we gather under the canopy of your blessing,
and breathe in your mercy,
for we rely surely upon your grace.
You brood over the verdant dark velvet of night,
O Fashioner of Light,
and bring forth all that is:
we offer you our hearts,
that you may remold and shape them
in tenderness and compassion.
Lord Jesus, Exalted Teacher,
Healer of the World,
bend near the places
where cruelty, anger, and contempt
mar our communities and our hearts.
May we hear your call
to renunciation and repentance
where we have numbed ourselves
to the tears of children,
to the groans of the hungry,
to the ill who must choose between shelter and care;
to the desperate flight of the refugee.
May we never twist your gospel
to support pain and suffering,
deception and exploitation
of the desperate.
May we choose instead
the walk in the broad path of integrity and hope.
Make us a people of compassion,
proclaiming your generous grace,
and extending the net of your mercy
beneath those who call out for aid,
that all may lift their hearts in praise, O God,
upheld by your sheltering hand,
especially those
whose names we lift before you.
Amen.
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