A prayer for peace in the home

Master of the World, there is tension in our home. The same arguments come back again and again, in almost the same words, and we already know in advance how each of us will react. I feel the hard words piling up, and the silences between them growing longer.

Let me truly listen. When my wife speaks, I am already preparing my answer in my head and looking for where she is wrong. Help me hear what she feels, and not only what she says. Let me understand the pain behind the anger.

Watch over me in the moment the anger rises. Let me stop before the hurtful sentence, before the tone I know will wound. And if I have already said it, let me be the first to ask forgiveness, without waiting to be asked first.

I do not need to win every argument. I want a home that has peace in it. Let us remember why we chose each other, and find again the simple moments: a quiet meal, shared laughter, a kind word for no reason.

And watch over our children, that they not grow up inside our quarrels. Let them see love at home, and see also how people make peace.

And let our home be a place that is good to come back to: a place where one can make a mistake and apologize, ask and receive, laugh and cry. Let us rebuild it every day, through small deeds, and let the peace in it be greater than any quarrel.