On This Day of Remembrance

— from “On This Day of Remembrance,” prayers for Remembrance Sunday, by the Rev. Dr. Neil Parker, military chaplain at the 4th Canadian Division Training Centre in Meaford, ON

We offer to you, O God, our prayers for those who seek justice and resist evil. We pray for those who need your presence and strength to stand firm; for those who oppose the use of violence in any form in faithful response to the Prince of Peace. We pray for those who are prepared to be firm to protect those in danger. We pray for those who walk with others who need strength. We pray for those who protest, those who organize letter campaigns, those who give sacrificially on behalf of others.

We pray for those who speak the unpopular truth; who protect the unpopular victims; who choose the unpopular path of peace.

We pray for those who do not let their desire for peace hinder the requirements of justice, and for those who do not let their zeal for justice override the call for peace.