I pray for a forgiving heart, for the grace to be like Christ who prayed for his executioners and for those crucified with him. And I pray for our country — that as a society, we may turn from the path of violence and vengeance — and work for the renewal and rehabilitation of all persons.

God of compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as you love,
even those among us who have caused the greatest pain
by taking life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death row and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.

Jesus, our brother,
You suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduring love may help them heal.
Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more.
Amen.

Helen Prejean in Praying Our Lives: A Woman's Treasure of Catholic Prayers by Eleanor Bernstein