Pray With Us

Dear All,

I hope you have had a good week.  In our calendar tomorrow is Racial Justice Sunday.  We have been made very conscious of this issue over the last couple of years – the current as well as historic news in this country – (Windrush, Irish immigrants looking for rented property, ‘Stop & Search’ etc), and a lot of this awareness has come from the US – George Floyd & so many other instances.

So for our reflection today we take up this theme, though broadening it beyond race.  We hope you find something that speaks to you.  Let’s be mindful of Micah’s very succinct, ‘This is what the Lord God asks of you: ‘Act justly, love tenderly walk humbly with your God’.  Succinct but challenging!

Our blessing is ‘My Peace’ from Sacred Dance.  Let’s remember all those who, to this day, are treated badly because of difference of race, skin colour, sexual orientation, disability etc.

Peace to know, peace to live; peace to show & a peace to give,

It’s a peace to share & a peace that cares;

My peace I give unto you, my peace.

With our love & best wishes for the week ahead & all it holds for each of us

 

For Everyone Born 

For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread,
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead,
                and God will delight when we are creators
                of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
                yes, God will delight when we are creators
                of justice, justice and joy!

For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong,
                and God will delight when we are creators
                of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
                yes, God will delight when we are creators
                of justice, justice and joy!

For gay and for straight, a place at the table,
a covenant shared, a welcoming space,
a rainbow of race and gender and colour,
for gay and for straight, the chalice of grace,
               and God will delight when we are creators
               of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
               yes, God will delight when we are creators
               of justice, justice and joy!

For just and unjust, a place at the table,
abuser, abused, with need to forgive,
in anger, in hurt, a mindset of mercy,
for just and unjust, a new way to live,
                and God will delight when we are creators
                of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
                yes, God will delight when we are creators
                of justice, justice and joy!

For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship,
for everyone born, the right to be free,
                and God will delight when we are creators
                of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
                yes, God will delight when we are creators
                of justice, justice and joy!

Shirley Erena Murray

 

 

Prayer for Mercy and Justice

by Bishop Steven Charleston

Those of you who have lived in cold climates like I have will know what I mean when I describe a special time of year known as break-up season. Basically, that is when the ice starts to melt on the lakes and rivers. It is when the ice jams unfreeze and the water starts moving. It comes as winter releases its grip and life comes dripping back from every branch. It is the unofficial marker that change has become inevitable. I am praying we are moving into that kind of season right now. I pray that the grip of the old is letting go. I pray that past issues which seemed so immobile and frozen are breaking up. I pray that the energy of life is returning and will bring us forward to a new beginning. I pray that mercy and justice will become inevitable.

 

 

Father, you created each one of us in your own image.

Yet yours is a world made glorious by its rich diversity. This we sometimes misunderstand, sometimes fear.

Give us the patience to build on what unites us, to celebrate our differences and to learn from them.

Grant us the wisdom to recognise your Church, beyond the walls of a building, reaching out across all communities, countries and cultures.

Give us the courage to offer refuge to those in need, to challenge prejudice and seek justice for all.

Help us see that you created us in your image. Neighbour or stranger, always our brother or sister.

Amen.

Prayer by Yashoda Sutcliffe

 

 

If we could see that Christ is the needy one, the torture victim, the prisoner, the murder victim, & in each human figure so shamefully thrown by our roadsides could see Christ himself cast aside, we would pick him up like a medal of gold to be kissed lovingly.  We would never be ashamed of him.  How far away people are today – especially those who torture & kill & value their investments more than human beings – from realising that the earth’s millions are good for nothing, compared to a human being.  The person is Christ – the child sent down the mines in the DCR is Christ, the enslaved sex worker is Christ, the Rohingya people of Myanmar are Christ, the migrant in the English Channel is Christ – how we respond is how we respond to Christ.

Adapted from Romero

 

God of all things,

        give us a vision for justice.

We ask that our minds be open,

        our hearts be generous

        and our deeds be genuine in reaching out

        to those in need of true justice.

Awaken us to our responsibility

        to do something about harmful

economic and political situations.

Strengthen us so that we might help people

who are denied

their human rights and freedoms.

Provide us the courage and imagination

        to be the voice crying out for justice

        for the poor & the oppressed.

AMEN