Weekly Peace Prayer

for November 18, 2025
prepared by
Sister Carmel Little, CSJP

Constitutions:
Our call to peacemaking permeates all aspects of our lives together.
It seeks expression in mutual love and concern. It challenges us to accept
and share our gifts and empower others to do likewise.
It pervades our prayer and calls us to a life of simplicity and service. # 15

Reading:                 
How can we live in the midst of a world marked by fear, hatred and violence, and not be destroyed by it? When Jesus prays to [God] for his disciples he responds to this question by saying, “I am not asking you to remove them from the world but to protect them from the evil one.  They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.”
To live in the world without belonging to the world summarizes the essence of the spiritual life. The spiritual life keeps us aware that our true house is not the house of fear, in which the powers of hatred and violence rule, but the house of love, where God resides. Hardly a day passes in our lives without our experience of inner or outer fears, anxieties, apprehensions and preoccupations. These dark powers have pervaded every part of our world to such a degree that we can never fully escape them.
Still it is possible not to belong to these powers, not to build our dwelling place among them, but to choose the house of love as our home.    
Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons, Henri Nouwen 
Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria

Prayer:
Make me, O Lord, the instrument of your love,
That I may bring comfort to those who sorrow and
joy to those who are regarded as persons of little account.
In this country of many races make me courteous
to those who are humble and understanding to those who are resentful.
Teach me what I should be to the arrogant, the cruel, for I do not know.
And as for me myself, make me more joyful than I am,
especially if this is needed for the sake of others. 
Let me remember my many experiences of joy and thankfulness.
And may I this day do some work of peace for you.                       
Alan Stewart Paton

Quiet Reflection

Reading:
Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you. Do not be afraid.
Isaiah 41:10

Reading:
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!
I have overcome the world.” 
John 16: 23

Prayer:           
Shepherd us, O God, beyond our wants beyond our fears,
and lead us in the way of trust and hope.
Increase in us your gift of courage so that we can create
a world of justice, peace, compassion and love.

Quiet Reflection

Prayer:          God of our lives
you are always calling us
to follow you into the future,
inviting us to new ventures, new challenges,
new ways to care,
new ways to touch the hearts of all.
When we are fearful of the unknown, give us courage.
When we worry that we are not up to the task,
remind us that you would not call us
if you did not believe in us.
When we get tired or feel disappointed
with the way things are going,
remind us that you can bring about change and hope
out of the most difficult situations.
The Pattern of Our Days, Iona Community

Blessing:        
Let the peace of Christ reign in our hearts,
for as members of one body, we are called that that peace.
  Colossians 3:15

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