A prayer offered by Bishop Laura, inspired by the words of Bishop Loya
Gracious and loving God. Hold us, our prayers, and our conversations this night and always. We come together tonight to lament, grieve, and pray. We hold each other in our heartbreak. We give voice to our anger. Help us also this night and in the journey forward to get on with the business of turning the world upside down. Help us to get on with the business of resisting with love, of disrupting with hope, of agitating with joy because we know that love has already won. Help to be about our work, our work to show up, every day, in every place, using all we are to show the world its victory, until your love is fully and gloriously done, on earth as it is in heaven. We do that work in your name, we do that work together, and we do that work in love.
Amen
A Francisican Blessing from The Paulist Center
MAY GOD BLESS YOU with discomfort,
at easy answers, half-truths,
and superficial relationships
so that you may live
deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
at injustice, oppression,
and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for
justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer pain,
rejection, hunger, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand
to comfort them and
to turn their pain to joy.
And may God bless you
with enough foolishness
to believe that you can
make a difference in the world,
so that you can do
what others claim cannot be done,
to bring justice and kindness
to all our children and the poor.
Amen