Loving and forgiving God, as we remember the indignity of having to wait two years to hear the news of the Slavery Emancipation Act, we ask You for this day and time:
To open our hearts to learn the lessons of Juneteenth: Take away from us all prejudice and hardness of heart.
Open our hearts to feel the pain of Your suffering people: Turn our good intentions into acts of justice and reparation for the failures of the past.
Open our hearts that we may speak in solidarity with those whose voices have been silenced: Give us the courage to challenge those systems and behaviors that compromise the dignity of all persons.
May Your love enfold and transform us as we seek to be people of justice and peace for all.—AMEN.
(Morning and Evening Prayer of the Sisters of Mercy)