PRAYERS IN TIMES OF COVID19 PANDEMIC


PRAYER IN TIMES OF COVID19 PANDEMIC – by Fred Vergara
(Author's Note: The COVID19 as designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) stands for "Corona Virus Disease 2019." This pandemic began in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread like wildfire in Asia, Middle East, Europe, the Americas and all over the world. Business establishments, sports complexes, churches, temples, synagogues and all institutional buildings except hospitals, governments and essential factories were closed in order to mitigate person to person infections. Governments imposed social distancing, lock downs, halt air travels and recommended frequent hand washing, wearing of masks and globes and all other precautions to stop the spread of the virus. Millions have been infected and hundreds of thousands have died. This prayer is set in the context of the United States, the country with the most number of people affected. You are free to use this prayer with due acknowledgment.) 



LEADER: With all our hearts and minds, let us pray to the Lord believing God hears our cries and sees our tears.

God of eternal love, this COVID19 pandemic opened a Pandora’s Box of deadly virus causing untold suffering to the world, causing diseases and death to millions of people and wrecking havoc to the economy. Look with compassion upon your people, and all people are your people. Heal the sick, save the dying, give eternal rest to the dead and comfort the bereaved. Lord, in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER
   
God of all creation, you meant us to be a single people; ruled by love, justice, freedom and peace. Break down the walls of our disunity that we may build bridges of understanding, harmony and solidarity. Weave us together even in our racial, cultural, ethnic and language diversity. Knit us to be one Body in one Spirit. Help us to realize that in these times of pandemic, we are all in this together and mutually in need of each other’s encouragement and grace. Lord, in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER

We pray for the doctors, nurses and all medical and health care workers who are on the frontlines of the battle against COVID19. Cover them with divine protection and give them the double portion of your strength as they care for the sick thereby expose themselves to the virus and risking their health and the health of their families. Lord, in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER 

 We pray for the scientists, the immunologists, the pharmaceuticals that they may soon discover the effective and risk-free medicines and vaccines. Give them wisdom and humility to seek divine guidance and tap into divine intelligence from the One who created the world and everything in it. Lord, in your mercy

 PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER.

We pray for the elderly, those with pre-existing health issues and children who are most vulnerable to viral infections. Enable them to take extra precaution in physical distancing, hygienic behavior and strengthen their immunity to the virus. Lord, in your mercy.

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER

We pray for people of color who are most impacted in terms of infection and death. For the African Americans who are on the frontlines as workers of essential services; for Latino Americans who have the most number of blue collar workers; for the Indigenous Americans on the reservations with inadequate medical help; and for the Asian Americans who suffer unjust treatment due to the misnaming of COVID19 as “Chinese virus.” Lord in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER

We pray for the leaders of our government that they may set aside political partisanship and work in harmony for the common good. Help them to listen to the cries from the grassroots that they their hearts may burn with compassion on the plight of the people. Enable them to make wise and just decisions, choosing public health over private profit, choosing life over death. Lord, in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER

We pray for religious leaders that we all maybe one even as Thou and Christ are One. In these times of pandemic, we are all God’s children and siblings in Christ who suffered and died for all on the cross at Calvary. Help us to care for one another and to share God’s love in the life we lead, in the relationships we create,  in the words we speak and in the works we do. Lord in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER.

We pray for all the rest of us who follow social distancing, wearing masks, frequent hand washing and all other safety precautions to avoid spreading the virus and halt infections. Help us to embrace suffering as discipline, knowing that “suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3). Lord, in your mercy

PEOPLE: HEAR OUR PRAYER.

We pray for the whole creation, that in our common “groaning” we may see a birth of a new world, a world where love and justice meet and where freedom and righteousness kiss each other. We pray that the Reign of God will be on our lips and in our hearts spreading not the deadly virus of hate and selfishness but a life-giving virus of love, mercy and compassion. Unleash not your judgment O Lord but your forgiveness that we may incline our hearts to keep your law and love one another as Jesus loved us. May this pandemic unite us to be the kind of people that you want us to be. All these we ask in the name of Jesus Christ who holds all things together and who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING: WHY DOES GOD ALLOW THE RIGHTEOUS TO SUFFER?

Image
A THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING: WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING? (Delivered by the Rev. Canon Fred Vergara as a virtual lecture via Facebook Live last May 25, 2020) Good evening Friends in America; Good morning friends in Asia. My subject matter tonight is the theology of suffering. This is an ancient question almost everyone in every generation is asking and yet we never exhaust the answer. Why do we suffer? Why does God allow suffering? If God is a God of love and justice, why does He allow the righteous to suffer along with the wicked? I think in these times of pandemic, everyone is asking this question too. We see death everywhere and we see suffering everywhere. Whenever you turn on your TV you see and feel suffering and pain. What is suffering? Suffering is the state of being in pain, in distress, hardships or difficulties. I think everyone is familiar with suffering. All married couples understand what it is. Someone said, “every married person has three rings: engagem
Read more

BEING EPISCOPALIAN (UPDATED VERSION 1.22.2018)

BEING EPISCOPALIAN Questions and Answers About the Episcopal Church BY WINFRED B. VERGARA With Foreword by Stephanie Spellers TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Introduction Chapter I: History Chapter II: Theology Chapter III: Mission Chapter IV: Worship Chapter V: Scriptures Chapter VI: Governance Chapter VII: Church Center Chapter VIII: Ethnic Ministries Chapter IX: Become Episcopalian FOREWORD I live in New York City, where it is quite possible to sit on a subway for at least thirty minutes and have a couple of rich, in-depth conversations about faith with perfect strangers. I also inhabit multiple communities where few people know how the word “Episcopalian” is pronounced, much less what it means. (A family member recently remarked, “You’re Episcopalian? Sounds like ‘a pissed off alien.’”) And I know I am not alone. In a moment when our neighbors are unlikely to have much knowledge about Christianity, and even less
Read more

THE PHILIPPINE RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION

INTRODUCTION Histories of colonized peoples often suffer from the fact that history books were written by their former colonial masters.   The facts were sifted out, the characters classified, and the events interpreted from the perspectives of the historians’ vested interests. Such is the case of the history of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) or Philippine Independent Church (PIC).   Since its inception in August 3, 1902 until today, only two major books are written about it.   The first is a four-volume work entitled “ Religious Revolution in the Philippines” written by Jesuit scholars, Pedro Achutegui and Miguel Bernad.   This work was written as a major polemical resource of the Roman Catholic Church in denigrating the IFI especially in its formative stage.   The second is entitled “The Struggle for Freedom” written by Episcopalian writer, Lewis Bliss Whittemore.   This was written as an apologetic tool by The Episcopal Church in the United States (ECUSA)
Read more