One of the things people say, and I’ve said it myself, is that Dallas is the one city that should be relatively safe from random shooters, mainly because so many Texans carry firearms.
We can’t say that anymore.
God help us. What we are seeing in Dallas is not an isolated story; it is a flipped switch; it is the beginning of something new and terrible in America.
Outrageous violence is everywhere, and it is weekly, and it is becoming daily.
According to Dallas Police Chief David Brown, who is grim, but remarkably controlled, events are still unfolding. Some suspects are in custody and “not co-operating”; there are negotiations going on at this time with someone else, and that has involved an exchange of gunfire. Whether it is bluster or not, one suspect has said this horror has only just begun, that downtown Dallas faces strategic placement of bombs.
Let us pray for Dallas, and for these downed officers, and for their families. Let us pray for peaceful protesters who are or may soon be at risk while exercising a civic right. Let us pray for America.
I don’t want to hear that “prayer is not action.” Of course it is; it is the foundational and essential action that must occur if any good is to come, if any good is to be supported, if any good is to be possible.
So, let us pray.
Lord Jesus, the ones you love are in crisis; your created creatures are in the grip of a destructive force — an evil hatred that is serving indiscriminate havoc upon our cities, upon our nation, upon your world. Send your Holy Spirit, we beseech you, to cover our roiling nation with a spirit of wisdom, a spirit of truth, a spirit of prudence and peace — your peace which is beyond all understanding. Then, Lord, may we use these gifts to move beyond our increasingly entrenched, polarized factions and the stubbornness of our ideas, so that we may talk to each other with openness, trust and in good faith. May our hearts be softened, that we may see the “other”, hear the “other”, whoever “they” may be, and then find real solutions to the problems before us. Only in this way, and with your help, can we pull back from the gaping abyss we are rapidly approaching.
Lord have mercy,
Christ, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, hear us,
Lord, most graciously hear us.
God the Father, Holy Creator, have mercy on us
Christ Jesus, Son of God, Holy Redeemer, have mercy on us,
Holy Spirit, Sustainer of us all, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
Saint Joseph, Solace of the wretched and patron of the dying, pray for us
St. Michael patron of police officers and all first responders, pray for us
Holy Archangels, pray for us
St Paul, early patron of Texas, pray for us
St Thomas More, patron of civic leaders, pray for us
St Dymphna, patron of the mentally ill, pray for us
All you holy men and women, pray for us
Amen
See also:Prayer to the great archangels in a time of terror and grief
And today we celebrate...