AIDS Ministry Network
Prayer for World AIDS day
(to be used the first Sunday of December)
O God of all creation, in this time of hope
filled waiting, we come together to celebrate your great love
for us. As the coldness of winter settles in upon us, we give
thanks for the warmth of friendship and the cheerfulness of
the approaching Christmas season. As we revel in our good
fortune, may we not forget those who suffer through this season,
those whose suffering is made worse by the pressure to be
of good cheer. May our “not forgetting” find expression
in actions of compassion that take your presence and gifts
to those who suffer deprivation and who do not know the warmth
of friendship.
We ask that national and world leaders will
open their minds to your wisdom and that they will do all
they can to bring peace. May your law of love be written upon
the hearts of each one of us. Great God of love, let us be
ever vigilant in our efforts to serve in your name and for
your sake. Let our lives be the vessels through which your
holy and loving spirit can shine.
On this Sunday following the World AIDS Day
observance, we offer prayers for people infected with the
HIV virus and for those living with AIDS–women and men,
children, teenagers and elderly people, people of every race,
class, and nationality. We pray for their friends, families
and care givers. We pray for all who are affected by this
pandemic. Thus, we pray for ourselves. There is no peace for
any of us as long as people suffer and injustice is allowed
to reign. All illness is devastating and we do not, by this
special observance, fail to know how much your healing presence
is needed by so many. It is the condemnation, the isolation,
the shame that heaps pain upon the suffering of those living
with HIV/AIDS, from which special deliverance is needed.
O God of compassion, let us not add to the pain
and suffering of our brothers and sisters. Heal our fearfulness
and our prejudices. Teach us your ways so that all people
may joyfully anticipate the coming savior, in whose name we
pray.
Amen.
(Permission to use and distribute
this prayer by Kaye Edwards, Disciples Home Missions 2003)
