A Contemporary Lament for Violence

Notes on prayer: This prayer is designed for a leader and a congregation, but it could be further divided so that the Leader/People response sections are "voice 1" and "voice 2."

Leader: Where is Abel, your brother?
People: I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?

All: We together mourn those taken from us by violence:
by knife, sword, gun, and bomb,
and the other fruits of our genius for destruction.
We join those who, from Eve to Mary to today, weep for their