Here’s a new prayer I’ve for the countless victims of coronavirus – in some sense, essentially all of us – and for the possibility that an end to the pandemic and its associated crisis may perhaps be in sight in the months ahead.
God of mercy,
hear our prayer for all those whose lives,
during this past year,
have been overturned by Covid-19;
those who have suffered and died,
those who still struggle with the after-effects of the illness;
those who have lost loved ones as a result;
those in our hospitals and health centres
exhausted by the demands made upon them;
those in our nursing and residential homes,
who have been so vulnerable,
yet who have felt so isolated;
those who have developed vaccines and treatments,
or who continue to work upon them,
and those whose job it will be to organise and roll out the vaccination programme;
those in governments and positions in leadership,
seeking to take right decisions for the present and the future;
those whose livelihoods have been undermined,
even destroyed,
by the economic impact of lockdowns and the like;
those facing years of unemployment
and an uncertain future
as a result of the pandemic’s impact.
Our country,
our society,
our world,
is broken –
hurting,
but hoping;
fearful of the future,
yet praying for a miracle.
Hear our prayer,
and, in your love,
pick us up
and put us together again.
Amen.