Prayer for Change

      Over seventy years ago, when I was about five years old and at my grandfather’s house, some children from across the way were playing jump rope in the street.They were having a lot of fun and invited me to play with them.  Happily, I did.  Before long, my grandfather called me inside.  “If you play with those n……, you’ll turn black just like them!’  I was young, but old enough to know better.

        Confused and sad, I stayed inside. This is my earliest memory of racism. Still, today, the sadness overflows – even after all the efforts, suffering and progress toward civil and human rights. 

        Let us unite in prayer for those who continue to struggle for justice.

                                                

                                                  Prayer for Change

God of All,

   Bless and protect those uniting for the sake of needed change.  Bring us together, as a nation, with a new vision that respects the dignity of every human being, that protects the vulnerable, and that upholds human and civil rights.  Give us courage and the grace to love one another as you love us.  Comfort those who mourn. Remove all fear and let us know true peace and justice in our time.  We praise you and we thank you for your sustaining us

 Amen

                    Sr. Sharon Portwood, OSB