Prayer

We are patterned by the drive-thru, so perhaps we forget how significant food can be, as a force that brings people together. Your son taught us this lesson. In so many ways he showed us the counter-cultural power of real hospitality, how sharing our meals can be a way of breaking down walls and building community. As we celebrate World Chocolate Day today, lead us to reclaim some of that power in the places we live, work, and play, as we share sweet tokens of kindness with all those we meet. More deeply still, may we all be inspired to revive hospitality in our workplaces, homes, and communities. Amen.

Prayer

God of peace,

Caregivers learn by experience to toughen their skin and stay focused on the job at hand, even when immersed in such a spectrum of pain, hurt, and sorrow. They show exemplary skill in treating wounds and curing disease, but we know that surrounding it all is the anxious flurry of hearts cracked by trauma, hearts that need peace. Today, we pray for all those who are serving in the center of such storms. May they feel supported in mind, body, and spirit in the work that they do. And we pray you would bless them with a calm that is contagious, that can turn down the volumes of stress and anxiety, and defuse every threat to your compassionate love being shared and extended among all those in need. Amen.

Prayer

Word of life,

Dialogue is truly an art, which depends on more than our volume to be meaningful. We all want to be heard when we speak. We want our ideas and opinions and feelings to matter beyond our own heads and to make a genuine difference in the spaces we live and work beside others. And yet it seems increasingly common instead that those spaces are filled with shouting and those who launch into monologues and throw opinions into a “stream” of media. Help us become better at speaking together. May we honor the voices you gave us by using our words to speak life into actual spaces, where we seek to listen as much as we speak, where communication attains real communion. Amen.

Prayer

God above nations,

With all our U.S. colleagues today, we give thanks and rejoice for the freedom signified by the American flag and embodied by those who dwell in a land of such opportunity. May we celebrate the achievements of the United States by remembering our forebears—named and unnamed—who assumed the great challenge of defending and protecting the inalienable rights we all possess as your children. And as we look to the future of this country and people, may this be a day of reminding ourselves of the responsibility we carry now, to continue that legacy of defense and protection, honoring the dignity and freedom of all before you. Amen.

Prayer

Tender God,

Many people will wake up today with the very same pressures and fears and anxieties they tried to put far behind them, as they went to sleep last night. The struggles among us are deep and there are worries that never seem to let up. For all those today in need of special support, we pray for them and ask you to fill them with comfort. Send us to fill them, whoever they are, with your care and concern, that we might love and support one another in mind, body, and spirit. Amen.

Prayer

God of peace,

Our hearts have been grieved by shocking displays of hatred and violence. We cannot make sense of how such destruction takes place, at the hands of people you called into being, that you know by name. As we continue to reckon with this senseless violence, which daily afflicts our families and friends and schools and communities, we pray for a greater sense of response-ability, which is the ability to respond, both personally and across our society. Make us each more aware of the power you have given us as agents of peace, who are equipped to respond by embodying peace and making real change. In defense of the victims of violence, and in the name of your peace, we pray. Amen.

Prayer

Love eternal,

Today we give thanks for the life and witness of St. Oliver Plunkett, who refused to deny his great love for you or for the people you put in his care. Even when he was unjustly hunted and had to go into hiding and was ultimately martyred for his convictions, the depth of his great love for you and your people empowered him to stand strong in his faith. Just as he was emboldened by love to follow your call, may we do the same in our own place and time. Continue to hold us in the palm of your hand, as we strive to extend your compassionate ministry to all those in need. Amen.