As we celebrate Thanksgiving and enter the Season of Advent, let us pray for peace and reconciliation in our world, in the streets of our cities and in our hearts.  For all this we offer the following prayer suggested by Fr. William Clark, OMI: A Reading from St. Pope John XXIII, “Peace on Earth”

 

May God banish from the hearts of all whatever might endanger peace.

May God transform them into witnesses of truth, justice and love.

May God enlighten the rulers of peoples so that in addition to their solicitude for the proper welfare of their citizens,

They may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace;

May God enkindle the wills of all,

so that they may overcome the barriers that divide,

cherish the bonds of mutual charity,

understand others,

and pardon those who have done them wrong;

By virtue of God’s action,

may all peoples of the earth become as brothers and sisters,

And may the most longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always among them.

Amen