Weekly Prayer February 22, 2026

Weekly Prayer February 22 2026

Let us enter into a spirit of care, remembrance, and prayer for the world, for our country, for those who have impact on our lives, and for the unfolding of care, innovation and discovery of life. Let us honor those people and events that have come before us as we look toward the possibilities of what may come and what we can create.

Prayers for the World

We pray for an end to violence and war in Ukraine. We pray for Ukrainian Paralympic athletes who are now boycotting the Paralympics as the IOC has decided to allow Russian and Belarusian Paralympic athletes receive medals under their own flags and be recognized as Russian and Belarusian. Meanwhile, most Ukrainians do not have electricity to be able to even watch the Olympics, due to Russian bombing.

We pray for all victims of sexual assault following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and resignations of officials in England and Norway following revealed connections with Jeffrey Epstein. May the truth be continued to be revealed and all those who have committed crimes be held accountable.

We pray for the people of South Korea as they reinforce their commitment to democracy. This week their former president was sentenced to life in prison in his attempt to impose martial law.

We pray for continued peace in Iran, following the US’s military buildup in the region as negotiations around nuclear weapons continues. We pray for Iran’s anti-government protesters staging their first protest since the deadly government crackdown.

We pray for the people of Peru where the interim president has been ousted amidst a corruption probe.

We pray for those who have died and injured in avalanches in the Austrian Alps. Five people are known to be dead.

We pray for those who have died and those injured following the explosion of an overturned transport truck carrying liquified gas in Santiago, Chile.

Prayers for the United States

We pray the president understands abides by the Supreme Court ruling on tariffs and the correct interpretation of the roles of the branches of government. We pray Americans get tariff tax relief now.

We pray for the US economy which has slowed while setting a record setting trade deficit of 1.2 trillion-dollar trade deficit.

We pray with gratitude for the US District Judge that said the federal government was terrorizing immigrants and gave them an hour to follow her ruling from months before she said they were ignoring. May all those arrested have a quick and reasonable chance for due process.

We pray for all life affected by the sewage leak into the Potomac River this week. The DC mayor declared a state of emergency as 250 million gallons of raw sewage entered the waterway and ecosystem. May the cleanup be quick, full, and with as little effect as possible.

We pray for measles vaccinations and an end to measles in the United States. Nearly 1000 measles cases have been reported in the US in the first two months of 2026.

We pray for appropriate health care for those in Arizona prisons. This week a federal judge said she would appoint someone to take over health care in the prison system after years of inadequate care and needless deaths.

We pray for those who’ve died and those missing in the avalanche in the California snowstorm.

We pray for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and an end to censorship.

We pray for those in Georgia whose voter records were seized and that the information take there not be used against voters. The NAACP with other groups asked a judge this week to ensure that personal voter information be protected.

We pray for an end to the erasure of history and for the judge in Philadelphia ordering the administration to order the restoration of the slavery exhibit at the presidential museum there.

We pray for the children of Kentucky and for fair education for all. The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled this week that a measure establishing public funding for charter schools is unconstitutional, affirming that state funds “are for common schools and for nothing else.”

We pray for those in America (third party nationals) deported to the Cameroon this week as the federal government attempts to amp up its numbers in its immigration raids. Cameroon is one of seven African countries working the federal government that has received deported people from the US.

We pray for those shot who were killed or injured at the mass shooting at a hockey rink this week in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Two people were killed and others remain in critical condition in the hospital. The shooter took their own life.

We pray for the states bordering the Colorado River discussing water usage. May responsible and fair agreements follow.

We pray for women’s health in Wyoming as a 6-week abortion ban is advanced by the legislature. May responsible healthcare be available.

We pray for Louisiana after a court ruling allows the display of the 10 Commandents in classroom, though the legal battle continues.

Prayers For Those Who Have Impact on our Lives

We remember civil rights icon and former presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson who died this week at age 84.

We remember Academy-award winning actor Robert Duvall who died this week at age 95.

We remember actor Eric Dane (“Grey’s Anatomy”) who died from ALS this week at age 53.

We remember the rapper Lil Poppa who died this week at age 25.

We remember legendary musician and salsa icon, Willie Colon, who died this week at age 75.

We remember Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Bill Mazeroski, the Pittsburgh Pirates legend who died this week at age 89,

We pray for all those who have competed these last two weeks in the Winter Olympics and given the world hope for the future.

Prayers for Unfolding Care, Innovation and Discovery of Life

We pray for the accuracy and advancement of the medical test that shows promise in conditions in people that lead to the development of Alzheimer’s in 3-4 years’ time.

We pray for the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the scientific discovery this week in the Sahara Desert that reports the discovery of a new dinosaur, Spinosaurus mirabilis, which rivals the T-Rex in size and preceded it by nearly 30 million years.

We pray with gratitude that Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine has now been approved after an initial rejection by the FDA.

