[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

                                 PRAYER

  Reverend Alisa Lasater Wailoo, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 
Washington, D.C., offered the following prayer:
  Faithful God, we bow our heads today on the heels of Passover and 
Easter remembering that You are the God of deliverance and new life, 
and we are the people of holy week.
  Help us confess today when we are like Peter, who denies that he sees 
or knows the one in need and saves himself instead; or, like Pilot, 
who, when conflict arises, washes his hands of the responsibility given 
him.
  Help us be, Lord, like Mother Mary, who refuses to look away from her 
son's pain and walks alongside those struck by violence; and Simon of 
Cyrene, who drops his own load to carry the cross and burden of a 
stranger; and Mary Magdalene, who faithfully tends to her task at the 
graveside, even though it seems pointless.
  God of us all, like Mary at the graveside, surprise us as we work in 
this Chamber or our home districts today. Open each of us to new 
possibilities and Your endless love.
  Amen.

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