Offering Our Suffering to God

It would be easy to question the efficacy of prayer in these times of the Corona virus pandemic.  Where is God?  How can God allow this to happen when so many innocent people are suffering and dying?  How can God let the world close down and allow so many people be the victims of the plague of famine?  How can God allow this? 

It would be easy for people to turn their backs and say there is no point in these futile prayers that seem to go into the depth of this darkness which has fallen on the world – which are swallowed up by the silence which seems to fill the vacuum that has been created by God’s seeming indifference?

I am not sure – perhaps I am sure that I do not have a good answer to these questions that have arisen this morning.  Perhaps the only answer is faith – faith that we are called to pray, to call out in our distress – to lament in this time when lamentation seems to be the best and only appropriate response.

Sunday, I was at St. James Anglican Church in Parkhill again to ring the bell at 9:00 a.m.  I have been doing this each Sunday beginning on Easter Sunday and, God willing, will continue to do it until we can meet in worship together.  At these times I offer a prayer despite any reservations I might have about the efficacy of prayer.  The prayer I used this Sunday was in response to the devastation which has been wrought by the Corona Virus.  The call to God is,” Out of the depths.”   We are calling from the depths of our despair, from the depths of our lamenting, out of the depth of our anger and frustration.  The response to this call is, “We cry out to you. Protect them.”

Out of the depths we cry out to you in the face of the Corona virus

Adapted from Anne and Jeffery Rowthorn, current Resident Scholars at the Collegeville Institute, wrote the following litany for use in places of worship in the midst of the spreading coronavirus.

Creator God of the universe, God of a thousand names and faces, divine source of health and wholeness, whose compassion embraces the entire community of Earth: behold your fearful people all over the world as we confront the corona virus. Out of the depths we cry to you, O God. Holy God, hear our voices. Let your ear be attentive to our cries as we pray for all who may be affected by the virus:

For all health caregivers – nurses, physicians, aides, EMTs, paramedics, technicians and therapists; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For hospital and nursing home medical staff, assistants, and housekeepers who have close contact with patients and for the patients themselves; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who travel for their daily work over land and sea and through the air—flight attendants, pilots, ship captains and sailors, bus drivers, passengers and long-distance truck drivers; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who handle money—bankers, supermarket, village market and convenience store cashiers; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who provide services to anyone travelling; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who are providing food to the hungry; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who provide care and comfort to children and for all children; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For teachers who are providing education for students in many new and different methods; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For the homeless, the poor, the lonely, the vulnerable, migrants, and the isolated elderly who have no protectors; out of the depths, O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For clergy and people who are fasting from the eucharist and are leading worship when we cannot gather together in God’s house; out of the depths O God–We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who have tested positive, all who are waiting for test results, and all who are quarantined; out of the depths—We cry out to you. Protect them.

For all who have already died of the corona virus, now free from pain and suffering. May the God of hope carry them all the way home, and comfort their families and friends; out of the depths—We cry out to you. Protect them.

Loving God, hasten the day when the virus will have run its course; quicken scientists to develop medications and vaccines; call out the best instincts of your people—love, neighborliness, compassion, and a sense of caring for every member of your beloved community on Earth. We pray out of the depths to you, O God of hope, whom we call Jesus, Allah, YHWH, Divine Mystery, Great Spirit. Amen.

Blessings on your journey in this time of Corona virus.