Psalm of Lament for 2020

O God, come to our assistance.

We are dazed in the desert of the pandemic.

We cannot touch, hug or embrace those we love.

We cannot assist the sick and the dying.

We must be distant from one another.

When the virus strikes,

We cannot breathe, O God.

O God, come to our assistance.

We have been a stiff-necked people

We have not listened to the voices of our brothers and sisters.

We have ignored their calls for help from prejudice, harassment, violence and death.

We were silent when they were abused and killed because of the color of their skin.

Now hatred, evil, violence, discord and fear kneel on our necks.

We cannot breathe, O God.

O God, come to our assistance.

Our planet is in distress.

The rain forests have burned.

Australia has burned.

Fires rage in the West.

The Artic is burning; permafrost is melting.

Desert winds from the Sahara spread over the world.

Locusts ravage Eastern Africa

Climate change and global warming may soon

 make it too hot to sustain human life.

We cannot breathe, O God.

O God, come to our assistance.

The country is divided.

Protesters of injustice try to gather in peace;

Their rights are violated.

They are confronted by anonymous soldiers with tear gas and guns.

We cannot talk with one another with respect.

There is no leader with understanding, compassion and dignity.

No one models care for others, righteousness and unselfishness.

In the vacuum of leadership,

We cannot breathe, O God.

Deliver us, O God,

You whose steadfast love endures forever,

Come to our aid.

Send your spirit to bring us hope,

To stir up the winds of change and freedom,

To give us  courage and hope,

To keep us from despair and to inspire creativity.

Call us back to you,

To your covenant of peace and promise,

Justice and mercy

So that we can breathe, O God.

    Sr. Deborah Harmeling, OSB