The reredos in the Unitarian Church, Dublin, is inscribed with the Beatitudes, one on each panel … the Week of Prayer for World Peace invites prayers today on the theme of ‘Role of Peace Makers in Wars’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Patrick Comerford
Before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.
This year, the Week of Prayer for World Peace is from 16 to 23 October. In my prayer diary from last Sunday until next Sunday, I am reflecting in these ways:
1, One of the readings for the morning;
2, A reflection from the programme for the Week of Prayer for World Peace (16 to 23 October);
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’
Luke 12: 54-59 (NRSVA):
54 He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
57 ‘And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right? 58 Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case, or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. 59 I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.’
Week of Prayer for World Peace 2022, Day 6:
The week of Prayer for World Peace takes place from the second to third Sunday in October each year, which this year is from last Sunday (Sunday 16 October 2022) to next Sunday (23 October 2022).
The Week of Prayer for World Peace is supported by a wide range of organisations, many of which I have engaged with over the years, including the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Christian CND, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Pax Christi, and Quaker Peace and Social Witness.
Day 6: Role of Peace Makers in Wars:
Let us pray for all working for peace often in dangerous situations.
‘If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbours.
If there is to be peace between neighbours,
there must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
there must be peace in the heart.’
– Lao-Tse, Taoist tradition prayer for peace
‘May peace be your virtue,
May peace be your property,
May peace be your prayer.
May you bring peace to all those you meet, you talk to, you live with.
May you even bring peace to the person you hate, your enemy.’
‘May your friends enjoy your peaceful disposition
and may your enemies enjoy your peaceful opposition.
May this world be based on one word: peace.
As God has shredded Himself into all souls
and piece by piece we get together into this beautiful world.
May we pray in our hearts this day for world peace. Sat Nam.’
– Sikh tradition Taken from a blog of Sikh Dharma International
‘I desire neither earthly kingdom, nor even freedom from birth and death. I desire only the deliverance from grief of all those afflicted by misery. Lead us from the unreal to the real; from darkness to light; from death to immortality.’
– Hindu Peace Prayer
Today’s Prayer (Friday 21 October 2022):
The Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
We praise and thank you, O Christ, for this sacred feast:
for here we receive you,
here the memory of your passion is renewed,
here our minds are filled with grace,
and here a pledge of future glory is given,
when we shall feast at that table where you reign
with all your saints for ever.
The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘World Food Day.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.
The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:
Let us pray for farmers in the Global South who are having to adapt to changing climates because of global warming.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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