The slaughter yesterday of ten members of God’s beloved family in Boulder, Colorado, breaks our hearts once more. It was the seventh mass shooting in the past seven days, beginning with the killing of eight in Atlanta last Tuesday. We pray for those who were killed, for those who were injured, for first responders and all who continue to respond, for the families and friends of those killed or injured, and for the shooter. We pray for just and equitable laws to end the scourge of gun violence in our nation. We pray for all who experience grief, loss and anxiety in this time of multiple pandemics of virus, racism and violence.
Almighty God, look with compassion upon the sorrows of your servants for whom we pray. Remember them, Lord, in your mercy; nourish them with patience; comfort them with a sense of your goodness; lift up your countenance upon them and give them your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. -- The Book of Common Prayer, p. 467
O Lord, our God, victim of violence on a cross,
look with compassion upon all involved in shootings this week
in America and around the world.
Receive into the arms of you love those who have died.
Comfort those traumatized by these horrendous events.
Wrap your Everlasting Arms around those who mourn.
Heal those whose hearts and minds are terrorized.
Strengthen those medical personnel who minister to the wounded.
Protect the law enforcement officials to risk their lives for our safety.
Calm all whose memories of violence are triggered by this shooting.
Bring the gunmen to repentance and redemption,
and deal tenderly with his confused family and friends.
Hear our cries of lament as we seek to understand the incomprehensible,
and deliver us from the evil of violence in any form.
Through Christ we pray. Amen.
-- From the United Methodist Church Litany on the Tragedy of Gun Violence