By Sr. Kara Davis, Daughter of Charity Under 10 Years Vocation
More shootings. More acts of violence rooted in hate. We respond, “Enough is enough! Pass me that petition! I will write yet another letter to my representatives.” We show up to vigils, to protests, uniting with our brothers and sisters with one voice: Enough is enough! We write posts on social media. Our Facebook news feed is flooded with messages of solitary and thoughts and prayers for various communities struck with the most recent devastation of violence. We will not stop uniting our voices, reaching out in solidarity, or taking action in various ways. And we most definitely will not stop praying.
In all of this, I find myself turning to God, but lost for words. I ponder, What is my prayer? Then I echo the disciple's words to Jesus pleading, "Lord, teach us to pray."
When our hearts are broken and we can’t
find the words,
Lord
teach us to pray.
When noise overpowers the stillness of silence,
Lord teach us to pray.
When destruction is rampant and peace can’t be found,
Lord teach us to pray.
When lies and confusion distort the truth,
When noise overpowers the stillness of silence,
Lord teach us to pray.
When destruction is rampant and peace can’t be found,
Lord teach us to pray.
When lies and confusion distort the truth,
Lord
teach us to pray.
When the darkness of sin casts a shadow on the goodness of humanity,
Lord teach us to pray.
When despair blinds our eyes of faith,
Lord teach us to pray.
When doubt darkens our flame of hope,
Lord teach us to pray.
When hate hardens our hearts made for love,
Lord teach us to pray.
Teach us to pray with words,
with silence,
with action,
with pondering.
Teach us to pray with friends,
with strangers,
with adversaries,
with advocates.
Teach us to pray with the witness of our lives,
with the choices we make,
with the places we show up,
with the people we meet.
Lord
teach us to pray with the events of our day,
as we discern your way:
a response of love,
an act of justice,
When the darkness of sin casts a shadow on the goodness of humanity,
Lord teach us to pray.
When despair blinds our eyes of faith,
Lord teach us to pray.
When doubt darkens our flame of hope,
Lord teach us to pray.
When hate hardens our hearts made for love,
Lord teach us to pray.
Teach us to pray with words,
with silence,
with action,
with pondering.
Teach us to pray with friends,
with strangers,
with adversaries,
with advocates.
Teach us to pray with the witness of our lives,
with the choices we make,
with the places we show up,
with the people we meet.
as we discern your way:
a response of love,
an act of justice,
all rooted deeply in a life of prayer.
Lord
teach us to pray.
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