A prayer for Las Vegas

At least 50 people died and more than 200 were injured during a shooting attack on a Las Vegas concert last night. Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on a crowded venue from the 32nd floor of the overlooking Mandalay Bay Hotel. It's America's worst mass shooting.

God our father, who has promised a world where all live in peace and where no one dies untimely;

Christ our brother, who wept at Lazarus's grave and wept over Jerusalem;

Spirit our comforter, who leads us in the ways of love and truth:

we pray to you for the people of Las Vegas.

We pray for the injured and bereaved. We pray for the traumatised and terrified. We pray for the ordinary folk who tried to do what they could to help, and for the professional first responders. All of them were confronted by scenes no one should have to see, and we pray for them as they come to terms with what happened.

As grief and shock give way to other emotions – to anger, frustration and bewilderment – we pray that you will be in those conversations too. And in a city overwhelmed by an act of terrible evil, may the light of Christ shine again.

Amen.