Welcoming the Holy
Here we invite you to take time for yourself in personal prayer. The following spiritual reflection offers words and images which we hope will evoke for you an experience of God.
By: Sister Donna Del Santo
Urakami Cathedral - Ground Zero of Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan 8/9/45
August 6th and 9th, 2026, is the 81st Anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In solidarity with the Church in Japan, let us pray with the words that Pope St. John Paul II shared at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima on February 25, 1981.
To the Creator of nature and humans, of truth and beauty I pray:
Hear my voice, for it is the voice of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations; Hear my voice, for it is the voice of all children who suffer and will suffer when people put their faith in weapons and war; Hear my voice when I beg you to instill into the hearts of all human beings the wisdom of peace, the strength of justice and the joy of fellowship; Hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country and in every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace; Hear my voice and grant insight and strength so that we may always respond to hatred with love, to injustice with total dedication to justice, to need with the sharing of self, to war with peace. O God, hear my voice and grant unto the world your everlasting peace.
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Remembering the August 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Each year, we remember the horrific events of August 6 and August 9, 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only time nuclear weapons have been used against human targets. We continue to recognize the special need for prayer as we move closer on a path to nuclear war, and indeed the destruction of all humanity. We implore everyone to focus on the absolute necessity to rid our planet of these powerful and evil weapons.
We ask for courage and patience for ourselves, but also for our adversaries as we continue to provoke more violence leading to our own annihilation.
We ask for forgiveness for bringing us to this place in human history, by creating these weapons, by using them and for keeping and maintaining them for supposed deterrence and raising the likelihood of their possible use whether by intention or by accident.
We ask that we come together in love and understanding of each other, that we are all part of divine creation meant to care for each other and our world.
~Joyce Hall, Pax Christi Dallas
Prayer of Remembrance for Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9)
Good and gracious God, we pray for a world free of nuclear weapons. Lift the fog of atomic darkness that hovers so pervasively over the earth. We pray for world leaders to come to the realization that more weapons and war do not bring peace. May financial resources be allocated to alleviate poverty, support food security, housing, health care, environment, and educational programs.
Good and gracious God, we pray that the deadly power of nuclear weapons never again be unleashed on people and Your creation. May such weapons of mass and indiscriminate annihilations be forever banned and eliminated from the face of the earth.
Good and gracious God, forgive our past silence, give us the courage and strength to tirelessly raise our prophetic voices to work to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Let us remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki as beacons as we commit ourselves to find ways to live together in peace, that we may not be just peace lovers, but peacemakers.
In the words of Isaiah…
It shall come to pass that the peoples shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
And so, we pray for the time when “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Amen.
