| These Prayers were contributed by EPF members in honor of the Consecration of Bishop James Magness, June, 2010
They were used during a Vigil held in the Mary Chapel at the National Cathedral. |
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“The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Ps. 19:8
Holy God, open our eyes to a fresh vision for a peaceful world along with the will to seek alternatives to revenge and violence. Awaken in us compassion for the victims of war: soldiers of all nations, grieving families, civilians, the wounded creation. Open wide the eyes of world leaders, especially in our own country, to see a path toward peace in Iraq, Afghanistan and in all conflicts that tear apart the one human family. Grant us eyes wide open to peace. Amen.
“For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
Holy One: Give us wisdom and courage to discern how nonviolent resistence in the midst of those conflicts which so divide our hearts and minds, wounding the one human family, may at length, for us as for Your Son, become an instrument of Your Love, Your Peace, Your Wholeness. Amen.
“What does the Lord requeire of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your god.” Micah 6:8
Eternal God, whose Spirit extends to the ends of the earth and to the depths of our souls, unfasten our ties to the idols that enslave us and enlighten our minds to know which things are truly needful, that our hands may mold justice, our hearts give birth to mercy and our lives follow the path our Master walks. Amen.
“Go and be reconciled with your brother or sister first, and then come back and present your offering.” Matt. 5:24
Loving God, guide us this day to lay down our stones, that they may serve as a pathway to our adversaries. Grant us courage to step forward on the path of love, to engage with respect, and to strive for justice and peace in ways that create the foundation for genuine reconciliation. Amen.
“The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Ps. 51:18
As we kneel in Vigil, dear Jesus, we pray that, like the first disciples, we may receive ‘the peace of god that filled their hearts brimful…and broke them, too.’ Give us the gift of broken hearts and troubled spirits. Comfort us in our strife, bind us with your love, and grant us the joy of the mind of Christ. We pray, above all, for ‘the marvelous peace of God.’ Amen.
Submitted by Dr. Linda Gaither, Chair Episcopal Peace Fellowship National Executive Council
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LITANY OF RECONCILIATION
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
The hatred which divides nation from nation,
race from race, class from class,
Father, forgive.
The covetous desires of people and nations
to possess what is not their own,
Father, forgive.
The greed which exploits the work of
human hands and lays waste the earth,
Father, forgive.
Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,
Father, forgive.
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned,
the homeless, the refugee,
Father, forgive.
The lust which dishonors the bodies
of men, women and children,
Father, forgive.
The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves
and not in God,
Father, forgive.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another,
as God in Christ forgave you.
Amen.
Christ Church Cathedral, Center for the Community of the Cross of Nails
This litany of said every Friday at Coventry Cathedral at the Altar of Reconciliation in the ruins.
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Gracious God,
Thank you for the gift of the Rev. Jay Magness to the lives of those whom he serves and those whom he leads.
May Jay lead with the grace, joy and skill that he showered on the people of the Diocese of Kentucky while he was Canon to the Ordinary.
Bless Jay’s ministry and may it flourish and grow as he moves into new challenges and responsibilities.
May Jay, his wife Carolyn, and their family feel your loving presence before, during, and after his consecration.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Debbi Rodahaffer
Director of Christian Education
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Louisville, KY
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With the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and the Community of the Cross of Nails, I join my fervent prayers for peace in the world and in each of our hearts. Faithful to our Lord of Peace, may Bishop James Magness, and all who work with him bring support to those serving in the Armed Forces, wherever they may be. May they encourage and sustain all those working wih veterans. May they bring enlightenment and reconciliation to all those involved in our prison system. And may they bring comfort to the families of members of the armed forces, veterans, and those in prison environments. May they live out our call to Christian unity, in fruitful ecumenical work with those of other churches and interfaith work with those of other faiths. May their service also reach persons not now affiliated with a religious faith, shining forth Christ’s light to all.
The Rev. Joanne Coyle Dauphin, Deacon
American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
Paris, Ecumenical Delegate
Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe
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God of grace and love, we give you thanks for calling Jay Magness to
serve your church as Bishop Suffragan of Federal Ministries: We
beseech you to send your Holy Spirit upon your servant, pouring out
upon him the gifts that this ministry will require, equipping him to
be an instrument of your peace and a conduit of your grace; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the same Spirit lives and
reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
God’s Peace,
Matt Bradley
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Holy God: We are all longing for peace. May the ministry of our new bishop bring us ever closer to our goal of peace for all humankind.
