Bishop Michael Anthony D'Arrigo, president of HRA, gave an opening invocation and a closing blessing, which he kindly allowed us to include here.
Opening Invocation
Beloved community, tonight we gather in sorrow, in solidarity, and in love. We come together beneath the same sky, carrying grief that words can scarcely contain, as we remember and honor the life of Juniper Blessing. We gather as people of many faiths, many identities, many backgrounds, and many understandings of the sacred, yet united in the simple truth that every human life possesses inherent dignity and immeasurable worth.
As the President of the Human Rights Alliance, and as an Intersex and Nonbinary person myself, someone who knew Juniper, this loss feels all too painfully close to the heart. Too many in our community live with the knowledge that violence, rejection, and hatred remain real forces in our world. Tonight, we refuse to allow fear or cruelty to have the final word. We stand here together to proclaim that Juniper’s life mattered, that Juniper was deeply loved, and that this community will continue striving for a world where every person can live openly, safely, and authentically.
We also gather with deep respect for the Blessing family, who are enduring an unimaginable grief no family should ever have to carry. We honor their request for privacy, and we surround them with compassion, tenderness, prayer, healing energy, and love in whatever form each of us understands those sacred acts.
So tonight, may this vigil become more than mourning alone. May it become a living testimony to compassion over hatred, community over isolation, and love over violence. May the Holy, known by many names and understood through many paths, hold Juniper in eternal peace, strengthen those who grieve, and guide all of us toward greater courage, justice, and mercy in the days ahead.
Closing Blessing
As we leave this place tonight, may we carry Juniper’s memory not only in our grief, but also in the way we choose to live moving forward. May we become people who protect one another more fiercely, love one another more openly, and refuse to let hatred or violence define the story of our community.
May those who are grieving be surrounded with gentleness. May those who are afraid find safety and solidarity. May those who feel alone remember that they are not abandoned, not forgotten, and not without a community that stands beside them.
And may the Holy, by whatever name we call upon the Sacred, walk with each of us into the night ahead. May love guide our steps, may compassion soften our hearts, and may peace, justice, and courage continue to rise within Santa Fe and beyond.
May Juniper Blessing’s memory be a blessing, a call to love more deeply, and a reminder that every human soul is precious beyond measure.
Go in peace. Go in love. And may we continue the sacred work of caring for one another.
