Music
Kaddish
- Let the glory of God be extolled, let God’s great Name be hallowed in the world whose creation God willed.
- May God’s Reign soon prevail, in our own day, our own lives, and the life of all, and let us say: Amen.
- Let God’s great name be blessed forever and ever.
- Let the name of the Holy One, blessed be God, be glorified, exalted, and honored, though God is beyond all the praises, songs, and adoration that we can utter, and let us say: Amen.
- Rest eternal grant them, O God; And let light perpetual shine upon them.
- May they and all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Lighting of Memorial Candles
Introductory Prayer
O God, Creator and Sustainer, look with compassion on all persons who have suffered loss due to the effects of war, violence, terror, and insurgency, especially the women whom we honor this evening. We mourn the lives lost, we grieve for those who suffered rape, and for their families. We bemoan the loss of our innocence, however naïve. We pray for your presence and healing, for reconciliation, for peace with justice for all women, children and men. Amen.
May new life come forth from the ashes; may you lead step by step those who are struggling to rebuild their lives. Amen.
May we find paths to build safer and more peaceful communities; may weapons of war be transformed into tools for peace and human well-being.Amen.
You are the One who has always led your people from oppression into freedom, from death into Life. Change the hearts and minds of those who wreak destruction, and fill us all with such good will to work for the common good, that war might cease and the world be renewed. Amen.
All this we ask through faith in your Word made Flesh, whose suffering you used to open to us everlasting Life. Amen.
In silence, we remember.
(Silence is observed while candles are lit.)
| Psalm 42 | |
| 1 | As the deer longs for the water-brooks, *
so longs my soul for you, O God. |
| 2 | My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God? |
| 3 | My tears have been my food day and night, *
while all day long they say to me, “Where now is your God?” |
| 4 | I pour out my soul when I think on these things; *
how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God, |
| 5 | With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, *
among those who keep holy-day. |
| 6 | Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me? |
| 7 | Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God. |
| 8 | My soul is heavy within me; *
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon. |
| 9 | One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts; *
all your rapids and floods have gone over me. |
| 10 | The LORD grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; *
in the night season his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. |
| 11 | I will say to the God of my strength,
“Why have you forgotten me? * and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?” |
| 12 | While my bones are being broken, *
my enemies mock me to my face; |
| 13 | All day long they mock me *
and say to me, “Where now is your God?” |
| 14 | Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *
and why are you so disquieted within me? |
| 15 | Put your trust in God; *
for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God. |
Micah 4:1-5
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
2 and many nations shall come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
4 but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
for ever and ever.
Response to the reading:
The universe whispers that all things are intertwined. Yet at times we heard the loud cry of discord. To which voice shall we listen? Although we long for harmony, we cannot close our ears to the noise of war, the din of terror, the horror of rape and mutilation, the rasp of hate. How dare we speak of concord, when the fact and symbols of our age is cruelty, terror, and the smoke of concentration camps, and rocket propelled grenades?
The intelligent heart does not deny reality. We must not forget the grief of yesterday, nor ignore the pain of today. If there is goodness at the heart of life, then its power, like the power of evil, is real. Which shall prevail? Moment by moment we choose between them. If we choose rightly, and often enough, the broken fragments of our world will be restored to wholeness.
For this we need strength and help. We turn in hope, therefore, to a Power beyond us. God has many names, but God is One. God creates; God sustains; God loves; God inspires us with the hope that we can make ourselves one as God is One.
Romans 12.9-21
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.* Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;* do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God;* for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Intercessions
God, our creator, your will for us and for all your people is health and
salvation:
Have mercy on us.
We ask your presence with all who are in mourning, for those who lost
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, friends and neighbors.
(PAUSE) We pray:
Have mercy on us.
For those who have died as a result of terror and violence; for those who
have been injured; for those who are in shock and grief;
We pray:
Have mercy on us.
For the victims of terror and fear; for us, who are shaken and ill at ease
with the future; for all who are beset by fear and anxiety;
We pray:
Have mercy on us.
For those who plot terror and mass destruction, that their hearts and minds
will be changed. For those who suffer from oppression and religious
fanaticism, that they may be opened to your creative and loving presence in
their lives,
We pray:
Have mercy on us.
For our nation and all the nations of the world; for all who live in distress
and agony, for all who have given up hope,
We pray:
Have mercy on us.
Be with us and guide us, O God; prevent us from vengeance and isolation.
Give us a community of peoples united in faith and hope, a community willing
to work through the issues of our life and a world without violence.
We pray:
Have mercy on us.
I invite your own prayers: PAUSE.
We pray:
Have mercy on us.
Merton Prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.[2]
Closing Prayer:
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
[1] This service is significantly adapted for our worship from the Episcopal Peace Fellowship liturgy in remembrance of September 11, 2001, the full original of which can be found at http://epfnational.org/litany-september-11th/
[2] Prayer by Thomas Merton from Thoughts in Solitude.