We Honor Our History on this Day, and Pray to Remember what These People and Events Have Informed Us

We honor with prayer the events and the lives of people born on this day in history May we celebrate the contributions, remember those who died, and learn from the harm that was the done:

· In 303, the edict from the Roman Empire calling for the persecution of Christians was given. The edict ordered all churches to be closed and scriptures to be burnt

· In 1651, a storm surge drowned 15,000 people along the coasts of the Netherlands and Germany. It became known as St. Peter’s Flood.

· In 1656, New Amsterdam (A Dutch settlement on the tip of what is now Manhattan Island) was granted a Jewish burial site

· In 1746, French troops conquered Brussels, Belgium

· In 1746, Jacobite troops vacated Aberdeen, Scotland

· In 1774, the British House of Lords ruled that authors did not have perpetual copyrights

· In 1775, the 1^st US joint stock company offered shares at 10 cents

· In 1775, Jews were expelled from settlements on outskirts of Warsaw

· In 1819, the Adam-Onis Treaty between the US and Spain was signed, ceding Florida to the US and defining the boundary between the US and New Spain

· In 1825, Russia and Britain established the Alaska-Canada boundary

· In 1854, the Republican Party had its first meeting (in Michigan)

· In 1856, the Republican Party opened its first national convention (Pittsburgh, PA)

· In 1860, the first organized baseball is played in San Francisco

· In 1860, shoe-making workers in Lynn, MA, struck successfully for higher wages

· In 1862, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the President of the Confederate States of America in Richmond, VA, for a six-year term

· In 1865, Tennessee adopted a new state constitution that abolished slavery

· In 1876, John Hopkins University opened

· In 1879, Frank Woolworth opened the first of many five and dime stores in Utica, NY

· In 1882, the Kingdom of Serbia was refounded

· In 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation that set the path to state admission for North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington

· In 1892, poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay was born

· In 1899, Filipino forces launched their first counterattack against American forces during the Philippine-American War.

· In 1907, the first taxis with meters began operating in London

· In 1907, actor Robert Young “Marcus Welby, M.D.” was born

· In 1911, Canada’s Parliament resolved to maintain union with the British Empire while controlling domestic fiscal affairs

· In 1915, Germany began unrestricted submarine war

· In 1918, Germany claimed the Baltic States, Finland, and Ukraine from Russia

· In 1918, radio and television announcer Don Pardo was born

· In 1922, jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader Joe Wilder was born

· In 1923, US Transcontinental Mail service began

· In 1925, illustrator and poet Edward Gorey was born

· In 1928, actor Paul Dooley “The Wonder Years” “Breaking Away” was born

· In 1929, actor and director James Hong was born

· In 1929, actress Rebecca Schull “Wings” was born

· In 1932, Senator and presidential hopeful Ted Kennedy was born

· In 1932, the Purple Heart award was reinstated for military merit

· In 1934, World Series winning manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Sparky Anderson was born

· In 1935, the movie “The Little Colonel” premiered featuring the first interracial dance (Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson)

· In 1935, airplanes were no longer permitted to fly over the White House

· In 1935, Norway’s Sonja Henie won her 10 consecutive women’s World Figure Skating Championship

· In 1941, Germany began assault on Libya

· In 1941, a rubber factory (IG Farben) opened next to Auschwitz Concentration Camp to have access to slave labor and to have cover from Allied bombing

· In 1941, Nazi police raided Amsterdam and deported 429 young Jews to Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps

· In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered Gen. Macarthur out of the Philippines as Japanese victory becomes inevitable

· In 1943, The Yankee Clipper, a flying boar, crashed while landing on the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal, killing 24 people

· In 1943, three members of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi resistance group were executed in Munich

· In 1944, grand slam tennis doubles champion Tom Okker was born

· In 1945, the Arab League formed

· In 1948, Arabs bombed Jerusalem killing 50 people

· In 1949, grand slam doubles champion and Wimbledon finalist (Russia’s first) Olga Morozova was born

· In 1950, NBA great Julius “Dr. J” Irving was born

· In 1950, award-winning actress Julie Walters (Molly Weasley in the Harry Potter films) was born

· In 1959, the first Daytona 500 Nascar race was held (won by Lee Petty)

· In 1959, actor Kyle MacLachlan “Twin Peaks” was born

· In 1968, actress Jeri Ryan “Star Trek: Voyager” was born

· In 1958, the musical group Genesis released its first record

· In 1972, the Irish Republican Army detonated a car bomb at Aldershot, killing 7 people and injuring 19 others

· In 1972, tennis French Open champion Michael Chang was born

· In 1972, President Richard Nixon met with Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China met in Beijing

· In 1973, the US and China established liaison offices following Nixon’s visit to China

