Take this child

O LORD JESUS CHRIST, MOST MERCIFUL, LORD OF EARTH WE ASK THAT YOU RECEIVE THIS CHILD INTO YOUR ARMS, THAT HE MIGHT PASS IN SAFETY FROM THIS CRISIS. AS THOU HAST TOLD US WITH INFINITE COMPASSION

                                                          Last Rites, Roman Catholic Church

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In this world of chaos, even terror

Where maladies fall upon the evil and the good

Alike

People are in crisis

Their heads are full of hideous thoughts

Their hearts are broken

Their souls are shredded

That mother who has lost her child

That man who has been fired from his job

That person battered by pain

And that person who has simply given up

The assaults come from everywhere

From the angry, the greedy

The cruel

From the toxic righteous

From parents, children

Friends, enemies

This morning I watched the Life Flight plane lift into the sky

Carrying the precious burden of a person

Clinging, perhaps tenuously to life

And it lifted into the hazy red sky

My heart cried out

Lord take this child

Take this child into your arms

Cover them with love

Infuse them with peace

Protect them, nurture them, heal them

And through this day

My heart repeated this refrain

Take this child

Hold this child