<p class="fontlook"><B>A PRAYER AFTER HAITI’S EARTHQUAKE  </B>

<p class="fontlook">A Prayer After the Earthquake in Haiti

<p class="fontlook">Lord, at times such as this,<BR>
when we realize that the ground beneath our feet<BR>
is not as solid as we had imagined,<BR>
we plead for your mercy.<BR>

<p class="fontlook">As the things we have built crumble about us,<BR>
we know too well how small we truly are<BR>
on this ever-changing, ever-moving,<BR>
fragile planet we call home.<BR>
Yet you have promised never to forget us.<BR>

<p class="fontlook">Do not forget us now.

<p class="fontlook">Today, so many people are afraid.<BR>
They wait in fear of the next tremor.<BR>
They hear the cries of the injured amid the rubble.<BR>
They roam the streets in shock at what they see.<BR>
And they fill the dusty air with wails of grief<BR>
and the names of missing dead.<BR>

<p class="fontlook">Comfort them, Lord, in this disaster.<BR>
Be their rock when the earth refuses to stand still,<BR>
and shelter them under your wings when homes no longer exist.<BR>

<p class="fontlook">Embrace in your arms those who died so suddenly this day.<BR>
Console the hearts of those who mourn,<BR>
and ease the pain of bodies on the brink of death.<BR>

<p class="fontlook">Pierce, too, our hearts with compassion,<BR>
we who watch from afar,<BR>
as the poorest on this side of the earth<BR>
find only misery upon misery.<BR>
Move us to act swiftly this day,<BR>
to give generously every day,<BR>
to work for justice always,<BR>
and to pray unceasingly for those without hope.

<p class="fontlook">And once the shaking has ceased,<BR>
the images of destruction have stopped filling the news,<BR>
and our thoughts return to life’s daily rumblings,<BR>
let us not forget that we are all your children<BR>
and they, our brothers and sisters.<BR>
We are all the work of your hands.

<p class="fontlook">For though the mountains leave their place<BR>
and the hills be tossed to the ground,<BR>
your love shall never leave us,<BR>
and your promise of peace will never be shaken.

<p class="fontlook">Our help is in the name of the Lord,<BR>
who made heaven and earth.<BR>
Blessed be the name of the Lord,<BR>
now and forever. Amen.

<p class="fontlook">Copyright © 2010, Diana Macalintal;  first published on the worship page for the Diocese of San Jose

 
