Lord God, we come before you with a heart full of thanksgiving and praise for the many blessings you have bestowed upon us and our country.
It was you, Lord, who watched over our brothers and sisters as they journeyed from one land to another, in search of a safe and fruitful life.
It was your grace and mercy that guided their path and has allowed them to start anew.
We come before you to ask for continued guidance and protection as they embrace all that is before them.
We ask that you strengthen their courage to cherish and share the cultures of their birth, as they embrace the culture of their future. May the two meld together in a way that is pleasing to you—a healthy integration that produces mutual enrichment.
And we ask you, Lord, to pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter, that we may be good and caring neighbors. Incite love and compassion into the hearts of all who inhabit this land: citizens, newcomers, and visitors alike. Help us to recognize the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us. Help us to understand and accept the responsibility of your commandment to “love thy neighbor” and to put our trust not in our material blessings, but in one another, for without each other there is no prosperity.
We ask all these things in your most holy name. Amen.