June 30, 2022
As June draws to a close, we have had 6 gun-related homicides this month claiming the lives of six persons ranging in age from 6 to 78. The victims are: June 1: Darrell Holderman, 78, a security guard at Miami Valley Hospital; June 6: Jarren Allen, 30, shot in his backyard on Clemmer St.; June 8: Jamell Brown, 37, killed in the 300 block of Woodward Ave.; June 20: Mark Watts, 33, during a Fathers’ Day event in Harrison Township; June 23: Aisha Nelson 31, and daughter, Harper Monroe Guynn, 6 in their home on Burleigh Ave. In addition to these killings there have been a number of shootings in our community. Recent decisions lessening gun restrictions by Ohio’s legislature and by the Supreme Court cause us to wonder if both shootings and homicides will increase. All life is precious; all life must be protected. HOMICIDE PRAYER VIGIL, June 2022 OPENING PRAYER: Faithful and loving God, with your help we come this day to stand up to violence. We stand together expressing our unity, our connection to each other and to you who are our hope for healing and transformation. Let your Spirit move through us. Help us to transform and heal our communities by first transforming ourselves. Let us be images of your Son Jesus who died that all people would know your love. We come in peace and with hope for a better world as we remember victims of violence and their families. Scripture Reading: Habakkuk 1:2, 2:1-3 “How long God am I to cry for help while you will not listen; to cry ‘Violence’ in your ear while you will not save? I shall stand at my post, I shall station myself on my watch-tower, watching what he will say to me, what answer he will make to my complaints. Then God answered me and said, ‘Write the vision down, inscribe it on tablets to be easily read. For the vision is for its appointed time, it hastens towards its end and it will not lie, although it may take some time, wait for it, for come it certainly will before too long.” Luke 6:36-39 “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.” Reflection: What is the vision for which we pray? What does Jesus’ vision require of us? Response in Prayer: Loving God, each person is of your creation, Darrell, Jarren, Jamell, Mark, Aisha and Harper, Give everlasting peace to each of them! Loving God, so many people are in pain and grieving today especially the families and friends of those whom we mentioned and all who have lost loved ones to violence, Give them strength and peace and have companions to journey with! Loving God, our streets and lives are stained with the blood of our brothers and sisters, all with a unique story and many wanting someone who cares, Help us reach out to them with healing and a life-giving presence! Loving God, in our lives, our neighborhoods and the world, especially at places of violence and bloodshed, we grieve, Give us hearts of reconciliation and show us the way to peace! Loving God, when we see people alone, hungry, discriminated against or victims of hate, Teach us to respect everyone with human dignity! Loving God, when people are tested and turn to guns and violence to solve problems or differences, Make our hearts stand in solidarity with Jesus and the victims as we try to change our systems! Loving God, men and women in law enforcement face daily challenges, Give them wisdom and integrity as they seek to protect and serve all members of our communities! Prayer to End Violence: God of life, source of hope, the violence within our world, our communities, our families, indeed within our very selves is destroying Your creation. In union with the Precious Blood of Jesus, give us strength to break the cycle of violence, to hear the cry of the blood and make sacred Your earth stained by blood. This we ask in Jesus Name. AMEN. Peace be with you!! “Let there be peace on earth.”