Ruth Hooke, Amherst MA EPF
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God of power and might
God who calls to us in a still, small voice,
Keep us always in your embrace, cradle us beside the ones we call our enemies.
Help us to forgive and be forgiven.
Give us the reassurance and love of each other to remind us that we are marked as Christ’s own.
Visit us as we rest and bestow Your gifts of joy and peace upon us even as we sleep, so that when we wake we will know Your presence like a lingering dream.
For You are the One from whom we draw our very being. You are the One we love with all our heart and soul. We belong to You. Amen
From Bonnie Anderson, D.D. President, The House of Deputies
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A Litany in Favor of Peace
We pray for nations and their leaders;
for adults and young people and generations still to come;
for our enemies and our allies and for ourselves.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Help us imagine your vision of peace. Give us courage to pursue it, and grace to accomplish it.
May we strive for its fulfillment in our world and in our time.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Enable Christians to believe that the cross of Jesus discredits violence, that the resurrection breaks its power.
May we rely on your Spirit of holiness to live new and different lives.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Help us to acknowledge and heal our wounds,
to resolve buried grievances, to recognize that in the face of guilt, grace and forgiveness can abound.
Make us passionate for reconciliation.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Purge from us fearfulness and hardness of heart.
Replace rivalry with collaboration that people everywhere may enjoy justice and prosperity.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
May we dismiss no human death as collateral damage.
May we recognize how our republic often acts as an empire.
May we lament how every weapon built represents theft from the poor.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
May we mourn the failures that surround every war.
Help us console the injured and the grieving.
Enable us to build the best memorial to the dead by learning to live without war.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Open our eyes that we may see enemiesas people like ourselves,as people that you love.
May we recognize their brokenness and our own.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Inspire us to build friendships across every boundary.
Show us how to welcome the stranger and accept the stranger’s welcome.
Help us not to fear people made in your image.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
May we recognize and teach one another ways of reconciliation and justice.
May they enjoy a central place in the curriculum of our culture and in schools of every kind.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
Deliver us from reliance on gods of metal.
Abolish the arsenals. Redeploy the defense contractors.
Eliminate the standing armies. Turn military bases into parks and schools and hospitals.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
May planes drop food upon hungry populations.
May ships bring supplies for the devastated.
May the young and the strong learn to serve
the weak and the disadvantaged.
May troops from diverse nations unite in projects more rewarding than war.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
May we make costly decisions to associate with the suffering and resist injustice in nonviolent ways.
May we shatter the insolence of aggressors and point them to a better life.
Fill our undefended hearts with warrior courage.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
In the labor of conforming our lives and our society to your will, let us never surrender to despair.
And so we implore from you a continuing change of heart
for ourselves and for one another.
Free us all from bondage to violence.
Hear our prayer, O God of peace.
The Rev. Charles Hoffacker St. Christopher’s, New Carrollton, MD
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For Former Enemies
Lord, there is not one that doeth good, no not one. We therefore approach Thee with a sense of guilt in that however much we may think we have been wronged, we too have wronged others. However much we have to forgive, we also have much need to be forgiven. We pray Thee first to rid us of our own national arrogance, our race pride, our selfish insularity, which have made for strife and enmity in days past. Forgive our own nation, Lord, for the sins we have committed against international goodwill. Lord, we would forgive as we are forgiven. Let Thy love and compassion encompass those against whom we fought in the Great War. Heal their wounds; assuage their sufferings; right their wrongs. Unite us anew in the family of nations as companions in a common cause. For hatred give goodwill; for suspicion give trust; for aloofness give neighborliness, that we may together create that brotherhood ordained by Thee for mankind; through Him who is our great elder brother, Jesus Christ our Lord.
