by Jim Hug, S.J.
O Loving God,
We so often and for so long hear about the guns and rockets, drones and bombs
We see the pictures of death in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Congo, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan, Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, Central African Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala,…
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 these few months of 2014, 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 138 other 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 – and 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 and to last.
We fear that they 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 whom three great religions stemmed.
We pray for peace.
We pray for peaceful existence between Israelis and Palestinians, Sunnis and Shiites, Muslims, Jews and Christians.
We pray for negotiations which can reach the roots of historical conflicts.
We pray for a commitment to human rights by all sides 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 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 senseless death.
Grant us this, peaceful God. Grant us a peaceful world. Amen.
I’m praying.
Jim, thank you. Another time, please notice Abraham is considered father in faith, but Sarah is only mother of Isaac and Jacob’s 12 tribes; Hagar mother of Ishmael and his 12 tribes, all blessed; and Keturah is another wife of Abraham. And after Abraham was buried by both Isaac and Ishmael they lived next to each other by the well of seeing, brothers at last. Abraham, tell your children their father was a wandering Aramean. God bless.
It is so important to keep up our prayers for peace, respect and love for all!
Ameen. Salaam.