Five years have passed, O Lord,
five years of mourning and of tears,
of struggling to make sense and to go on.
Five years since crashing planes, collapsing buildings,
rivers of smoke and ash and fear brought death and fear.

Give us the courage to hope again, Father.
To pray even for our enemies, and for ourselves.
Give us the grace to be freed from hate
and unbound from the paralysis of fear.
Give us the freedom of the children of God:

Awaken in our hearts a firm resolve
“to reject the ways of violence,
to combat everything that sows hatred and division
within the human family,
and to work for the dawn of a new era
of solidarity, justice and peace.”

We ask this through the Prince of Peace,
our Way, our Truth, and our Life,
Christ the Lord. Amen.