Weekly Peace Prayer

prepared for May 14, 2024
by Sister Caramel Little, CSJP

Constitutions:
Recalling Jesus’ identification with the prophetic tradition,
we develop a critical, sensitive conscience
regarding religious, social, cultural,
economic, and political realities,
and we direct our efforts
to actions which bring peace through justice. #23

Reading:     Micah 6-8
“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow down  before God most high?
Shall I come before God with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

God has told you, O Mortal, what is good;
and what God requires of you;
only to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God.

Prayer:        Creator, open our hearts
                    to peace and healing between all people.

                    Creator, open our hearts
                    to provide and protect for all children of the earth.

                    Creator, open our hearts
                    to respect for the earth, and all the gifts of the earth.

                   Creator, open our hearts
                   to end exclusion, violence, and fear among all.

                  Thank-you for the gifts of this day and every day.|
                                        native american - micmac - alycia longriver - 1995

 
Quiet Reflection

Reading:        All disasters stem from us.  Why is there war? Perhaps because now and then I might be inclined to snap at my neighbor.  Because I and my neighbor and everyone else do not have enough love.  Yet we would fight war and all is excrescences by releasing, each day, the love which is shackled inside us. And giving it a chance to live.  And I believe that I will never be able to hate any human being for their so-called “wickedness,” that I shall only hate the evil that is within me, though hate is perhaps putting it too strongly even then.  In any case, we cannot be lax enough in what we demand of others and strict enough in what we demand of ourselves.   
                                        Etty Hillesum, An Interrupted Life

Reading:       
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison
by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all
living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
                                        Albert Einstein

Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Come Spirit of God, grant us
          the power to be gentle,
          the strength to be forgiving,
          the patience to be understanding,
          the endurance to accept the                     consequences
          of holding on to what is right.

Come Spirit of wisdom
          Enlighten  the Leaders of Israel and Gaza
          to take steps towards a ceasefire,
          and guide their actions
          in your way of peace. 

 Come Holy Spirit,
          enkindle in us the fire of your love.
          Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created,
          and you shall renew the face of the earth. amen

Quiet Reflection

Blessing:
May God’s Spirit put our faith into action,
enable us to work in love and to persevere in hope.
And may God’s peace that is beyond all understanding
guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.