All Saints

Prayers for Sacred Ground

 

Prayers for Thanksgiving of our Diversity

O God, who created all peoples in your own image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races, cultures, orientations, classes, and ethnicities in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of friendship and show us your presence in those who differ most from us. We know that you have made us according to your special plan. May we use our diversity to spread your message of love and peace to all the world. This we ask in the sure knowledge of your love for all of your children through Jesus Christ our Savior and our Lord. Amen.

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Native American Prayer for Peace

Oh Great Spirit who dwells in the sky, lead us to the path of peace and understanding, let us live together as brothers and sisters. Our lives are so short here, walking upon Mother Earth’s surface, let our eyes be opened to all the blessings you have given us.  Please hear our prayers, Oh Great Spirit.

 

Prayers for Social Justice

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Father, you have given all peoples one common origin. It is your will that they be gathered together as one family in yourself. Fill the hearts of mankind 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 beloved community built on love and peace. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

 

God of heaven and earth, in your Word you have given us a vision of that holy city to which the nations of the world bring their glory. Look upon and visit the cities of the earth. Renew the ties of mutual regard that form our civic live. Send us honest and able leaders. Help us to eliminate poverty, prejudice, and oppression, that peace may prevail with righteousness, and justice with order, and that men and women from various cultures and with differing talents may find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Father, you have given all peoples one common origin. It is your will that they be gathered together as one family in yourself. Fill the hearts of mankind 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 beloved community built on love and peace. Was ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen

 

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront on another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen  

attributed to Benedictine Nun, Sister Ruth Fox - Sacred Heart Monastery, North Dakota

 

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  

attributed to Martin Luther King

 

In our efforts to dismantle racism, we understand that we struggle not merely against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities – those institutions and systems that keep racism alive by perpetuating the lie that some members of the family are inferior and others superior. Create in us a new mind and heart that will enable us to see brothers and sisters in the faces of those divided by racial categories.  Amen   

 

Good and gracious God, you invite us to recognize and reverence your divine image and likeness in our neighbor.  Enable us to see the reality of racism and free us to challenge and uproot it from our society, our world and ourselves.  Amen   

 

Prayers for the Human Family

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Creator God, in love you have fashioned the human family in a variety of races, languages, and cultures. Do not let our diversity divide us, but help us to welcome gifts we can give and receive from one another. Save us from prejudice, arrogance and fear, and teach us how to live together as members of one family, sharing one home, as the children of God. Amen.

 

Prayer for the Oppressed

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.

 

Prayers for the Unity of the Church

O God, Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body

and one Spirit, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Ruler of all worlds, God of All,

Be compassionate with our generation and save us from pain and suffering

Lest we, God forbid, uproot each other or abandon each other.

Let us be responsible for each other and concerned for each other

In the manner of brothers and sisters bound by familial ties to reconcile

for reconciliation’s sake and to foster bonds of true friendship between us.

And turn our hearts toward You, God, and turn our hearts toward each other.  Grant us the ability to love You, God, wherever we find ourselves,

And to love other people wherever they find themselves,

Be with us, God, and gracefully grant us to share in Your divine patience

So that we exist in a state of peace with the world.

 

Jewish Blessing for a Just Society

Barukh sh’amar v’hayah ha’olam.

Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came into being.

Blessed are the words of creation.

Blessed is the creation of a loving and just society.

Blessed is the society that honors human dignity.

Blessed are those who know the call of justice.

And let us say: Amen.

 

True, we are often too weak to stop injustices; but the least we can do is protest against them.

True, we are too poor to eliminate hunger; but in feeding one child, we protest against hunger.

True, we are too timid and powerless to take on all the guards of all the political prisons in the world; but in offering our solidarity to one prisoner, we denounce all the tormentors.

True, we are powerless against death; but as long as we help one man, one woman, one child live one hour longer in safety and dignity, we affirm a human's right to live.

-Elie Wiesel, Sages and Dreamers

 

Prayers for Reconciliation

Hear our prayers, Holy God. Breathe your Spirit over us and all the earth, that barriers would crumble and divisions cease. Make us more fully your co-healers of the broken world. Unite us with all people in bonds of love,  that the whole earth and all its peoples may be at peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

God of grace, we pray for those who have died; for the faithful in every generation who have worked for justice; for prophets who called us to racial reconciliation; for martyrs who died because of hatred; and for all the communion of saints. Make us faithful to your call to proclaim your Good News, by word and example, and bring us at last into the glorious company of your saints. Amen.

 

May our thoughts and feelings create fires that ignite the gifts of learning, healing, and transformation.  May we recognize and honor the depth of our inter-connectedness. May we nourish the flames that burn away hatred and fear.  May we utilize these fits to mend ourselves and our communities.  Amen

 

Loving God, you have reconciled us in Christ Jesus and have given us the ministry of reconciliation. We pray for all those from whom we are estranged. Bring healing to strained or broken relationships. Forgive us for the times we have wronged others, whether by ignorance, neglect, or intention. Grant us the courage and the grace to seek their forgiveness and opportunity to make amends. Amen.

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Prayer for Our Community

Loving God, you fill all things with a fullness and hope that we can never comprehend. Thank you for leading us into a time where more of reality is being unveiled for all of us to see. We pray that you will take away our natural temptation for cynicism, denial, fear, and despair. Help us have the courage to awaken to greater truth, greater humility, and greater care for one another. May we place our hope in what matters and what lasts, trusting in your eternal presence and love. Listen to our heart’ longing for the healing of our suffering world. Knowing, good God, that you are hearing us better than we are speaking, we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God.  Amen

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