Leader:

Christ Our Lord,
Our world is overtaken by unexpected calamity,
         and by a host of attending fears, worries, and insecurities.
We witness suffering, confusion, and hardship multiplied around us,
         and we find ourselves swept up in these same anxieties and troubles, dismayed
         by so many uncertainties.

People:

         Now we turn to you, O God, in this season of our common distress.

Leader:

Be merciful, O Christ, to those who suffer,
         to those who worry, to those who grieve,
         to those who are threatened or harmed in any way by this upheaval.
Let your holy compassion be active throughout the world even now –
         tending the afflicted, comforting the brokenhearted,
         and bringing hope to many who are hopeless.

People:

         Now labor in and through us, O Lord,
                  extending and multiplying the many expressions of your mercy.

Amen.

Adapted from Every Moment Holy, Volume II: Death, Grief, and Hope
by Douglas Kaine McKelvey