Prayer For An End To Violence, War, And Killing
O Loving God,
We so often, and for so long, hear the guns and rockets, drones, and bombs.
We see the pictures of killings in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan, Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, Central African Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and all the others.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
We have heard the weapons and seen the blood of mass shootings and gang violence in Los Angeles and Detroit, Minneapolis and Miami, in Denver and in cities, towns, and villages across our nation.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
The bombs are exploding again in Gaza and Israel.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
Violence continues hidden in so many homes and families around the world – including the abuse of innocent children.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
In so many parts of the world today, the air is tense with waiting, uncertainty, insecurity.
From ravaged lands, destroyed by war, your peoples lift their hands to you. We pray for stillness, for justice, and for peace to come at last. We fear that it will not.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
O God, our maker, God of Abraham and Sarah, from which three great religions stem, we pray for peace. We pray for peaceful existence between Israelis and Palestinians; Sunnis and Shiites; Muslims, Jews, and Christians.
We pray for negotiations that can reach the root of historical conflicts.
We pray for a commitment to the dignity of all people and the protection of all lives.
We pray for effective international intervention to ensure justice for all sides.
We pray for humanitarian aid and rebuilding where destruction has occurred.
We pray for peace and for justice in our homes and on our city streets.
Wrap all and each of these your people in your love. Let them hear: “Come to me you who suffer and are burdened and I will give you rest.”
We pray for an end to violence, war, and killing.
Grant us this, peaceful God. Grant us a peaceful world.
Amen.
(from Ignatian Spirituality Network)