Criminal Justice Litany

R: Do not speak evil against another… There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4, 11-12)

We pray for all who are in prisons and jails.

R: I was in prison and you visited me. (Matt. 25, 36)

We pray for all victims, for families, for all who are hurt by crimes.

R: Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them. (Heb. 13, 3)

We confess that we are a part of a system and a society that reflects prejudice, poverty, injustice.

R: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you… have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. (Matt. 23, 23)

Help us to look at our priorities as we build more prisons instead of rebuilding lives and communities.

R: God… executes justice for the oppressed… God sets the prisoners free. (Ps. 146,5-7)

O God, we pray for strength in our commitment and courage in our service.

R: And what does our God require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6,8)

INTERCESSIONS

God, for all victims, prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families who are suffering and for those who see no light at the end of the tunnel.

Grant them the strength and the courage to persevere.

For those who were not able to continue living. For all those who lost their lives through violence and for their loved ones left behind.

Grant them eternal peace and consolation to their bereaved.

For prisoners awaiting the death penalty, especially the thousands of inmates on death row in the U.S. for those imprisoned in countries where there is no recognition of human rights.

God, grant that their governments realize that we do not eliminate violence through state violence.

For those who are sick in body or in mind, isolated from their loved ones.

God grant that they receive the necessary care and treatment to regain their health.

For all the volunteers and their volunteer groups as well as the chaplains working in the penal institutions.

Empower them to be a beacon of light for those who know but darkness.

For those who make and administer the laws, jurists as well as the employees of the Correctional Services.

Enlighten them so that they will not see only the letter of the law but mainly the needs of the human beings in their custody.

For the journalists who bear a certain responsibility for forming public opinion.

Grant them the wisdom not to dwell on violence and vengeance, but to take into consideration the anguish and the right to human dignity of those they write about.

Let your presence continue to grow in me so that I may always be a bearer of love among my brothers and sisters.

God, let us all become instruments of peace and reconciliation.

Amen.

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