· In 1979, Saint Lucia gained independence from the United Kingdom

· In 1980, the US men’s hockey team defeated the Soviet Union 4-3 at the Lake Placid Olympics in what was called “The Miracle on Ice”

· In 1980, Afghanistan declared martial law

· In 1983, Hindus in Assam, India, killed 3000 Muslims

· In 1989, Pepsi broadcast its first Spanish language commercial in the US (during the Grammys)

· In 1997, British scientists announced the cloning of Dolly the sheep

· In 2005, a 6.4 earthquake in the Kerman province of Iran killed 612 people and injured 1,411 others

· In 2006, an attack on a holy shrine Iraq this day led to a full scale civil war

· In 2011, the 6.3 Christchurch earthquake, second deadliest in New Zealand history, killed 185 people

· In 2012, a train crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killed 50 people and injured hundreds

· In 2014, President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine is ousted by parliament

· In 2015, a ferry in Bangladesh capsized killing 70 people

· In 2017, President Trump overturned President Obama’s directive on transgender rights in use of toilets

· In 2018, new research was published saying Neanderthals, not human, were the first artists on Earth

· In 2019, “Empire” actor Jussie Smollet was suspended from the show after it was revealed he had made false claims about being attacked

· In 2021, the US COVID-19 death toll surpassed half a million people

· In 2022, the three white men who killed Ahmaud Arbery were found guilty of federal hate crimes

· In 2022, the US announced sanctions against Russia following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

· In 2024, the first privately owned spacecraft, Odysseus, landed on the moon

Holidays to hold this day:

• Be Humble Day

• European Day for Victims of Crime

• Founders Day - (World Organization of the Scout Movement)

• National California Day

• National Cook a Sweet Potato Day

• National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day

• National Margarita Day

• National Wildlife Day

• Orthodox Forgiveness Sunday

• Recreational Sports & Fitness Day

• Single Tasking Day

• Supermarket Employee Day

• Tex Avery Day

• Walking the Dog Day

• Washington’s Birthday - (but observed as a U.S. Federal Holiday on the Third Monday in February (February 16, 2026)

• Woolworth’s Day

• World Thinking Day

• National Cat Day (Japan)

• Founding Day (Saudi Arabia)

A Reminder of Good in the World

The Floreana Ecological Restoration Project is led by Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment and Mines through the Galápagos National Park Directorate (GNPD), and executed by the Charles Darwin Foundation, and Island Conservation, and Fundación Jocotoco, with support from the Galápagos Conservancy.

The collaboration between these groups which has been for over a decade has led to 158 giant tortoises being released on FLoreana Island in the Galapagos—their first appearance there in 180 years.

Driven to extinction in the mid-1800s, the Floreana giant tortoise had been absent from the island for generations. Its return signals the beginning of a new phase of rewilding under the Floreana Ecological Restoration Project.

“The Project represents one of the greatest challenges undertaken by the Galápagos National Park,” said Lorena Sánchez, the park’s director.

“After years of sustained, science-based work—requiring rigorous studies and patience—the return of the giant tortoises reflects a long-term restoration vision focused on restoring the ecological functionality of Floreana’s ecosystems.”

The Floreana community of approximately 160 residents has been deeply involved in achieving this milestone, from participating in planning workshops to supporting long-term ecological monitoring.

Through a carefully managed breeding program, these individuals were raised to form a population that is genetically as close as possible to the original Floreana giant tortoise.

“By identifying tortoises on Wolf Volcano with Floreana ancestry and breeding their descendants, we are returning this species to its island in a form that closely reflects the original lineage—laying a critical scientific foundation for the restoration of Floreana’s ecosystems and the future reintroduction of additional native species,” said Hugo Mogollón, President of Galápagos Conservancy.

Tortoises help maintain open habitats, promote native plant growth, and create conditions that allow entire ecosystems to function. Their absence on Floreana altered ecological processes for nearly two centuries. Their return is expected to help restore those processes naturally and drive natural regeneration processes that support a wide range of native plants and animals.

“Giant tortoises are a critical part of this system. By dispersing seeds, shaping vegetation, creating micro-habitats such as their well-known wallows, and influencing how landscapes regenerate, they help rebuild ecological processes that many other species depend on.”

Now, project partners will continue to evaluate conditions for the next phase of rewilding, which includes iconic species such as the Floreana Mockingbird, Floreana racer snake, Vegetarian Finch, and the Little Vermilion Flycatcher.

“This decade of collaborative work now yields a result that couldn’t be possible without all of the partners working together. We restore islands so native species and human communities can thrive together,” said Dr. Penny Becker, CEO of Island Conservation.

“Seeing tortoises walk freely on Floreana once again after more than 180 years shows what’s possible when local partners, global experts, and the community share a vision for recovery.”

For those events, people, and acts, and for the week ahead and for what we hold in our hearts, we offer these prayers of remembrance, honor, and care. May we all work to make our world a better place.