A Prayer for Holy Week
Lord Jesus, as we walk beside you in this holiest of weeks, make us mindful of those who are our companions on the road:
As we join the triumphal march of palms, we salute all who march or demonstrate for peace and justice, even at the risk of their own lives and freedom;
As we watch you betrayed and arrested, we place our hearts with all prisoners of conscience;
As you receive the wounds of whips and crown of thorns, we feel the pain of all who are ridiculed, demonized, raped, and tortured;
As you stumble with exhaustion, we acknowledge the weariness of refugees, migrants, and all who long for a place to call home;
As you are comforted by Veronica’s soft cloth, we praise you for all who are moved by the Spirit to comfort the suffering, whether by shelter from the United Nations, a sandwich on the road through Mexico, or a friend in court for the legally defenseless;
As you comfort dying thieves with the promise of paradise, open our hearts to child soldiers, unwilling conscripts, and all who feel trapped in violence they neither want nor understand;
As you speak from the cross to comfort Mary and John, teach us to remember, even in our own struggles, there are ways in which we can strengthen others;
As you await your death on the cross, may we be with all who await the great transition, and with those who keep vigil with them;.
And as we, far beyond our deserving and our imagining, share with our companions in your Easter victory, we praise you for ever and ever.
AMEN
- by Frederick L. Houghton, AFRECS board member
Crown of Thorns (Dinka: Göl de kuoth). This image of Christ suffering for and with us was created in 2000 by Hilary Garang Deng Awer, retired bishop of Malakal now living in Juba.