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Dear Covenant Family,
A few days ago, I met with my ecumenical pastors’ group at Church of the Gesu in University Heights. Father Lukas Laniauskas warmly welcomed us, and we had a brief tour of their beautiful sanctuary and chapel before sitting down for our conversation over coffee and cookies. A priest in the Jesuit tradition, Father Lukas commented how important hospitality is to him, a central value of his faith and calling. He even set aside ceramic coffee mugs for each one of us to take home as a symbol of our unity in Christ.
As we entered the light filled chapel, I was struck by a statue of Mary holding the infant Jesus in an alcove filled with candles. The statue is dedicated to mothers who have lost their children, and a nearby notebook has a page dedicated to each child by name, story, and photograph. I expect many mothers come to pray there and feel the peace of the space as they reflect on Jesus’ mother Mary and her own experience of anguish and sorrow.
This week I’ve been thinking a lot about RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols. Tyre died from injuries sustained during a brutal beating by five police officers during a traffic stop in Memphis. A Presbyterian Outlook Article about his funeral quotes Vice-President Harris saying, “Mothers around the world, when their babies are born, pray to God when they hold that child that that body and that life will be safe for the rest of his life. Yet we have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be here today.” As we continue to pray for the family and the city of Memphis, we also remember other mothers in other neighborhoods who have lost children to violence, and the deep sorrow they endure.
One of the resources I often use is a book called Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, on the web as https://commonprayer.net/, which contains this prayer I offer today:
The Death of Someone Killed in the Neighborhood
Lamb of God
You take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Grant us peace.
For the unbearable toil of our sinful world,
We plead for remission.
For the terror of absence from our beloved,
We plead for your comfort.
For the scandalous presence of death in your Creation,
We plead for the resurrection.
Lamb of God
You take away the sins of the world
Have mercy on us.
Grant us peace.
Come, Holy Spirit, and heal all that is broken in our lives, in our streets, and in our world. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
May God’s Holy Spirit surround us with grace and peace as we extend hospitality to one another in this broken world that Jesus is redeeming.
Pastor Jessie
Pastor@covenantweb.org
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