[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 97 (Friday, May 22, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H2273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Patrick J. Conroy, offered the following 
prayer:
  Compassionate and merciful God, thank You for giving us another day.
  Lord, bless the world, give health to our bodies and comfort to our 
hearts. You ask us to not be afraid. When our faith is weak and we are 
fearful, this is difficult for us, but You, O Lord, will not leave us 
at the mercy of the storm.
  Bless those who continue to serve, even though threatened in doing 
so, healthcare professionals, food service workers, and those whose 
work demands they engage outside zones of distance protection.
  If the struggle against COVID-19 is a war, then we are all truly an 
invisible army fighting in the most dangerous trenches, an army for 
whom solidarity is perhaps our most powerful weapon.
  May we all be willing to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of 
the entire community, especially when societal rules are moving toward 
opening after a prolonged period of isolation.
  Help us, O Lord, during this time to take stock and renew our lives 
together as citizens. Our ways of life, often so competitive and 
individualistic, have been slowed down and quieted. May we take 
appropriate stock, and perhaps emerge more grounded in our 
understanding that we are brothers and sisters and in need of the 
health and well-being of one another, all of us.
  May everything done this day be for Your greater honor and glory.
  Amen.

                          ____________________