[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 167 (Sunday, September 26, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H5177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 PRAYER

  The Chaplain, the Reverend Margaret Grun Kibben, offered the 
following prayer:
  Gracious and loving God, on this Gold Star Mother's and Family Day we 
come before You with our prayers for all the loved ones of our fallen 
heroes.
  It is on days like today we realize that added to the ultimate 
sacrifice paid by those men and women, is the toll taken on their 
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons.
  We lift up to You those who hoped in vain for their loved one to come 
home, only to absorb the gut-wrenching shock of a knock at the door 
alerting their loss. Lord we place into Your compassionate care all 
those who have felt the cost of war most poignantly and ask that You 
surround them in Your embrace.
  Holy God, enter into that vacant place in their hearts--not to 
replace this love lost but to hold them tenderly in the depths of their 
pain. And God, help us to find appropriate and thoughtful ways to 
express our love and reverence for those who sorrow.
  As we honor those grieving on this day, remind us that for them on 
every day there is an empty chair at the table. But may their 
resilience and resolve serve as a testimony of faith in You and in Your 
abiding love in our lives.
  In Your steadfast presence we find peace. And in Your name we pray.
  Amen.

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