Weekly Peace Prayer
for July 21, 2026
prepared by
Sister Carmel Little, CSJP
Weekly, members of our Congregation, associates, staff, friends, and family throughout the United States and the United Kingdom pray for peace. Some gather in groups, while others pray in solitude using the prayer on this page, composed by Carmel Little, CSJP.
If you would like to view the livestream of the prayer service at St. Mary on the Lake in Bellevue, Washington, please visit this page on Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Scroll down to view the video player.
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
Reading: First Corinthians 13
Love is patient; Love is kind.
Love is not jealous; Love does not put on airs.
Love is not rude; Love is not self-seeking.
Love is not prone to anger; Love rejoices in the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things,
Hopes all things, endures all things.
Faith, hope and love abide:
And the greatest of these is Love.
Prayer:
Teach me, O Lord, your way
That I may walk in your truth;
Direct my heart that it may fear your name.
I will give thanks to you, O God,
With all my heart,
And I will glorify your name forever.
Great has been your kindness towards me;
You have rescued me from the
depths of the nether world.
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
That I may walk in your peace.
Psalm 86
Quiet Reflection
Reading: Pope Francis – World Day of Peace 2016
Mercy is the heart of God. It must also be the heart of the members of the one great family of his children: a heart which beats all the more strongly wherever human dignity – as a reflection of the face of God in his creatures – is in play. Jesus tells us that love for others – foreigners, the sick, prisoners, the homeless, even our enemies – is the yardstick by which God will judge our actions. . . .
We too, then, are called to make compassion, love, mercy and solidarity a true way of life, a rule of conduct in our relationships with one another. This requires the conversion of our hearts: the grace of God has to turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek 36:26), open to others in authentic solidarity. For solidarity is much more than a “feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far”. Solidarity is “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all”, because compassion flows from fraternity.
Prayer:
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
That I may walk in your truth.
Show me a sign of your love.
Bring me help and comfort, O Lord.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
That I may walk in your peace.
Psalm 86
Quiet Reflection
Prayer:
Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges,
the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations.
Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect.
Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows.
Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken.
Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly.
So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color.
Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness.
So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrows of our neighbors.
And let the light of the sun be so strong that we will see all
people as our neighbors.
Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with beauty.
And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven.
Amen.
a prayer for the world - rabbi harold kushner - 2003
