A Prayer After
Brooklyn’s Building Collapse

God in Heaven,Why did you stand back in the moment of tragedy?Why did you linger so far away?Darkness and gloom have settled;where is the promised light?Did you stop caring? Were you distracted?Did you run out of power?

To you alone, Our Lord, we cry for help.Heal our hurting, broken world.

Heal those wounded and traumatized,beaten down by the wrongness of the world.Comfort families whose normalcy was suddenly shattered;draw near to those who lost what cannot be restored;steady neighbors unsettled by sorrow.In their souls’ raging storm, draw them into refugeand speak your words of life.Equip local leaders to manage unexpected needs;rebuild failed systems in New York City,and rebuild public trustin the infrastructure that supports them.

To you alone, Our Lord, we cry for help.Heal our hurting, broken world.

You alone, O Lord, turn mourning into dancing;you exchange funeral attire for wedding clothes;you swap grief for glory.So we will not grieve as others who have no hope;we will continually come to the Father whosecompassionand knowledgeand powerfar outweighs our own,and whose presence clings tightly in heaviest grief.

You alone,God of Unsearchable Judgments and Inscrutable Ways,we will worship.

Amen