Standing for the Truth of Peace in Time of War

Lead Us From War to Peace:

A Service of Repentance

Note: In the spirit of the inclusive world we desire, it is Pax Christi USA’s policy to use inclusive language so we invite you to exchange “God” for the word “Lord” found in the song,” For the Healing of the Nations.” Thank you!

Call to Prayer:

Leader:

God of mercy and compassion, we come before You with grieving hearts during this time of war. We are sickened by the daily reports of continued death and destruction, we mourn the dead – combatants and civilians, and all those caught up in war. We weep for those who return home maimed physically, scarred emotionally and spiritually bereft. We lament the degradation of the land that will for years be poisoned by weapons of war.

We deplore the fact that resources so needed by those who are poor to meet basic needs are used instead to fuel war.

All:

O God, weeping and grieving, we repent of the sin of war.

Reading: Psalm 140

(Adapted from Psalms/Now by Leslie Brandt; 1973. Condordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO)

O God, deliver our nation and our world

from those in positions of authority

who resort to violence

to carry out their objectives.

They sweet-talk us into believing

they are acting in our interests,

and brainwash us into blind,

flag-waving allegiance,

until we march by their side

into bloody wars that decimate and destroy

our brothers and sisters

in the family of God.

Deliver all of us, O God,

from the notion that anything of value or worth

can be obtained by hostile or violent actions.

You, O God, are on the side of those who are afflicted.

And You will justly deal with people of violence,

and show Your mercy upon the victims

of their obscene actions.

Help us, O God,

even at the risk of our lives and well-being,

to overcome hate with love

and to be peacemakers in a world

that is so racked and distorted

by the atrocities of war.

Response: (all)

O God, weeping and grieving, we repent of the sin of war.

Reading: Luke 19:41-44

(Excerpt from If Only You Had Known the Path to Peace This Day by John Dear, SJ)

Leader:

Luke tells us that after walking for several years on a peace pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Jesus broke down and wept when he saw the city, saying:

Reader:

If this day you only knew the things that make for peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you. They will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

Leader:

Jesus wept over Jerusalem’s injustice, violence, idolatry and complicity with imperial war-making. Their preference for imperial violence and rejection of His divine nonviolence led to Jerusalem’s actual destruction by the empire in the year 70 A.D.

Response:

O God, weeping and grieving, we repent of the sin of war.

(Prolonged Silence)

Song:For the Healing of the Nations(Sung to the tune of Tantum Ergo)

For the healing of the nations, Lord we pray with one accord;

For a just and equal sharing

Of the things that earth affords.

To a life of love and action

Help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead us now, Lord, into freedom,

From despair your world release;

That redeemed from war and hatred,

All may come and go in peace.

Show us how through care and goodness

Fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,

Let it from the earth be banned;

Pride of status, race or schooling,

Dogmas that obscure your plan.

In our common quest for justice

May we hallow life’s brief span.

You, creator God, have written

Your great name on humankind;

For our growing in your likeness

Bring the life of Christ to mind:

That by our response and service

Earth its destiny may find.

Litany of Repentance

(Adapted from a Litany of Repentance, The Fire of Peace Prayer Book, Pax Christi USA)

Leader:

We ask forgiveness for our complicity in the violence now unleashed in our world and we repent of the violence in our own hearts.

For initiating war……………………………………..forgive us, we pray.

For turning from truth

For raining down death

For resorting to torture

For wasting our resources

For shattering innocence

For trampling diplomacy

For wounding the earth

For exploiting the poor

For trusting in weapons

For exporting arms

For needing to dominate

For wanting to win

For failing to resist

For failing to trust

For failing to act

For failing to negotiate

For failing to hope

For failing to love

For our arrogance

For our cowardice

For our pride

For our silence

That we learn compassion………………………………..change our hearts.

That we practice mercy

That we embrace nonviolence

That we act in justice

That we live in hope

That we love tenderly

That we do your will

That we will be peace.

Prayers of Petition:

(May be prepared or spontaneous)

(Prolonged Silence)

Vow of Nonviolence: (all)

Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God, I vow for one year to practice the nonviolence of Jesus who taught us in the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God...You have learned how it was said, “You must love your neighbors and hate your enemy,” but I say to you, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” In this way you will be daughters and sons of your Creator in heaven.

Before God, the Creator and the Sanctifying Spirit, I vow to carry out in my life the love and example of Jesus...

by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be a peacemaker in my daily life;
by accepting suffering rather than inflicting it;
by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and violence;
by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart;
by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not deprive others of the means to live;
by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the face of the earth.

God, I trust in your sustaining love and believe that just as You gave me the grace and desire to offer this, so You will also bestow abundant grace to fulfill it.

Song: World Peace Prayer

Refrain:

Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth,

from despair to hope, from fear to trust.

Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace;

Let peace fill our hearts, let peace fill our world, let peace fill our universe.

Verses:

Still all the angry cries, still all the angry guns,

Still now your people die, earth’s sons and daughters.

Let justice roll, let mercy pour down,

Come and teach us your way of compassion. (Refrain)

So many lonely hearts, so many broken lives,

Longing for love to break into their darkness.

Come, teach us love, come, teach us peace,

Come and teach us your way of compassion. (Refrain)

Let justice ever roll, let mercy fill the earth,

Let us begin to grow into your people.

We can be love, we can bring peace,

We can still be your way of compassion. (Refrain)

(Prolonged Silence)

Closing Prayer: The Peace Prayer of St. Francis

Pax Christi USA

532 W. 8th Street

Erie, PA16502

814-453-4955