Moral Monday – Speak Out for Justice

On Monday Aug. 18, 2025, the Loretto Motherhouse Peace Committee hosted a Speak Out for Justice event outside of Rep. James Comer’s Danville, Ky. office. There were roughly 75 attendees including the Loretto sisters and co-members, Dominican sisters, participants from the Poor People’s Campaign, Indivisible and the Democratic Woman’s Club.

Click here to read two letters the Peace Committee shared with Comer’s office. The office was closed, and they gave the letters to a receptionist in the office next door. Below is a prayer written by Rev. Kaye Edwards CoL that was read at the event.

“O God of all creation. We ask for your blessing upon this gathering of people, Your people, who have come seeking justice and peace. We come, filled with grief, to lift up some of the many problems that are being created by unfounded fears, misinformation and greed. We remember that in Isaiah 61:8 we are told, ‘You love justice and hate robbery and dishonesty.’

“We are fearful of people who may not look like us, speak as we do, whose cultures are strange to us. We are fearful of one another because we have been told that people who are different from us are our enemies. We are not one another’s enemies!

“We feel afraid because many individuals take more than they need, and our leaders say there is not enough for all. We have become a society living out of a false sense of scarcity, instead of living out of the truth of Your abundance, that calls us to share so that all may live.

“Holy One, help us to step out of our fears and into the light of your love which teaches us about our oneness with all the people of the world. So much of our grieving can be healed if we recognize our oneness.

“Forgive us for our lack of faith and our lack of trust in Your goodness. Make of us a fearless and generous people.

“We are here to speak on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves — people who are homeless, hungry children, desperate immigrants, our neighbors, being deported and put in prison. We wish to stand in solidarity with them and with those who are losing healthcare, good and affordable schools, safe places to live and jobs because of the reckless and thoughtless cutting of programs so that more money can go into the pockets of the already rich and expand our huge out-of-control military complex.

“Holy One, You who love justice and hate robbery and dishonesty, strengthen us and make us able to boldly speak truth to power and to one another. Break open our hearts so that we are able to listen deeply to one another and find the very best way to peace in these dark and troubled days. And now hear the prayers of your people.

“You are now invited to speak aloud the circumstances and people for whom you mourn this day.”

(Photos courtesy of Kevin Maples from Indivisible and Mary Ann McGivern SL)