Pentecost Sunday

The Holy Spirit: The Lord, the Giver of Life,
The Paraclete and Sender of Prophets
-- icon by Fr. William McNichols

A Peace and Justice Prayer from the Center of Concern's wonderful resource site: Education for Justice

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Wind of God, continue to blow.

Sail over the barriers that we build

to divide ourselves from each other.

Pick up your seeds of freedom and truth
wherever they flourish,

carry them across frontiers

to be planted in other soil,

to begin fresh growth and new forms.


Blow from the South

to the ears of Northern peoples.

Blow away the blinders

which keep our eyes focused only on the past,

repeating its violence,

deepening its divisions,

and adding to its despair.
Reveal the new future

you have in mind for us.

Fire of God, continue to burn,

smolder in the hearts of people

where oppression keeps them in chains,

where unemployment and poverty

devalue their humanity,

and where hunger weakens the spirit.

Burn in them, like Moses' bush,

and do not let them be destroyed.

Tongue of God, continue to speak Shalom.
Speak peace where nations meet,

justice where ideas clash,

mercy where power reigns,

healing where minds and bodies hurt,

and love where churches seek your unity,

and wherever else Babel drowns out the sound of Pentecost.

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