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 Justice Beyond Vengeance
God of justice, whose mercy provides the foundation for our righteousness, we pray that this nation may be a beacon of humble and wise justice. Fifty years after the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States, we ask that you give us the grace to turn away from vengeance without turning away from the cries of every victim of violence and their families. Send your Holy Spirit and surround them with communities of loving care. Look also with mercy, O Lord, upon all who are on death row, especially those who were wrongly convicted. Where human error has brought an unjust sentence, we pray that you bring the truth to light before an execution makes injustice irreversible. Guide all judges, juries, lawmakers, corrections officers, and chaplains that they may uphold the dignity of the souls in their charge. Grant all these things through Christ, our judge and our redeemer. Amen.
For the People of Ukraine under Bombardment
God of peace, whose love holds close all victims of war and violence, we grieve for the people of Ukraine who have been killed, wounded, or even now sit in terror amid repeated overnight bombardments of their cities and communities. Be with them, Lord Christ, in their fear and in their grief. Make a way out of no way for those whose homes, hospitals, schools, and power systems have been damaged or destroyed. Bring home every child unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred from Ukraine, and bring your holy restoration to all families torn apart by this war. Guide all nations with power to shape this conflict toward a just and lasting peace, that Ukraine’s sovereignty may be restored, civilians protected, and those who suffer upheld, for we know that where anyone in the whole human family is oppressed, the whole body suffers. We ask this through the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
For Those Abandoned in the Name of Efficiency
God of abounding grace, who promises to meet all our needs according to the riches of your glory, we recall the harms caused by cuts and disruptions carried out in the name of efficiency by our federal government as we mark the scheduled end of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Service Temporary Organization. Be with all whose lives were interrupted and changed by large-scale reductions in this country’s public service workforce. We pray for those who were let go, those who even now depend on programs that were reduced, disrupted, or made harder to access, and those whose trust in public institutions has been shaken. Great God, we pray for a federal government that acts responsibly toward its employees and the people they serve. Help us to continue building communities at both the national and local levels that care for the sick, the hungry, the unhoused, and all vulnerable people entrusted to our care, knowing that when we love the least of these, we love your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
