On World Communion Sunday, as Presbyterians, we completed the season of peace and reconciliation.  As we move into the post pandemic world, life doesn’t always feel very peaceful or reconciled. Can we find peace and reconciliation in this new environment?

The promise of Jesus “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9) is both a comfort and a challenge. It reminds us that the path of peace is something we both follow and forge.

We are reminded every time we power up our computers, turn on the television, or struggle to handle conflicts in our families, congregations and communities that the work of peace and reconciliation doesn’t come easy.  We certainly experience that struggle as we negotiate our own inner worlds of chaos and longing.

The journey of peace is a pilgrimage of our whole selves: spirit and body; heart, feet, and mind. The pursuit of God’s peace is both an inner and outer journey. We all called by the Holy Spirit to   move forward in peace and reconciliation. When we do so we become more authentic and effective bearers of peace in our world.

Let us pray for peace and the courage to be peacemakers.

Holy God, your people come to pray for the world and all that is in it.  Lord hear our prayer for peace and justice.

Free us, O God, to speak your word to a lost, hurting and angry world. Enmity and strife have overtaken the land and fear and anxiety has crowded out love. Iniquity has spread like a stain, magnifying the division between rich and poor.  Give us your voice, that your church can serve as shepherd, guiding your people to your call for the world.

Free us, O God, to tend to those who are in need. You always care especially for those abandoned or rejected or live on the margins.  Give us eyes to recognize them in our midst; those living with chronic and debilitating illness, those in fear of deportation, those in abusive relationships, those overwhelmed with all that goes with the pandemic, those who live in the shadow of fear and indifference. Use us to connect to them in ways that bring peace and justice.

Free us, O God, from asking, “Who is my neighbor?”  Guide us to ways we may live a life of compassion, help us to bind up the wounds, both visible and invisible, of your people.  Carry us and give us strength to carry others so we may all know the peace that comes

from you. Heal your aching world and use us to answer the call to peacemaking.  In Christ’s Holy name we pray. Amen.

Prayer adapted from Presbyterian Peacemaking resources.