As we prepare our hearts for Advent, let’s yearn for peace. Our lamentations will be heard and our prayers help ease the places of suffering from war and violence for which we can pray concretely today: Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Mali, Libya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Colombia. Take some time to meditate on this prayer for peace written by Patricia Navas González, published in Alethia.
Dear Father in heaven,
You created us out of love
and await us behind every event, great and small.
United in Christ with all our brothers and sisters
who are suffering from armed conflict today,
and knowing that we are “wrapped” in the mantle of Mary our Mother,
we stretch out our hands to welcome your peace.
Have mercy on all those who have died
among countless attacks
and on their loved ones, on the wounded,
on those who have killed someone,
and on all the people suffering due to violence.
We pray to you, Almighty God:
stop war and the use of weapons.
Give us your peace.
Grant us the humility to recognize our littleness
and the wisdom to accept your love and your salvation,
which come to us through the cross and atonement.
Disperse the evildoers
who sow violence, lies, and hatred in human hearts.
Send us your Holy Spirit, who awakens pity,
compassion, and forgiveness,
and enables us to unite as brothers and sisters for your glory.
I place myself entirely at your disposal
so that you may use me along with others
to bring peace to the world.
Unite me to You, in what I feel and what I think,
in all that I am.
Accept now my efforts and sacrifices
to empty myself of my selfish interests.
Fill my heart with your love
and make it be expressed in my eyes,
my words, my actions, my life.
May I thus collaborate
in the spread of justice and love.
May I help you to foster reconciliation
and open the world to your eternal riches.
Amen.
Smitten With Goodness 