Bad News, Good News, Three Prayers
By Brother Stavros
The recent shooting of church members gathered in the sacred precincts of their historic church for a Bible Study session is yet another episode of hate, intolerance, and violence that afflicts our culture with frightening regularity. For the victims and their friends and families, for the city of Charlestown, we pray:
Be patient, Lord, with our slowness to repent; dispel our blindness to human need and suffering and our indifference to injustice and cruelty; save us from false judgments and prejudice and from contempt for those who differ from us, for all of us are your children; we beseech you, hear us and have mercy.
We cannot exclude the perpetrator from our prayers, that he may find repentance and forgiveness, and not serve as an incitement to others:
Merciful Savior, move us to new and creative efforts to uproot all traces of hatred, arrogance, lust for power, and fanatical absolutes, beginning with whatever lurks in the hidden corners of our own minds and hearts. Lead us to true justice that is tempered by humility and honesty, and grant the world the compassion for one another and the peace that comes from your heavenly Father through you in the Holy Spirit.
And the good news was that Pope Francis took the courageous position to remind all of us that stewardship of the earth is our joint moral responsibility, superseding all politics, financial advantage, and notions of entitlement. He stressed that action is imperative now if we are to avoid suffering which will fall disproportionately on the poor and disadvantaged the world over.
In our Orthodox communion Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has been outspoken, and his commitment to environmental activism is deeply serious, earning him the nickname the Green Patriarch. He has preached that caring for the environment is a religious imperative, and for more than a decade, he has made a point of bringing together theologians and scientists like Dr. Jane Goodall for debates and briefings.
In September 2012 he published a strongly worded encyclical calling on all Orthodox Christians to repent “for our sinfulness” in not doing enough to protect the planet. Biodiversity, “the work of divine wisdom,” was not granted to humanity to abuse it, he wrote; human dominion over the earth does not mean the right to greedily acquire and destroy its resources. He singled out “the powerful of this world,” saying that “they need a new mindset to stop destroying the planet for profit or short-term interest.” (Marlise Simons, New York Times, December 3, 2012).
In acknowledgement of these efforts by His Holiness, the Patriarch, his emissary, Metropolitan John Zizoulas, gave an address at the Vatican news conference that coincided with the publication of the pope’s encyclical, entitled “Laudato Si,” on June 18 of this year. And for this we offer a final prayer:
Hear us, O God our Savior, the hope of the very ends of the earth and of those far beyond the seas. Though we all miss the mark in many ways, we have come to know and to believe in the love you have for us. Pardon our transgressions. Reconcile us and unite us more firmly to you. For our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us, forgive us in your love, ever-merciful Lord, and have mercy on us all.
