Excerpt from prayer by Joel Jolly during a service at The Meeting Place, Winnipeg

Father, as we live in a world that seems to be constantly filled with unrest we pray for peace. As we watch the protests taking place across the United States we ask that your peaceful presence would be known amongst all of the people involved. We also remember that Jesus in the sermon on the mount said “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” For the lack of peace in our world and for those times we have failed to be peacemakers in our homes, communities, and world we pray:

Lord have mercy.

In a world that seems to grow more divided along lines of race and ethnicity we pray for unity, for understanding, for love. As we learn in this series how to “love our neighbours as ourselves” we ask for opportunities and reminders in our daily lives to practice this central law in our faith. And for those times we have acted out of fear, spite, or anger; for the times we have failed to act out of love when love was needed we pray:

Christ have mercy.

As an aboriginal man with a mother, a sister, aunts, cousins, and nieces I was saddened to hear about a delay in the release of the national action plan on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Father I pray for those in government, that they would be motivated and inspired in finding and acting on ways to protect and empower indigenous women and girls. Most of all this morning I ask forgiveness for the times I have failed to use my voice and actions to advocate for the vulnerable, the marginalized, the oppressed, the forgotten and I pray that I would be reminded daily of the responsibilities included in my privilege. For the times my actions have made someone feel unsafe, for the times I have failed to stand up for the oppressed I pray:

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Lord have mercy

Amen