This afternoon we gathered in the chapel of All Saints Church for our daily Noon Eucharist — offered with special intentions for healing for the scourge of gun violence that plagues our nation and in thanksgiving for the leadership and witness of the youth working to be the change they want to see. Together we prayed this Litany in the Wake of Gun Violence …

Minister: Giver of Life and Love, you created all people as one family and called us to live together in harmony and peace. Surround us with your love as we face not only the ongoing challenge and tragedy of gun violence but the fresh grief as we mark the one month anniversary of the shootings in Parkland.

God of Righteousness, you have given our leaders, especially our President, our Governor, the members of Congress, the judges of our courts and members of our legislatures, power and responsibility to protect us and to uphold our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For all who bear such responsibility, for all who struggle to discern what is right in the face of powerful political forces, Loving God
People: Make us instruments of your peace.

Minister: God of Compassion, we give you thanks for first responders, for police officers, firefighters and EMTs, and all those whose duties bring them to the streets, the lobbies, the nightclubs and the homes where the carnage of gun violence takes place day after day. Give them courage and sound judgment in the heat of the moment and grant them compassion for the victims. For our brothers and sisters who risk their lives and their serenity as they rush to our aid, Loving God
People: Make us instruments of your peace.

Minister: Merciful God, bind up the wounds of all who suffer from gun violence, those maimed and disfigured, those left alone and grieving, and those who struggle to get through one more day. Bless them with your presence and help them find hope. For all whose lives are forever marked by the scourge of gun violence, Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.

Minister: Holy God, we give you thanks for the courage and leadership of our youth as they stand up and speak out against the forces standing in the way of transformation and act as agents of your love, justice and compassion. Bless those who walked out of their classrooms today, bless those organizing to lead us in the March for Our Lives and
empower their witness to change the hearts and minds that need changing. Loving God,
People: Make us instruments of your peace.

Minister: God Who Remembers, may we not forget those who have died, more than 30,000 this year, in the gun violence that we have allowed to become routine. Receive them into your heart and comfort us with your promise of eternal love and care.  For our dear ones, for our neighbors, for strangers and aliens, and those known to you alone, Loving God
People: Make us instruments of your peace.

Minister: God of Justice, help us, your church, find our voice. Empower us to change this broken world and to protest the needless deaths caused by gun violence. Give us power to rise above our fear that nothing can be done and grant us the conviction to advocate for change. For your dream of love and harmony, Loving God
People: Make us instruments of your peace.

Minister: All this we pray in the name of the One who offered his life so that we might live, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.

Adapted from a Litany in the Wake of Gun Violence written by the Right Reverend Stephen T. Lane, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine