Weekly Peace Prayer
for April 7, 2026
prepared by
Sister Carmel Little, CSJP
Constitutions:
Called to share in the redeeming mission of Jesus,
We vow obedience as our way of uniting with his total
fidelity to God’s will.
Following the example of Jesus,
we freely choose obedience so that our lives and actions
may be rooted in God
and directed towards the reign of peace. #57
Reading: Sabbatical Journey
The resurrection stories reveal the always-present tension between coming and leaving, intimacy and distance, holding and letting go, at-homeness and mission, presence and absence. We face that tension every day. It puts us on the journey to the full realization of the promise given to us. “Do not cling to me” might mean “This is not heaven yet” but also “I am now within you and empower you for a spiritual task in the world, continuing what I have begun. You are the Living Christ.”
Henri Nouwen
Prayer
Gracious God, we praise you in this Easter season as we celebrate the Resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ. Change our lives, change our hearts to be messengers of Easter joy and hope. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord forever.
Amen
Quiet Reflection
Poem
I never suspected
Resurrection
and to be so painful
to leave me weeping
with joy
have met you, alive and smiling, outside an empty
tomb
With regret
not because I’ve lost you
but because I’ve lost you in how I had you –
in understandable, touchable, kissable clingable
flesh
not as fully Lord, but as graspably human.
I want to cling, despite your protest
cling to your body
cling to your, and my, clingable humanity
cling to what we had, our past.
But I know that … if I cling
you cannot ascend and
I will be left clinging to your former self
… unable to receive your present spirit.
John Shea (as found in A Holy Longing
by Ron Rolheiser p. 166)
Quiet Reflection
Prayer
God of Life,
we see the signs in nature of Spring bringing new life
in trees and flowers, in the songs of birds
and fields soon to be planted.
We give you praise for an even greater sign of new life
the resurrection of your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,
that we celebrate in this Easter Season.
May new life burst forth in our spirits
so that we can bring hope and peace to the world.
We pray with Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Blessing:
Strengthened by the power of the Risen Christ we go
forth in peace to continue the work of love and service.
Alleluia
Constitutions 33
