If the Lord had not been my help,
my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
When I thought, “My foot is slipping,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul. (Psalm 94:17-19)
Join us each week as we share new prayers for the vulnerable among us facing challenges, fears, and threats. We will name many of the harms unfolding and acknowledge what is being erased, lost, and threatened.
These prayers are not a replacement for action; they are meant to offer space for grounding and discernment as we seek to bear one another’s burdens in the love and way of Christ.
Join by Zoom each Monday at 11:45 a.m. ET to hear the prayers aloud, in the context of a simple liturgy, prayed by members of the Community of Francis and Clare.
For Just and Humane Use of Artificial Intelligence
God of wisdom and care, who comforts and guides us when we are lost, we call on you amid our hopes, fears, and uncertainty about artificial intelligence. As AI systems are developed and deployed in ways that can cause harm, deepen bias, deceive, or be used for unlawful ends, we pray for safeguards. Give AI companies and all governing authorities the wisdom to put wise and effective guardrails around their development and use. Grant the whole human family wisdom to distinguish between what we are able to create and what we ought to create, remembering that we should not mistake ambition for righteousness. Help us to remain responsible and never surrender our judgment, conscience, or care to a machine. And as we discern the just use of these new technologies, protect the dignity and well-being of all people as our economic and workplace realities change. Grant this through your Spirit, the sanctifier, who leads us into all truth. Amen.
For the Protection of Aid Workers
Merciful God, who in Jesus taught us to see the stranger lying wounded by the road as our neighbor, we give you thanks for all who carry food, medicine, shelter, and hope into places marked by war and disaster. We give thanks especially for those who serve at personal risk, crossing lines of conflict and entering places others must flee. We lament that humanitarian workers have been killed, injured, threatened, or prevented from reaching those in need. We remember especially South Sudan, where more than 36 humanitarian workers and contractors have been killed this year. Receive the dead into your eternal peace; comfort their families and colleagues; and strengthen those who continue their work amid danger and grief. Grant governments and armed groups the wisdom and restraint to protect humanitarian workers and allow aid to reach all who need it. Lord, when violence tempts the world toward indifference, do not let compassion become another casualty of war. Make us neighbors to one another, following Jesus Christ, who came among us not to be served but to serve. Amen.
For a World Overwhelmed by Plastic
Creator God, who entrusted the Earth to our care, we give you thanks for human ingenuity and for materials and inventions that have made our lives safer and easier. Yet we confess that what we developed to serve human needs has too often become a source of excess, with items produced, consumed, and discarded on an extraordinary scale. We lament the plastic that now pollutes our waters and our soil, harming the creation you have called good. Give us wisdom to confront this burden at every stage: restraint in what we consume, ingenuity in designing sustainable alternatives, responsibility in production and disposal, and perseverance in restoring what has been polluted. Grant the nations of the world courage to work together for solutions greater than any person can achieve alone. Above all, make us responsible for the things we leave behind. Teach us to consider not only what is convenient for us today, but what our choices will leave to those who come after us, that we may be faithful stewards of your creation. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made. Amen.
