PRAYERS FOR OUR NATION AND FELLOW CITIZENS ON ELECTION DAY

This coming Tuesday our nation engages in the secular but still sacred ritual of going to the polls to elect our representatives and leaders at the local and national level and to decide important issues about our common life through ballot initiatives. We all know that we live in a time of particular, even painful divisiveness about many issues and the candidates nominated for office. As children of God and disciples of Jesus, we are called to exercise our responsibilities as citizens in keeping with our hearts and consciences formed by the Holy Spirit and our commitment to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves, as Jesus taught us. The unity we seek is to have the heart of all guided by and united to the heart of God.

I invite our congregation and everyone in our community to join us at St. Gregory's on Election Day for our Prayer Vigil for our nation. Two sets of doors will be open. As a polling site, the doors of Harris Hall will be open to welcome our neighbors as they cast ballots. But we will also have the door of our church open to welcome our neighbors to pray for our nation. At 9 AM we will observe Morning Prayer; at noon we will celebrate Holy Eucharist; at 5 PM we will observe a special evening vigil for our nation and our citizens. In the hours in between St. Mary's Chapel will be open for private prayer and intercessions. But truth be told, a third set of doors will also be opened—the doors of our hearts to be humbled and formed by God through prayer and worship.

In prayer, the energy and spirit of our hearts reaches out to the energy and Spirit of God's heart and, I believe, something good and holy happens. It makes a difference in us and in the world. Join us!