Here's a prayer and meditation written for Easter by Robert Laws, elder at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco.
This is one of a number of worship resources addressing torture (scroll down to worship resources) that were collected by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
An Easter Prayer and Meditation
God of the Ages,
This Easter day, we hold before us your only son,
the risen Jesus Christ,
who was betrayed by Judas, abandoned by his people, and
surrendered to the power of Rome.
On whose brow a crown of thorns was pressed.
Scourged, he bore the weight of his cross to the hilltop.
In agony, his body suspended, pierced by nails, speared,
a sop of vinegar thrust to his lips,
then, from the depths of his suffering, he cried to you, his Father,
“Forgive them!”
This day, we cry to you to forgive us for prisoners who, in our name, were delivered into the hands of torturers to suffer fear, pain, and death.
Free us of the spiritual blindness and sloth that left us
silent and inert in the presence of that evil.
We renew our confession that you alone are Lord of the conscience. Illuminate our consciences, we pray. Grant us the wisdom and courage from this Easter day forth to be instruments of your peace, love, and justice in a broken and shattered world. Amen.