Global Ecumenical Call to Prayer for Covid – 3/22/21

Monday 22 March 2021 – Day One
Prayers of Lament

(We lament the more than 2 million people who have died and the deadly impact of the pandemic on the vulnerable, especially children.)*

Opening Prayer

God who see all and know all,
your eyes are upon us, your children, in this our time of pain and suffering.
We affirm and recognize that you, our God, have been,
and continue to be present with us throughout this COVID 19 pandemic.
Yet over this past year, we have witnessed and experienced intense anguish:
physical and mental illness, hunger and starvation,
rising unemployment and the broadening of social inequities,
and the abuse of the most vulnerable by the powerful.
We cry out for relief and for justice and ask:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget us forever?
How long will you hide your face from us?
How long must we have sorrow in our hearts all day?
As we cry out to you for an answer,
with faith, we declare that our trust and confidence is in you.
In our lament, may we not lose hope, but even in the darkest night,
may we still be able to sing unto you a new song,
because you, God, have dealt bountifully with us.
Glory to you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 6

¹ O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. ²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. ³My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord—how long? ⁴Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. ⁵For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise? ⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. ⁷My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes. ⁸Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. ⁹The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. ¹⁰All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Reflection

Fatigued. That is one word that best describes where many people find themselves now as we mark one year since the declaration of the COVD 19 pandemic. We in the household of faith have not been untouched by the pandemic. Our faith in Christ has not immunized us against being infected and impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID 19). Within the household of faith, we have prayed for the healing and full recovery of our sisters and brothers. Throughout our faith communities we have mourned as we had to bury our dead while not being able to fully participate in our traditional liturgical and cultural rites. We have struggled for survival as our local economies have been negatively impacted by lockdowns. Our spiritual, mental and psycho-social states have been in turmoil as our normal weekly physical gatherings for worship and fellowship have been curtailed by social distancing protocols.

The sense of being fatigued goes beyond the physical. There is also a related spiritual fatigue, even for people of faith. A good way to describe that is lament. The writer of Psalm 6 has voiced the sentiments which many faithful Christian believers have uttered over this past year:

We are languishing! We are mourning! We are shaken with terror! We are weeping! We are grieving! We are weary and worn! The ability to recognize and relate to these myriad emotions is not antithetical to our Christian faith. To express feeling abandoned by God does not mean loss of faith in the ultimate sovereignty of God. For even Jesus on the cross cried out, lamenting, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). Prayers of lament are important in our faith pilgrimage because they allow us to face our grief. Lament allows others to come alongside us and either remove or lessen our fear as we face our loss and grief.

Though lamenting before God is a good and needful, it also leads along the pathway of deeper trust in God’s faithfulness. Even as we call out to God in lament, drawing attention not only to our own suffering but to the suffering of others, we are reminded to not lose our faith and to trust in God’s providential care. We can therefore affirm: God has heard our prayers of lament and will answer. We begin with lament. We continue in faith. We end with hope.

Prayers of Intercession

God of compassion, we call upon you to tabernacle and journey with us into the abyss of our grief as we are overcome with the torrent of emotions that shake our faith in you.