Prayer for World peace
by Joan Chittister, osb
Great God, who has told us 
“Vengeance is mine,”
save us from ourselves, save us from the vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.
Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.
Give us the strength it takes to listen rather than judge,
to trust rather than fear, to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.
We ask, O God, for the grace to be our best selves.
We ask for the wisdom to be builders of the human community
rather than destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.
We ask for the love it takes to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the heart it takes to care for all the peoples of the world as well as ourselves.
Give us the depth of soul, O God, to constrain our might. Amen.
