Prayer of the Week

The following is adapted from a prayer that was shared earlier today at the Spirit of St. Stephen’s Catholic Community, Minneapolis.

We pray in sorrow, anger, and determination in the aftermath of the murders in Orlando; we pray for wisdom to discern what action to take.

We pray with survivors, family, friends, and neighbors whose grief is unimaginable.

We pray with the gunman's family, the SWAT team and law enforcement officials, first responders, medical personnel, funeral officiants and all who mourn.

We pray with all who are consumed by fear, anger, and blame.

We pray with all who suffer mental illness and all who love them.

We pray with all who insist upon perpetuating distinctions between peoples.

We pray with the tragedies of the world that we may have missed or ignored while focusing on Orlando.

We pray with all who need God's spirit of kindness and prayer poured out over them.

. . . We pray to our God.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• "I Pray, I Pray"
• Discerning and Embodying Sacred Presence in Times of Violence and Strife
• Thoughts on Prayer in a "Summer of Strife"
• Prayer and the Experience of God in an Ever-Unfolding Universe
• Questioning God's Benevolence in the Face of Tragedy
• Two Powerful Calls for the Catholic Hierarchy to Fully Acknowledge the LGBT Victims of Anti-LGBT Violence
• Day of Silence Prayer
• The Ashes of Our Martyrs
• The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All

Related Off-site Links:
World Responds to Orlando Mass Shooting – Yahoo! News, June 13, 2016).
Nearly 2,000 Pack Dupont Circle for Orlando Vigil – Lou Chibbaro Jr. (The Washington Blade, June 16, 2016).
We Will Be In Mourning For A Long Time. Please, Let Us Have Our Grief – James Michael Nichols (HuffPost Queer Voices, June 15, 2016).
These Are the Victims of the Orlando Massacre – Jack Mirkinson and Casey Tolan (Fusion, June 12, 2016).

Image: A man lays down flowers during a vigil in front of the United States embassy in Berlin, German, Monday, June 13, 2016 to honor the victims of the attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The vigil was organized by a Berlin's lesbian and gay organization. (Photo: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)