Weekly Peace Prayer

‍ ‍ for March 31, 2026
prepared by
Sister Carmel Little, CSJP

Peace Prayer for Holy Week ‍

Constitutions:
Our call to peacemaking
permeates all aspect 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

Holy Thursday
God in an Apron
Supper was special that night
There was both heaviness and a holiness
hanging in the air
We couldn’t explain the mood
It was sacred, yet sorrowful.
Gathered around that table
eating that solemn, holy meal
seemed to us the most important meal
we had ever sat down to eat.

We were dwelling in the heart of mystery
Though dark the night
Hope felt right
as if something evil
was about to be conquered.

And then suddenly
the One we loved startled us all
He got up from the table
and put on an apron.
Can you imagine how we felt?

God in an apron!

Tenderness encircled us
as He bowed before us.
He knelt and said,
“I choose to wash your feet
because I love you.”

God in an apron, kneeling
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I was embarrassed
until his eyes met mine
I sensed my value then.
He touched my feet
He held them in his strong brown hands.
I can still see the look in his eyes.

Then he handed me the towel
and said,
“As I have done
so you must do.”
Learn to bow
Learn to kneel.

Let your tenderness encircle
everyone you meet
Wash their feet
not because you have to,
because you want to.
‍ ‍Macrina Weiderkehr, from Seasons of Your Heart: 

Quiet Reflection

Good Friday Haiku

Seven Words
Beneath the Cross, hear
love’s last words: costly first words
of a new language.

First Word:
Father, forgive them for
They don’t know what they’re doing
Savior or victim?
He answers this question with
self-emptying love.

Second Word:
Today you will be with
Me in Paradise.
Promise of heaven
to the most improbable,
perhaps even me?

Third Word:
Woman, behold your son
A reciprocal
handing-over, inviting
intimate embrace.

Fourth Word:
My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Abandoned, are we
victims or survivors of
a divine silence?

Fifth Word:
I am thirsty
Gasping for water,
becoming a wellspring to
quench the soul’s desert.

Sixth Word:
It is finished
What is accomplished
by a young life extinguished?
Can this mend the world?

Seventh Word:
Father, into your hands
I commend my spirit
A letting-go turns
bystander to follower
victim to victor.

Epilogue
Darkened skies eclipse:
a crucified world longing
for an eastering.
Canon Chris Chivers, Canon Chancellor,
Blackburn Cathedral
From TheTablet, April 4, 2009

Quiet Reflection

Blessing:
 O God, be with us so that we may walk
humbly and faithfully with you this Holy Week.