Prayer for Ukraine – Sunday July 17th

Loving God,
because you have the whole world
in your hands,
cradle gently those who are rocked by fear, shocked to a depth they have never known and frightened to face tomorrow.

On the people of Ukraine: their children, their old people, their vulnerable adults,
their babies soon to be born, Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the people of Ukraine: their defenders, their advocates, those who care for the wounded, who sit with the despairing,
who witness and report
on the savagery and destruction, who bury the dead.  Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the people of Ukraine: their leaders
that they may continue to inspire,
in word and by example,
and continue to receive help and solidarity from across the world. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the people of Russia,
that they might learn the truth kept from their hearing;
On the churches in Russia that they might find
the vocabulary and courage
to speak truth to power,

On the soldiers of Russia who do not believe
in the carnage they cause. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.

On the Russian president,
and those who affirm his policies, we ask the judgement of heaven, a radical conversion
and an end to their lies, scheming and murder. Lord hear us,
Lord graciously hear us.

And for our own nation
we ask for commitment to match conviction so that the pain of the Ukrainian nation
be shared by us,
their weary people sheltered by us,
their peace assured by us.  Lord hear us, Lord graciously hear us. Amen.

(Prayer on the Wild Goose website. It was part of a liturgy for Ukraine.)