Holocaust Remembrance Prayer

Photo by Sonja L. Cohen for About.com

On Sunday night (April 26), the town of Concord held its 29th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Observance. (See an earlier post on this.) I was asked to offer the prayer at the end of the evening. I wrote this as a kind of litany, inviting all to join in on the refrain:

We must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because God made the world in all its wonder
and made humankind in his own divine image:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember...

Because God loved his chosen ones
and pitched his tent among them:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because God made a covenant with his people
and promised to be their God forever:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because God gave the law and prophets
as a sign of love and care for his own:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because God is ever faithful, even in the face of our infidelities:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because we are the descendants of Cain and Abel:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because we fail to be our sisters' and our brothers' keepers:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because national pride can blind us to justice:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because we know how to hide from the truth:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because our selective memory
can keep us from knowing and naming our own faults and sins:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because we find it hard to face the horrors of human history:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because there are those who deny the truth:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because our children must know the story of this nightmare:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because our children must never live this nightmare:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because we desire the freedom of those who will come after us:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because God commands that we shall not kill:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because the Lord is our God and the Lord is one:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because we are to love the Lord our God
with all our heart, all our soul and all our might,
and love our neighbor as our self:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Whether we sit at home, or walk along the way;
when we lie down to sleep and when we rise up:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

Because all our hope is in the Lord our God:
we must never forget what we came this night to remember…

We must never forget what we came this night to remember!

Amen.

-ConcordPastor