Prayers
“Tempore belli”
Meditation
Louder
than all the bombs exploding in front of us on TV as we watch the war in Iraq
is the fierce debate taking place in this country and throughout the world, and
even among ourselves --the debate over the righteousness of this war. On the
one side are those who staunchly favor the raging conflict. On the other side
are the staunch protesters. Someone—not the kind who likes sitting on the
fence—has said, “I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t have to take sides. That
way I can more easily be not for the Hawks and not for the Doves but for the
truth. It’s like being asked, `Are you
for the Republicans for the Democrats?’ One should be neither for the
Republican nor for the Democrats but for the truth.”
Prayer
Let us pray: That You, oh Lord, at this
critical moment which tempts us to choose one side or the other-- that you with
your Holy Spirit would enlighten us to choose the truth that sets the both of
us free. In peace, let us pray to the Lord. -- Lord have mercy.
Meditation
The fatalities of war grow daily—that’s what war is
all about. The rhetoric of war, which
bypasses the reality of war, says that these brave men and women “gave” their
lives for their country. The truth of
the matter is that these so-called “brave men” were human beings afraid and
scared in the face of battle like any normal human being would be. And the
truth of the matter is also that they did not “give” their lives; their very
young lives of only 19, 20, 21, 22 years, were taken from them in war.
They are like the promising buds of springtime abruptly nipped by the cruelty
of a late winter storm.
Let us pray. That these
fatalities of the war, who are somebody’s sons and fathers and brothers and
husbands and fiancés, might now rest in peace. -- In peace, let us pray to the
Lord. -- Lord have mercy.
Another
rhetoric of war speaks of “collateral damage.” That’s a euphemism for innocent
human beings: Iraqi mothers and children, Iraqi grandmas and grandpas, killed
by bullets and bombs not intended for them.
That, of course, is infinitely less evil than the bullets and bombs of
terrorists, which are precisely intended for innocent people.
Let
us pray.
For the Iraqi people who have already suffered more than is normally allotted
human life. -- In peace, let us pray to the Lord. -- Lord have mercy.
Meditation
One of the chief commodities of our culture is
violence. We produce and sell it left and right as one of our most favored
forms of entertainment. We buy it for our kids, and we, who are supposed to be
the custodian of their human spirits, allow them to watch it for hours upon
hours. They sit in front of the tube, playing their Nintendo games in which
they’re blowing off one head after another and mowing down one human being
after another. It’s called virtual
violence. You don’t feel a thing.
There is really only a very short distance between that and sitting down
with a bowl of popcorn in front of TV as it features Operation Shock and Awe
with its bombs bursting over Baghdad filled with human beings.
Let
us pray.
That we might overcome our hypocrisy; that we might protest with equal animus
and equal numbers our culture of violence. -- In peace, let us pray to the
Lord. -- Lord have mercy.
Meditation
As we watch TV from our comfortable armchairs drinkingour
imported French and Italian wines, we witness the extremely harsh rigors and
realities of the battlefield – the stifling gear you have to wrap yourself up
in temperatures way up in the 90’s, the blowing sand which penetrates
everything, the lack of sleep, the lack of food, the lack of a good bathroom
and a good shower to wash away the filth of war from your body and the terror
of war from your soul. From that comfortable position it is easy and also obscene
to be either an ardent Dove or an ardent Hawk.
Let
us pray.
That at this moment we might match the hard labors of those in harm’s way with
hard labors of our own--the labors of Lent: prayer, fasting, the corporal works
of mercy, almsgiving like the almsgiving of the Arch -bishop’s Stewardship
Appeal that’s going on at this present moment. -- In peace, let us pray to the
Lord. -- Lord have mercy.
Meditation
The hour has now come, and the word now is that, “the road
home leads through Baghdad.”
Let
us pray.
That you, oh Lord, might bring this war to a speedy end and send us all on the
road home, and that You, oh Lord, for whom nothing is impossible, might turn
this evil into good. -- In peace let us pray to the Lord. -- Lord have mercy.
Let
us pray. For
all those in our assembly who are ill or who have loved one who are ill or who
are caregivers to those who are ill. -- In peace let us pray to the Lord.
--Lord have mercy.
Let
us pray.
For all our beloved dead, especially those recently deceased, and for all those
who grieve inconsolably because of recent bereavements, especially the
bereavements of war. -- In peace let us pray to the Lord. -- Lord have mercy.