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Friday, June 18, 2021, 3:00 PM - 6:00 PMRacial Justice
In this nation which celebrates and is founded on the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we come together to pray for greater justice and peace. We ask God to bring healing to our city, our state, and our nation – healing that comes from naming and addressing the wounds and divisions that have marred our collective life.
We pray and commit to work for a society and a community in Minneapolis and Minnesota where the color of one’s skin will not inhibit a life of flourishing, nor provide a basis for harm and injustice. As people of faith, we worship a God who made all His children in His divine image – gifting us an inviolable and transcendent dignity. May our common humanity and inherent dignity spur us to work toward a new era of fraternity, dialogue, and justice.
We pray for those who have been victims of racism, injustice, and violence in our city and nation. We pray that, in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and the tumultuous events that have gripped our community and nation, we would work anew to listen, to learn, and to act for justice, healing, and peace.
More than a half century ago, in the prophetic style of the Hebrew prophets, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. decried the injustices that disfigure God’s sublime creation – His beloved children. Dr. King also spoke with hope and faith that together we could become a beloved community, stitched together by the sacred ties that bind us. It is for this today that we pray.
Prayer and Blessing of Healing Tent:
Good and gracious God, source of every grace and blessing – you are love and you O Lord call us to lives marked by love, mercy, and justice. Today, we come before you to ask your blessing and favor, as we open our healing tent in a city and nation beset by injustice, violence, and polarization. We are here because without you, we are nothing and we can do nothing. By faith, we also know that with you, all things are possible. Help us Lord to make this place a place of prayer and healing and may your gracious blessing and love extend outward to our city and nation. This grotto commemorates the mission of prayer and healing that you gave your Mother and our Mother in faith – Notre Dame de Lourdes. We ask Mary’s intercession today and in the coming days and the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua, lover of humanity and peace, as today we begin our noble work of prayer, justice and healing. Amen.