THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Open our eyes, our hearts, our ears to the cries of all those whose distress we would ignore:

refugees and prisoners; victims of greed or fraud;

those injured by the abuse of power and privilege.

Give us, O God, the heart and the will for compassion and mercy.

We look to you in hope.

Come, Lord Jesus.  Come.

  

         This was one of the prayers at the Washington National Cathedral last Sunday.  It struck me that here, if only those who were praying knew it, was a prayer for the animals.  

• Refugees:  all the pets in animal shelters; abandoned, lost, they got "too big," they got "too old," their people died or moved and didn't take them, some of them very seriously abused.  All of them needing refuge, care, love - and waiting for a home of their own where they can live in peace with those they love.
• Prisoners:  all the animals in testing labs enduring lives of pain, fear, and loneliness; animals kept for "caged hunts," animals kept for fighting.
• Victims of greed or fraud: puppies in puppy mills; animals in roadside zoos and circuses; exotic animals on display; animals hunted to near extinction or raised on cruel "farms" so that parts of their bodies can be used for "medicine."
• Those injured by the abuse of power and privilege: all the animals we call food, especially those in factory farms; animals killed for their fur: baby seals clubbed to death, animals caught in steel leg traps, animals confined in fur farms; the victims of trophy hunters.

      And so many more.  

     Open our eyes, our hearts, our ears to the cries of all those whose distress we would ignore.  Give us, O God, the heart and the will for compassion and mercy.  We look to you in hope.  Come, Lord Jesus. Come.  

Detail of Nativity by Andrea Previtali