God, make me an instrument of your peace and non-violent love.
Where there is hatred of someone different from me, let me reach out to them in generosity.
Where there is injury by a friend, parent, or teacher, who humiliates or ridicules me,
let me go to her or him with words of forgiveness.
Where there is doubt that non-violent love changes people,
let me be inspired by the life of Jesus.
Where there is despair and loneliness at the thought that I am not valued,
let me experience the security and wonder of friendship.
Where there is darkness of violence, oppression or war, let me shed the light of understanding,
feeling sorrow for both the victim and the violent person.
Where there is sadness of teenage suicide, let me bring the delight of each new day.
O my friend Jesus, grant that I may not so much look
to be comforted in my time of need as
to comfort another in his or her time of need,
to have my point of view understood as
to listen to another’s point of view.
to be loved by my friend as
to love those who have hurt me.
For it is in giving our time, our possessions, our life, that we find gratitude and security.
It is in forgiving the person who wrongs us that we see our own faults and find the gift of
forgiveness and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Adapted from Fire in the Rose
