Responsive Reading

Leader:  

God of Compassion,
you let your rain fall on the just and the unjust. Expand and deepen our hearts so that we may love as you love, even those among us who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.  For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance as we fill up death rows and kill the killers in the name of justice, in the name of peace.

People:  

Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state but you did not let hatred overcome you.  Help us to reach out to victims of violence so that our enduring love may help them heal.

All:         

Holy Spirit of God,
you strengthen us in the struggle for justice.  Help us to work tirelessly for the abolition of state-sanctioned death and to renew our society in its very heart so that violence will be no more.
Amen.

(by Helen Prejean, CSJ, from the Peace and Justice Support Network of the Mennonite Church USA, http://peace.mennolink.org/articles/dp_prayer.html)

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Prayer of Confession

We recognize that the death penalty is part of the violence in our society. Let us ask forgiveness for all forms of violence. We acknowledge the violence we perpetuate in our world: providing weapons, imposing crushing debt payments, withholding food from governments that we call “enemies.”
Forgive us our sin.

We acknowledge the violence within our country: allowing millions of children and elderly to live in hunger and without homes or shelter, depriving the sick of adequate health care, imprisoning and executing racial minorities in disproportionate numbers.
Forgive us our sin.

We acknowledge the violence in our communities and homes: battering children and abusing women, discriminating against minorities, destroying our environment; building walls of anger and hatred.
Forgive us our sin.

We invite you to name the acts of violence that lie heavy on your heart.
Forgive us our sinfulness, O God. Heal us of the wounds that afflict us and our society. Empower us to erase the hatred and violence that continue to scourge people and creation. Empower those of us gathered here tonight to continue our efforts to work for an end to the death penalty.
Amen.

(from the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, “Prayer Service on the Occasion of the Execution of Thomas Clyde Bowling,” November 2004, www.kcadp.org/pdf%20files/Bowling%20PDF/ Prayer%20Service%20for%20Thomas%20C%20Bowling.pdf).

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Jesus the Prisoner

Jesus, our brother, you were taken prisoner in the darkness of night and you suffered the humiliation of a captured criminal. You showed the depths of your compassion and love in your life and in your death, and so, we pray …
O God, hear our prayer.

Merciful God, we pray for the victims of crime, and their families, especially for those whose cases are unsolved. May your healing presence through caring people transform their pain and anger in ways never imagined. We pray …
O God, hear our prayer.

God of all people, the guilty and the innocent, we pray for the victims of capital punishment and their families. May they be comforted by love and understanding shown them by human beings conscious of their own frailty. We pray …
O God, hear our prayer.
Amen.

(from the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, www.kcadp.org/Resources/SamplePrayerVigil.htm)

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Prayer for Those in Prison and Those Facing the Death Penalty

Lord Jesus, grant your grace to those condemned to death. Give them the wisdom to see every day as a gift from you, a day to grow in love and hope, not hatred or despair. Help them to seek reconciliation with you and with all men and women, particularly anyone they have injured. Let their lives be beacons of light, showing that nothing is impossible with God.

Shepherd your people, Lord, and gather these wounded lambs close to your heart.
Amen.

(edited, from Friends-4-Life, www.friends-4-life.org/death.htm)

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Pentecost Prayer

Spirit of the Living God, visit us again on the day of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit.
With rushing wind that sweeps away all barriers,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With tongues of fire that set our hearts aflame,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With speech that unites the Babel of our tongues,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With love that covers over the multitude of our sins,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With forgiveness that encompasses those who are condemned to die,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With power from above to eliminate immoral State-sanctioned capital punishment,
Come, Holy Spirit.
With compassion to the families of victims and perpetrators alike,
Come, Holy Spirit.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

(edited, with additional material; from Hoyt L. Hickman, et al, The New Handbook of the Christian Year [Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992], 229.)