Prayer for National Covid Day of Reflection - 9 March 2025

Our President, Steve Finamore, has written the following prayer to mark the National Covid Day of Reflection, which can be used in our churches.
 
Our loving and gracious God,
As we look back on the pandemic and the lockdown
We each have our own thoughts and memories
And we all carry the sense of disruption we experienced
And are conscious of the things we learned about you and about ourselves
 
As we pause to reflect
Help us to consider the people and places where the scars are deepest
 
Those who lost loved ones without a goodbye hug
Or a final conversation
Or a fitting farewell service
With the comfort of friends and family
 
Those who live with long covid
Who feel constant tiredness
And who cannot escape the brain fog that looms over everything
 
The young people whose education was disturbed
So that significant learning and important life experiences
Were lost forever
 
We think of those whose sense of confinement
And feelings of dislocation
Have brought lasting anxiety and depression
 
We recall the people whose businesses were lost or have never truly recovered
And whose livelihoods are damaged
Or who lost their job and cannot find another
 
We remember all the people whose roles were deemed essential
But who now feel forgotten and even betrayed
As the rest of the world has moved on
 
And in the midst of all that, we are grateful too
For the acts of kindness of neighbours
And the bravery of health workers
And the brilliance of scientists
And the organisational skills of the vaccination teams
And the resilience of communities
All signs of your presence with us
In the midst of such great suffering and difficulty
 
May we, great God, as we reflect, learn a deeper trust in you
May we learn compassion,
May we learn love for you and love for neighbour,
May we use the lessons of adversity
To become more and more the people you call us to be
Though Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.