Prayer 1200- the wideness of mercy

Marc Chagall, American window detail, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

 Let us bow before the Lord of Life, with gladness and joyfullness of heart: Alleluia! We know that no power on heaven or on Earth can separate us from your love, O Holy One: your grace is everlasting. 

Lord Christ, forgive us our failures of heart; strengthen us to love fully, each breath a prayer, each footstep a step toward holiness. Make us a joyful, loving people, that your glory in the world be revealed in the compassion and care we have for all living things. Let us seek reconciliation over vengeance and enmity, following the example of our Savior Jesus as loving disciples. 

Lift us up, Blessed Lord: hold us within the hollow of your heart: for your mercy is wide as the sea. We lift up our loved ones, our thanksgivings and our concerns, O God: bless and keep them as we pray.

Amen.