For the Conditions of Brotherhood
O Father, who art the maker and lover of the myriads of men who populate the world, arouse us to a practical belief in the full breadth of our human relationships, that we may rid ourselves of the shackles of sectionalism, national pride, and racial prejudice, and in the spirit of mutual helpfulness combine to establish those conditions of brotherhood and amity which is our responsibility to promote. Hush the proud boastings of the nations, that they may learn to use their strength, their knowledge, their material greatness to support the weak, to enlighten the ignorant, to enrich the poor. Beat the harsh armaments of war into the kindly implements of industry and peace. Bind together the people of East and West by the ties of sympathy, respect, and service, that, in appreciation and recognition of one another’s virtues and with considerate forbearance in our differences, we may be unified in one family according to Thy purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
They were composed by Charles Henry Brent. His March 27 listing in Lesser Feasts and Fasts details his ministries as a bishop and also as Senior Chaplain of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War One. Thus he is a predecessor to Jay Magness in both the episcopal office and military chaplaincy.
While some details of these prayers address their time rather than ours, I believe their spirit can speak to us and challenge us today.
I have taken them from No Other Wealth: The Prayers of a Modern-Day Saint Bishop Charles Henry Brent 1862-1929 edited By Frederick Ward Kates and published by The Upper Room in 1965.
Blessings,
The Rev. Charles Hoffacker
St. Christopher’s, New Carrollton, MD
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+ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven .” (Mt. 5:8)
+For Clergy and People
Almighty and everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: Send down upon our bishops and other clergy, and upon the congregations committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace: and, that they may please tee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, o Lord, for the honor of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen (from the Alternate Service Book 1980 of the Church of England.)
+Isaiah 32:17 + 18
“The effect of righteousness will be peace and the result of righteousness quietness and trust forever.”
+ A word from Dame Julian of Norwich
Thus saw I that God is our very Peace, and He is our sure keeper when we are ourselves in unpeace and He continually worketh to bring us into endless peace. … But He willeth that we take heed thus that He is Ground of all our whole life in love: and furthermore that He is our everlasting keeper and mightily defendeth us against our enemies.”
(From The Revelation of Divine Love)
+Psalm 4: 4 – 8
“Tremble, then, and do not sin; speak to your heart in silence before your bed.
Offer the appointed sacrifices and put your trust in the Lord.
Many are saying, “Oh, that we might see better times!”
Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord.
You have put gladness in my heart, more than wine and oil increase.
I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep;
For only you Lord, make me dwell in safety.
+Dear God Almighty, Lover of Souls, Healer of nations; I pray for protection of those who serve in harm’s way and I beg you use your power to transform the hearts of those in authority who issue calls to war. May this new ministry also call upon the reconciling Spirit of Christ to guide our chaplains as they serve the Incarcerated and the people of the Armed Services and their families, that the comfort and inspiration of our Savior may be widely shared. Indeed shape this ministry to be an instrument of your peace dear God. Amen.
+For those in the Armed Services of our Country (BCP.1979, Pg. 823)
Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed services at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations: give them courage to face the perils which beset them: and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ IICorinthians 13: 11b
“Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love will be with you.”
+Hinduism (from the Bhagavad-Gita)
“If you want to see the brave, look at those who can forgive. If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred.”
+ Islam (words from Muhammad)
“Shall I not tell you what is better than prayers and fasting and giving alms to the poor? It is making peace between one another: enmity and malice destroy all virtues.”
+Judaism (Avot d’Rabbi Natan,23)
“Who is the greatest hero? One who changes an enemy into a friend.”
+Psalm 29:11
“May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace.”
+God of all peoples and nations, encourage this new mission to Federal Ministries to forge fresh bonds of mutual support and co-operative service among respected leaders of our Jewish, Islamic and other neighbors and friends. Inspire our religious leaders and their people to work together, pray together, and support one another until that great day when all God’s children are reconciled and in living in peace. Amen.
+ (From Martin Luther Kings April 1967 speech – powerful, provocative and prophetic)
“And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy to the poor and to attack it as such.”
+For Peace from the BCP 1979, pg. 815
“Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all people may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of the Father to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever. Amen.
+
St. Luke 1:78 – 80
“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadows of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel .”
+ Dear God, shed you light on us in this hour, in our wilderness and, through our prayers and witness make our Bishop-elect strong in spirit as well, for soon his day to take on a new ministry is near. Bless Bishop elect Magness, his family and loved ones. Guide us all as instruments of your peace and reconciling spirit. Amen
Resources: The Rev. Wm. E. Exner, National Executive Council, Episcopal Peace Fellowship
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