Weekly Peace Prayer

for March 3, 2026
prepared by
Sister Carmel Little, CSJP

Peace Prayer for March 3, 2026 prepared by Carmel Little, CSJP

Constitutions:
Personal prayer deepens our desire
to be united with God in faith,
enabling us to see God’s presence and action
in our lives and in the world. 
We commit ourselves to daily personal prayer.  #29

We nurture our life of prayer

by reflective reading, particularly Scripture,

by periods of solitude and silence, and by an annual retreat.  # 30

Poem

“At start of spring I open a trench
In the ground. I put into it
The winter’s accumulation of paper,
Pages I do not want to read
Again, useless words, fragments,
errors. And I put into it
the contents of the outhouse:
light of the suns, growth of the ground,
Finished with one of their journeys.
To the sky, to the wind, then,
and to the faithful trees, I confess
my sins: that I have not been happy
enough, considering my good luck;
have listened to too much noise,
have been inattentive to wonders,
have lusted after praise.
And then upon the gathered refuse,
of mind and body, I close the trench
folding shut again the dark,
the deathless earth. Beneath that seal
the old escapes into the new.”
― Wendell Berry, New Collected Poems

Quiet Reflection:

Reading:                    Words of Pope Francis

                                    Fast from hurting words and say kind words.

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.

Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.

Fast from worries and have trust in God.

Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

Fast from bitterness and fill your hearts with joy.

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.

Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.

Prayer:

Great ad Merciful God the Creator of nature and human beings,

 of truth and beauty, I pray:

Hear my voice, for it is the voice of the victims of all wars

and violence among individuals and nations.

Hear my voice, for it is the voice of all children who suffer

 and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war.

Hear my voice when I beg You to instill into the hearts of all human beings

the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice, and the joy of fellowship.

Hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country

and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready

to walk the road of peace.

Hear my voice and grant insight and strength

 so that we may always respond to hatred with love,

to injustice with total dedication to justice,

to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace.

O God, hear my voice and grant unto the world Your everlasting peace.
                                    Pope John Paul  II     (adapted)            [L’Osservatore Romano, 3-9-81,14]

Quiet Reflection:

Prayer:           O God, our hearts are longing for your peace,

                        and the whole world cries out for justice and mercy.

During this season of Lent, give us the grace
 to deepen our efforts to make peace among ourselves.

Let us fan the flames of justice so that

the starving will be fed,

the naked will be clothed,

and all in need will know your saving power.

We ask this in the name of Jesus

Who lived and walked among us. Amen. (People’s Companion to the Breviary)