PRIEST: We gather on this day of Remembrance, while there continues to be terror attacks and war rages in many regions of the world. Jesus reminds us today that our God is ‘God of the Living, not the dead’ – that God wants to give life and not take life! We bring to mind those too many whose lives have been taken in the innumerable and tragic wars and conflicts of the past more than one hundred years. We gather too that we might pray for life-giving peace. With sorrow we recognise that we have still to learn how to solve conflict without violence, settle disputes without recourse to war. Let our remembering be not a glorification of war, but a profound cry from the heart for Peace.
READER: Lord, have mercy on our world for the darkness of war,
for the inhumanity of destruction,
for the pollution of our minds and our earth,
LORD HAVE MERCY…
Jesus, forgive us for striking our brother and sister
with bullet, missile and bomb,
for being blind to the human devastation of modern warfare,
and the immorality of the Arms Trade
CHRIST HAVE MERCY…
Spirit, heal the wounded hearts and minds
that seek power more than humanity, war more than peace,
destruction more than feeding the starving
LORD HAVE MERCY…
PRIEST: May the God of perfect peace touch every heart with mercy,
every mind with healing and every conflict with reconciliation,
that we may transform darkness to light and war to peace,
offering our world the hope of everlasting life…
AMEN!
Instead of a Gloria today, let us sing sing a chant as a prayer for all who have died:
No 813 ‘Bless the Lord…’