O God of all justice, peace, and mercy, on this Ash Wednesday, we find the face of all humanity smeared with the ashes of sin and death as a result of this immoral and contemptuous invasion in Ukraine. May God protect all who are at risk of harm and death. May God have mercy on the perpetrators of this cruelty that has resulted in the untold suffering and killing of scores of God’s children.
Today we acknowledge the frailty of all humankind and its tendency for violence and brutality. We see a tyrant wage an egomaniacal war, inflicting horrendous suffering and death upon people, many of whom are related to each other as members of the same family and certainly az members of the human family. We pray, O Lord, that you turn the hearts of Vladimir Putin and his advisors, away from the ways of oppression, away from indifference to human suffering, and away from contempt of the Commandment to Love God and our neighbor.
Almighty God, be with us today as we stand together and keep vigil with our Ukrainian siblings in the faith. Comfort and strengthen them in their anguish. Keep them from succumbing to hatred and despair. May they be confident of our support for them in this struggle. And finally, guide us all into the ways of justice and truth that peace may be re-established on this earth.
This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose loving promise for all humankind is stronger than death. AMEN.
Offered by the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld
At the Rally for Peace in Ukraine in Concord, NH
March 2, 2022