March 30, 2020

• Dear brothers and sisters:
  
  Today, I’d like to invite you to join in a moment of prayer on Tuesday afternoon at 3 o’clock with other Canadians across the country (who will pray at the equivalent time in their time zone—for example 4:30PM in Newfoundland & Labrador and noon in British Columbia). It’s an interfaith prayer, but one which we Christians can pray. It’s available in English and French.
  
  You see, many Canadians are feeling the need of spiritual support in the trying circumstances of the isolation, fear and concerns people are feeling as they face health, emotional and economic consequences from the arrival in our country of the novel Corona Virus.
  
  Religious leaders and all Canadians across this land are being invited to join in prayer for those suffering from COVID-19 as well as for health care workers and those working to find a cure for the Corona Virus.
  
  My colleague in interfaith concerns, Rabbi Reuven Bulka and I have collaborated on preparing a prayer that could be recited in common by groups or individually across the country. 
  
  We are approaching all Canadian and especially religious leaders to encourage their people’s participation. Through social media (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) and personal contacts, I have invited believers of all faiths to take part.
  
  I have attached the prayer and invite you to pray it and invite others you know to do so. The time in Eastern Ontario corresponds with the traditional time for the Divine Mercy Chaplet, so you may wish to add to the prayer some of our own devotions—the Rosary, reading the Scriptures of the day, the Way of the Cross—to make this a special moment of devotion.
  Tuesday, March 31, at 3:00PM EDT.
  
  God bless you.
  ✠Terrence

O God,
We gather together separated by life-saving distancing, but united more than ever in spirit;
We know we are in a war against COVID - 19 together, and the more together we are, the better and stronger we will emerge:
We know the challenges are enormous, yet so are the opportunities;  
That whether we are in isolation with loved ones, or alone, we will have abundance of time;
We commit to using that time to the max, to help those in greater need in whatever way we can;
We know we all have an opportunity, and time, to be lifesavers and life-enhancers;
We give thanks for those who are on the front line taking care of those who are not well;
We give thanks for the researchers who are working at breakneck speed to find cure and vaccine;
We give thanks for our leaders, federal, provincial and local, for their dedication to all of us;
We give thanks for the providers of our daily needs who go to work in spite of the risk;
We give thanks for those who have ramped up their ability to produce life-saving supplies.
We pray for the well-being of all our lifesavers;
For those who are not well, that they recover fully;
For those enduring difficulty that they may overcome their challenges.
We pray that a cure and vaccine will soon be available,
And that we all – family, friends, all Canadians, the entire world may be healed in body and spirit.
We ask you, O God, to bless our leaders, our front line caregivers, our lifesavers and life enhancers.
We ask you, O God, to bless Canada, to bless the world, to bless everyone.
Amen