A Prayer for Peace: Ukraine and the Masters of War

Words and Voice: Jon Swales
Music: Blue Nights by Juan Sanchez

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

We thank you for your Son, Jesus,

Who proclaimed & enacted a 

kingdom of peace.

A kingdom in which divine favour and blessing rests on those,

Who are peacemakers &

Justice seekers.

A kingdom in which divine favour and blessing rests on those,

Who renounce 

politics of power and

 violence,

And instead take the way of self giving sacrificial love.

Father of Creation,

God of Justice,

The beasts of militarism and 

imperial conquest,

Are at the the gates of Europe.

And our twitter feeds and news channels are filled with images and sounds

Of brave defiance,

Tearful farewells,

Children cowering in underground shelters,

A Ukrainian  soldier in a news interview saying ‘I love you Tato and Mama’. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

War is hell,

And from the pit comes death and desolation

In which bloodshed and butchery

Strike fear into ordinary people living ordinary lives. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the peacemakers.

And so we lift up to you the Ukrainian people ;

We pray for those who this day will die,

And those who will mourn.

We pray for those who this day will flee their homes,

And those who stay put in fearful defiance.

We pray for those with calm and courage,

And those in acute anxiety and distress

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the peacemakers

And so we lift up to you the people of Russia;

For those who protest the misuse of power,

Grant them wisdom and courage.

For those who encourage peace,

Grant them wisdom and courage.

For those soldiers considering insubordination,

Grant them wisdom and courage. 

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy.

Blessed are the Peacemakers .

And so we pray for those who collude with war;

For Putin and the warmongers,

Bring repentance and resignation.

For the Russian military-industrial complex ,

Bring confusion and administrative collapse.

For the masters of war and those who profit from conflict,

Bring about their downfall.

Lord have mercy,

Christ have mercy,

Blessed are the peacemakers.

Father of Creation,

God of Peace,

We thank you for your Son, Jesus,

Who proclaimed and enacted a kingdom of peace.

A kingdom in which divine favour and blessing rests on those,

Who are peacemakers &

Justice seekers 

God, our refuge and strength,

bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end,

that earth may know the peace of heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen