A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more. Matthew 2:18
God of our birth, God of our life,
God of our life after death,
Come into our midst, even now
And hear our loud lamentation
For children and teachers who are no more,
O crucified redeemer,
Wade into this blood that we so needlessly shed
In our sacrifices to the false gods
of complacency and violence.
And hear our loud lamentation
For silent classrooms, hallways,
Cafeterias and playgrounds
For how our love of violence
And our complacency in its midst
Has silenced the voices of children and their teachers
Who are no more.
Have mercy, O Lord
On grieving families.
Have mercy, O Lord
On grieving communities
Have mercy, O Lord
On all of us who now live in a smaller world
Devoid of those who have perished
Have mercy, O Lord
On a future that will come without those lives lost
And all they could have become.
And have mercy on those of us who remain in this life
Forgive us for our sin.
Create in us a hunger and thirst for righteousness and peace
That cannot be quenched by the bromide of the status quo.
May we all work tirelessly,
To so order our lives after the example of Christ
That all children in all places may know
Communities of steadfast love and forgiveness
Until the day comes when parents no longer bury their children
When all tears are wiped away
And the blood of the innocents
No longer waters the seeds of idolatry.
Enable us to partner with You, O crucified redeemer,
Make us to know that your name means “God with us,”
And that we are not alone, even now.
Smash our graven images.
Make plows from our swords
Bring to bear the world, the future,
Of which the prophets dreamed
For which the holy child of God was crucified;
a Kingdom of peace
and justice
and shalom.
Amen.