A Prayer for Holy Week

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