That we may never forget, let us pray—
For leaders who send young people to war,
that their judgments be sound and their motives be pure;
For service members who lay down their lives for others,
that the love which inspires their sacrifice
be fulfilled in the love of Christ;
For those who, on behalf of their country,
have been maimed or brutalized by war,
that our love for them may make their scars less painful
and make their brutality yield to the tenderness of returning love;
For those who have been left behind,
that they may live in the strength of the love that they knew;
For those who suffer most from war,
that the homeless, the orphaned, the hungry, and the innocent
may help us turn away from warlike ways
to pursue the potential of peace.
God of Peace, help us never to forget that war is hell.
Help us to honor its saints, and to pray for its sinners and victims,
through the Perfect Victim, who died for our sakes,
even Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
—Chalice Worship (alt.)
