[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 130 (Tuesday, October 2, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H6069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. Coughlin, offered the following 
prayer:
  Lord God, source of life and constant guide to Your people, yesterday 
Members of this House stood at ground zero in New York City. Their 
stunned silence grieved the loss of over 5,000 lives; and hopefully, 
brief words of encouragement helped so many workers remove the dreadful 
consequences of evil which tried to crush the ordinary work-a-day world 
of America.
  With Your power to save, strengthen this Congress and Your people 
across this Nation that we may realistically embrace both the loss and 
the mighty task of the future.
  Throughout the history of New York and this Nation, You have blessed 
us, Lord, time and time again.
  Whereas evil has no imagination and feeds only on itself, Your 
blessings of goodness spiral into a dynamic of creativity and help us 
to see signs of hope born of pain and standing in the midst of 
suffering.
  May the vacuous space left by the World Trade Center open the minds 
and hearts of peoples of the world to deeper compassion and a new level 
of human understanding.
  Already in the smoking crater of death, we witnessed apostles of 
self-sacrifice and dedicated service: police, firefighters, FEMA 
workers, public officials, and volunteers.
  From the dust and twisted steel of Ground Zero, may the twin towers 
of liberty and unity lift all of us to a new dedication to perform our 
daily tasks well as true believers and builders on Your blessings, both 
now and forever. Amen.

                          ____________________