[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 31, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H5223]
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:
  Holy God, we find ourselves at the end of this Memorial Day weekend 
having honored the heroes of our country. We lift our hearts in 
gratitude for those who chose to give their lives in the fight for 
right and freedom, the honor of this country, and the preservation of 
its noble ideals.
  We pray for those families, friends, and communities who sent their 
loved ones off to war and who now touch a gravestone just to sustain 
the memory of their sacrifice.
  But as the first funerals are held today following the tragedy in 
Texas, we also grieve the innocents who didn't live long enough to have 
a choice as to how they would give their lives.
  Lord God our Father, we raise our voices of grief and mourning in 
memory of the ones who were lost on Uvalde's battlefield, the 19 
children and their two teachers. We cry with the families who sent 
their children off to school but who now drape themselves over tiny 
caskets, yearning just to hold them one last time.
  Our country's eyes are dim with grief, and we call out to You, 
spreading before You our deepest sadness. Our Nation's prayers are 
offered before You in the hope that You would turn Your ear to our 
cries for those whom we have loved and lost.
  O Lord, You are the God who saves. Show Your compassion to us in 
these moments. Declare Your love to us in the midst of our grief.
  In Your sovereign name we pray Your favor.
  Amen.

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