Come Holy Spirit!
Do not smile and say
you are already with us.
Millions do not know you
and to us who do,
what is the difference?
What is the point
of your presence
if our lives do not alter?
Change our lives, shatter
our complacency.
Make your word
Flesh of our flesh,
blood of our blood
and our life’s purpose.
Take away the quietness
of a clear conscience.
Press us uncomfortably.
For only thus
that other peace is made,
your peace.

Dom Helder Camara
1909 – 1999
Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil

Peace Prayers: Meditations, Affirmations, Invocations, Poems, and Prayers for Peace, Harper San Francisco, 1992.