Spirit of Hope, God of Many Names, Source of Love,
We gather, hearts heavy with grief for our neighbors in Paris,
in Beirut, in Baghdad; all cities victimized by terrorists.
We pray for the victims, for the families,
for the communities marred by chaos and hatred.
May they have the resources they need to heal the wounded,
to care for the distraught,
to move forward in rebuilding places of peace.
And as we grieve, may those who mourn have the space and the time to allow their hearts to be full;
for the world has lost too many this week.
We hold in our hearts the Syrian refugees,
our siblings in the world who are escaping from these same terrorists.
May we not be swayed by false or confusing media reports
that seek to make “all of them” out to be not like “all of us.”
May we be in solidarity with these peaceful neighbors.

Mother of Grace,
teach our leaders to lead not from a place of reaction,
or from arrogance, or from fear or hatred;
help our leaders to lead from a place of hope,
a place of compassion;
the only sources of true strength in a world torn by factionalism and strife.
Where war has beget war,
and refugees have become homeless,
may we find new ways to house the homeless,
to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger;
and not fall prey to a gospel of indifference and distance.

In our global world,
may we learn to be a global neighbor,
rooted in the hope of a world where peace is at the center.