This past Wednesday evening, the small Catholic elementary school in our neighborhood had a Welcome Back event for all of their students, parents, and teachers. Cars lined our street and families were seen, walking together to and from the school and the church on the corner.
I wasn’t able to ask any of these families walking down our street what they thought about the tragic news of the day – the story of a troubled young person, a congregation of innocent school children, and too many guns that took place in Minneapolis – but I’m sure it was on the minds of some of the parents.
School began in Bedford this week and next week, school will begin for us in Manchester. People have been posting their “first day of school” photos online – kids standing with their book bags packed with school supplies. Next week, I’ll be holding hands with my own rising 3rd Grader as we walk up the hill to his elementary school – a school where they have to practice active shooter drills in the first few days of every school year because, as our son put it to me last year, “someone might be trying to get into the school that is not supposed to be there, so we have to lock the doors and hide.”
As I sit down to write this, families are sitting with wounded children in a hospital in Minneapolis and at least three families are planning funerals. Lord, have mercy. . . I can’t take much more of this. . .
And, as I sit down to write this – and I think about the people in Minneapolis and so many other places where tragedy is all around – I feel that I have run out of words to say. . . All except for “Lord, have mercy. . . Lord, have mercy. . . Lord, have mercy. . .”
Sometimes, you just have to pray. . .
Lord, have mercy on all who are grieving this day. . . For parents of children who were violently hurt and killed in Minneapolis (and so many other places), for parents and children who are starving in Gaza, for people grieving the loss of children gone too soon, for parents and children torn apart by addiction, for families separated by fences and barbed wire and locked doors in a broken immigration system. . . Lord, have mercy. . .
Lord, have mercy on all who are troubled in mind, body, and spirit. . . For all who commit violent acts because they don’t know what else to do, for all who hold tight to weapons of war out of fear, for all who cannot fathom a way out of their despair, for all who look at the world and find themselves feeling hopeless, or helpless, or indifferent. . . Lord, have mercy. . .
Lord, have mercy on all who are seeking to do what is good and right and loving. . . For all who remember the words of Jesus when he said, “blessed are the peacemakers,” and “blessed are the merciful,” for all who still keep going even though all seems lost, for all who are confronted by the harsh realities of the world and stand up to say “No!” and “Enough!” For all who are longing for your kingdom, saying, “Come, Lord Jesus,” and “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. . .” Lord, have mercy. . .
Lord, have mercy upon us. . . all of us. . . Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. . . Amen.
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This Week: “Words to Live By (Yes. . . Words to Live By)”
Read Psalm 19 and focus on verse 14
Read Matthew 22:34-40
Read or sing Hymn # 692 – “Spirit, Open My Heart”