Let us pray* for justice this evening:
Grant us, O Holy One, a vision of your world as your love would have it:
- a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor;
- a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them;
- a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect;
- a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love.
Give us the inspiration and courage to build it. Amen.
Almighty and All-Loving One, guide the nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness.
Amen.
Almighty and All-Loving One, you have given all peoples one common origin, and your will is to gather them as one family in yourself. Fill the hearts of all with the fire of your love and the desire to ensure justice for all our sisters and brothers. By sharing the good things you give us, may we secure justice and equality for every human being, and a human society built on love and peace. Amen.
For all those who have fallen victim to hatred and inhumanity, for those loved ones who are left behind to mourn, for the souls of those whose hearts are cold:
Hear our prayer*
For those whose hearts have grown cold, for those to whom common lives are but an abstraction, for those who put principle above humanity:
Hear our prayer*
For the children who are being born into this world of conflict and violence, for women and mothers who suffer needlessly:
Hear our prayer*
For all those who have been forced into unemployment, who long to return to work, for all those who struggle to support their families, for those dispossessed of their cities through disaster and neglect:
Hear our prayer*
For the soldiers who are misguided in thinking that their bullets will bring about peace, for those who feel called to conscientiously object to military orders:
Hear our prayer*
For those who create war when they should be making peace:
Hear our prayer*
For those who use fear to achieve their political aims:
Hear our prayer*
For those who would take away liberties in the name of freedom, those who would strip a woman of control of her own body, for those disposed to protect the powerful against the humble:
Hear our prayer*
For the children who cry in their beds at night and wonder "what have I done?", for the mothers and fathers who must try to explain the unexplainable:
Hear our prayer*
For all the children who have died before their time, for the soldiers who allow their uniform to strip them of their humanity, for the healers who are denied the opportunity to use their gifts:
Hear our prayer*
For the redemption of souls of both victim and perpetrator, and for those who commit themselves to the forgiveness of sins:
Hear our prayer*
O One,
Open our eyes that we may see the needs of others;
Open our ears that we may hear their cries;
Open our hearts that we may feel their anguish and their joy.
Let us not be afraid to defend the oppressed, the poor, the powerless, because of the anger and might of the powerful.
Show us where love and hope and faith are needed, and use us to bring them to those places.
Open our ears and eyes, our hearts and lives, that we may in these coming days be able to do some work of justice and peace for you.
Amen.
*meditate, hold in good and active thought.
(Adapted from here.)