floyd couldn’t breathe.
But we can.
Eric Garner couldn’t breathe.
But we can.
So what will we do with our breath?
Remind ourselves that it is a gift.
And gifts are not to be wasted.
We will use our breath to speak for the voiceless.
We will use our breath to cry with the afflicted.
Because they could not breathe,
we cannot be silent.
God, you promised to cast down the mighty
and we don’t know how much longer we can wait.
Because they could not breathe,
we cannot be silent.
God, give us the courage to lead with love,
to challenge unjust systems
and to name the national sin of racism.
Because they could not breathe,
we cannot be silent.
Because they could not breathe,
we will not be silent.
“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.
Amen.”
(taken from the United Church of Christ “Prayers” page)
On Christmas Day (25 December 1968), astronaut Frank Borman broadcast the following prayer from Apollo 8*:
“Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.
Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.
Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.
And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.
Amen.”
*(taken from the “Justice Prayers” section of Xavier.edu’s “Jesuit Resources” page)
“We pray for the power to be gentle;
the strength to be forgiving;
the patience to be understanding;
and the endurance to accept the consequences
of holding on to what we believe to be right.
May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil and the power of love to overcome hatred.”
We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe in a world emancipated from violence,
a new world where fear shall no longer lead men or women to commit injustice,
nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.
Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy
to the task of making peace,
praying always for the inspiration and the power
to fulfill the destiny for which we and all men and women were created.
- Author Unknown, Offered by Beth Amyot
Found at Xavier.edu // Jesuit Resource page.
We are moulded, each one of us,
in the image of God,
and within our souls there is a fingerprint
none can erase.
We pray for those who have no regard
for anyone but self,
who put no value on human life.
For nations and individuals who abuse and kill.
We are not called to be judge or jury,
but we are called to be agents of change,
and if the butterfly that flaps its wings
should be our attitude to others
then so be it, Lord,
and may the hurricane this generates
somewhere within the world
reach into the hearts and souls of those
for whom we pray, and reveal to them
how precious are those
for whom they have no love,
and how precious are they
who now bring tears to the eyes of God.”
Found at Xavier.edu // Jesuit Resource page.