A Concord Pastor Comments: Pause for Prayer: SATURDAY 8/16

Every day, people all over Ukraine stop whatever their doing, wherever they are, to observe a minute of silence at 9:00 a.m. in memory of those who have died in the war.

I'd like to join the people of Ukraine in their prayer and silence but Kyiv is 7 hours ahead of Boston, nine hours ahead of Denver. So... I'm going choose a time in my waking hours and set an alarm on my clock to remind me, daily, to join them in prayer.

Here is a prayer for peace in Ukraine offered by Pope Francis in March of 2022. It was composed by Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples.

Forgive us for the war, Lord.

Lord Jesus, son of God,
have mercy on us sinners.

Lord Jesus,
born under the bombs of Kyiv,
have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus,
dead in the arms of a mother in Kharkiv,
have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus,
in the 20-year-olds sent to the frontline,
have mercy on us.

Lord Jesus,
who continues to see hands armed with weapons
under the shadow of the cross,
forgive us, Lord.

Forgive us if,
not content with the nails
with which we pierced your hand,
we continue to drink from the blood of the dead
torn apart by weapons.

Forgive us
if these hands that you had created to protect
have been turned into instruments of death.

Forgive us, Lord,
if we continue to kill our brothers and sisters.

Forgive us, Lord,
if we continue like Cain
to take the stones from our field
to kill Abel.

Forgive us
if we go out of our way to justify cruelty,
if, in our pain,
we legitimize the cruelty of our actions.

Forgive us the war, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God,
we implore you to stop the hand of Cain,
and to enlighten our conscience.

Let not our will be done,
do not abandon us to our own doing.

Stop us, Lord, stop us,
and when you have stopped the hand of Cain,
take care of him also.
He is our brother.

O Lord, stop the violence.
Stop us, Lord. Amen.