A Prayer for Peace in Our Time
O God, author and giver of peace, in whose image and likeness each of us has been created with a human dignity worthy of respect on earth and destined for eternal glory, Listen to the cry that rises from every corner of this fragile earth, from our human family torn by violent conflict:
Give peace in our time, O good and gracious God, that peace which, as your son Jesus Christ told us and as we have experienced in these days, is a peace which the world cannot give.
To world leaders grant the wisdom to see beyond the boundaries of race, religion, and nation to that common humanity that makes us all your children and brothers and sisters to one another.
To those who have taken up arms in anger or revenge or even in the cause of justice grant the grace of conversion to the path of peaceful dialogue and constructive collaboration.
To the innocent who live in the shadow of war and terror, especially the frightened children, be a shelter and strength, their haven and hope.
And to those who have already lost their lives as victims of human cruelty and warfare, open wide your arms and enfold them all in the embrace of your compassion, healing, and everlasting life. Grant this through Jesus Christ, your son, our Lord. Amen.
Mary, Mother of all and Queen of peace, pray for us.
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A Poetic Thought for the Present Moment
No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee. (John Donne)
(John Donne was born in 1572, in London. He was born to Roman Catholic parents, when practicing Catholicism was illegal in England. His family knew well the perils of refusing to comply with English law. His father, John Donne, was a Welsh ironmonger. His mother, Elizabeth (Heywood) Donne, a lifelong Catholic, was the great-niece of the martyred Sir Thomas More. His uncle Jasper Heywood headed an underground Jesuit mission in England and, when he was caught, was imprisoned and then exiled; Donne’s younger brother, Henry, died from the plague in 1593 while being held in Newgate Prison for harboring a seminary priest.)
