Forgiveness Prayers

A Prayer for Reconciliation

In the midst of conflict and division,
We know it is you,
Who turns our minds to thoughts of peace.

Your Spirit changes our hearts:
Enemies begin to speak to one another,
Those who were estranged join hands in friendship,
And nations seek the way of peace together.

Let Your Spirit be at work in us.
Give us understanding and put an end to strife,
Fill us with mercy and overcome our denial.

Grant us wisdom and teach us to learn,
From the people of the land.

Call us to justice.

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council


A Prayer for the Journey of Healing

We who have come from every land give thanks for America
This earth that feeds us;
The shores that bind us;
The skies that envelop us in freedom.

We stand together, united as one people: Proud of our ability to work together;
Grateful for our gifts;
Nourished by our diversity and our harmony.

Yet we turn to the original owners of our land and see, too, what we have taken.
We weep for their loss of freedom, of country, of children –
Even of their very lives.
We stand in awe at their survival, and in debt for their land.

We have shadows in our history which if unfaced diminish us.
We have taken without asking;
Our nation has taken without asking;
Lives are wounded.  We see the pain, feel the sorrow and seek forgiveness.

Let us look back with courage; see the truth and speak it.
Let us look around with compassion; see the cost and share it.
Let us look forward with hope; see what can be and create it.

Give us courage to face the truth;
Compassion to share the burden –
Strength to play our part in the healing –
And hope to walk forward to a place of justice.

With courage, compassion, strength and hope, we will walk together on the journey of healing.

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council


Magnificat (A prayer for reconciliation)

My soul comes in the darkness of unknowing to the secret room of Yahweh.
My spirit seeks understanding in the happenings of these days,
Because God looks upon the people in a new way.
Yes, from this day forward
All generations will speak of these strange events as wonderful,
And those of us who walk blindly trusting, will be called blessed. For the presence of the Almighty, the most loving One, is felt in our land.
Holy is the name of the One who is eternally new.

God’s guiding hand reaches from age to age
For those who grope and stumble in search of the saving way.
We are shown the power of being present to one another,
While our proud expectations for our chosen nation are shattered.
The warrior-king we expected to establish us on earth as the righteous power
Has not come.
And we see instead the promised messenger as a common man.
The hungry of heart are fed with enabling love.
In places where there was need.
People now give to others from their abundance.
The rich are troubled and stripped of their power.

Glory to You: Source of all Being, Eternal Word and Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.

Australian Catholic Social Justice Council