[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 14177]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 prayer

  The guest Chaplain, Rev. Monsignor Peter J. Vaghi, St. Patrick's 
Catholic Church, Washington, DC, offered the following prayer:
  Almighty God and Father, we call upon You this day in this year of 
Jubilee, in this year marking a new millennium of Your unique presence 
in our midst. Help us to recognize You in this Chamber--in the words 
that are spoken here and in every action which takes place here. Draw 
us close to You that we might know You all the more and come to love 
You as no other. Because of You, after all, ``we live and move and have 
our being''.--Acts 17:28.
  This is a Chamber of law in a Nation under God. There is no greater 
law than the law of love which You continue to inscribe on our hearts. 
That law alone gives us peace. It is Your law. Lifting our hearts and 
voices to You, we pray on this July day that ancient Hebrew psalm: ``O 
Lord, great peace have they who love your law''.--Psalms 119:165.
  We pray for that peace today. We pray for the wisdom to know and 
fashion concretely on Earth the law which You write on our hearts. Fill 
us each and every day, O Lord, with Your peace and love, a love which 
makes us ever more sensitive and vigilant to You. For You are alive in 
each and every person we are called to serve.
  Finally, Almighty Father, we seek this day Your encouragement in all 
our humble efforts carried out in Your life-giving name. It is You we 
serve, You we love, and You who remain our peace forever. Amen.

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