A prayer for a prisoner and those his actions have harmed.

For more than a decade, I have tried to carry faith behind prison doors by corresponding with some men on death row. One of them, Donald, is to be executed tomorrow. The chances of a stay are, at best, remote. 

I ask you to pray for him, that he might be truly repentant and thus receive the forgiveness of our all-compassionate God. I pray for him to know the peace that passes understanding as he makes this final journey. I pray for Donald's family, and I pray especially  for the soul of his victim and for those who mourn the loss of lives taken through violence and vengeance.

This is a prayer written by Sr. Helen Prejean:

God of Compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as You love,
even those among us
who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death rows and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.
Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduing love may help them heal.
Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more. Amen.

Amen

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