September 26, 2021 — Spirit & Verse is a monthly column of original poem-prayers composed by Cameron Bellm, a Seattle-based writer and mother of two whose “Prayer for a Pandemic” went viral, bringing solace and comfort to many struggling during COVID-19.
A Prayer for World Day of Migrants and Refugees
When Abraham welcomed the angels,
They, too, were on a journey,
And he begged them not to pass him by.
How is that we miss the holy image of God
In our sisters and brothers,
Traveling perilous distances
In the baking sun, the drenching rain?
How is it that we do not run from our tents
To welcome and deeply embrace
All who flee from violence and poverty,
Seeking the ever-distant horizon of hope?
May we, like Abraham,
Run to gather the very best
Of what we have to offer
And lay it out lovingly
On the holy table of hospitality.
Amen.
Previous Spirit & Verse poem-prayers:
A Prayer for Peace When the World is on Fire
A Prayer for the Ignatian Year
A Prayer for the Month of the Sacred Heart
A Prayer for Mary’s Month During a Pandemic
St. Joseph Prayer
A Prayer for Ash Wednesday
A Prayer for the Feast of the Epiphany
A Prayer for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
A Prayer for the Month of the Holy Souls
A Prayer for Living “Fratelli Tutti”
Our Lady of Sorrows
A Prayer for the Beginning of the School Year
A Prayer for the Feast of St. Ignatius
Cameron Bellm is a Seattle-based writer of prayers, poems, and devotionals. After completing her Ph.D. in Russian literature at the University of California, Berkeley, she traded the academic life for the contemplative life, informed by Ignatian spirituality and Catholic social teaching. She is the author of “A Consoling Embrace: Prayers for a Time of Pandemic” (23rd Publications, 2020). Cameron and her husband have two young sons, and, blessedly, playing with Legos often nurtures her spiritual life as much as reading the lectionary. You can find her at cameronbellm.com and on Instagram, @cameronbellm.