A Prayer for Canada Day
O Great Spirit, our Father from above,
We honour Your name as sacred and holy.
We thank You for placing us on the land we call Canada; our home on native land. Open our eyes in gratitude for all we have been given. Humble our glowing hearts, that all people will rise strong and free.
Bring Your good road to us, where the beauty of Your ways in the spirit world above is reflected in the earth below.
From far and wide, North and South, East and West, we marvel at the diversity of Your creation, the beauty of this land, and the complexities of relationships. Guide us to walk in a good way with one another and all living things.
Provide for us day by day – the elk, the buffalo, and salmon. The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All things we need for each day.
Help us walk lightly on the land, not exploiting, wasting, overconsuming, or polluting it. Let our hearts be grateful for the abundance we have and willing to share the excess we’ve accumulated. Let no one be without enough food or clean drinking water. Help our governments and leaders make decisions that protect and steward our natural resources, and all creatures that we share this land with.
Release us from the things we have done wrong, in the same way we release others for the things done wrong to us.
We ask your forgiveness for the ways we have systematically harmed the First Peoples of this land. For taking that which was to be shared; for breaking treaties; for forced assimilation; for the horrors of residential schools; and so much more. Let our repentance be more than mere words, but embodied acts of true reconciliation.
Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road, and set us free from the evil one and his worthless ways.
God make our land glorious and free, for all people. Let us walk in unity, celebrating diversity and learning from one another. May we walk in the way of harmony and peace.
Aho! May it be so!
** Italicized taken from Matthew 6:9-13 from the First Nations Version
We thank Cheryl Buchanan, co-founder of New Story Community, for writing this beautiful Canada Day prayer.
You may also be interested in …
- National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: An Interview with Holly Fortier, posted October 1, 2021
- Watch “Building Bridges: Exploring Reconciliation with Indigenous Communities” interview with Kevin John, premiered June 23, 2021
