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Note: this prayer was used on September 25, 2008 at an Interfaith Service of Recommitment and Witness to the Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City, NY.
Prayers for the Millennium Development Goals
In the spirit of the Millennium Development Goals, let us pray that god’s justice and peace will prevail in the World.
Leader: Let us pray for the poor, hungry, and neglected all over the world, that their cries for daily bread may inspire woks of compassion and mercy among those to whom much has been given.
People: Give us the will to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Leader: Let us pray for schools and centers of learning throughout the world, for those who lack access to basic education, and for the light of knowledge to blossom and shine in the lives of all God’s people.
People: Give us the will to achieve universal primary education. Read the rest of this entry »
by Anna Karin Hammar and Jean Sindab
Into Action: A Resource for Participation in the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women
As women we come seeking a reality to which we are called by our Savior. As women we come to affirm our life in Jesus Christ. As women we come to refute untruths, to challenge injustices, to confront oppressive structures that bind us. We, therefore, are called to declare the following truths:
One voice:
IT IS NOT TRUE that women should feel and experience that being a woman is of secondary value to the community.
All:
THIS IS TRUE that women are created women, the image of God, co-workers with God in caring for life, in struggling for the liberations of humanity and for a world order that respects each one’s dignity.
About a month ago, I was writing the litany for Ecumenical Women’s opening worship for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). In the first draft of the refrain, I wrote, “Shower the earth with your justice, O God, and invest life into the bodies of your people.” Bringing it to Kathleen Stone, the chaplain at the Church Center for the United Nations, I, a white, privileged, upper-middle class (by American standards), North American woman, expressed my timidity about using the word “justice” so liberally in the refrain. “What is justice, anyway?” I thought to myself, “and how do I feel about a God who openly distributes justice upon God’s enemies? What does it mean for God to have enemies?”
As I expressed these perusings to Kath, she paused before commenting. When she spoke, it was reminiscent of what my Exegesis professor at Union Theological Seminary would later say about Ezekiel 37:1-14. For those people who have witnessed the ravaging of their homes, who have experienced the debilitating scourge of poverty upon their bodies and communities, and whose flesh has been torn and wounded—indeed, for those who have seen the “dry bones” of Ezekiel—the word “justice” is never too strong a word to use. In these situations, when humanity is hampered by our inability to distribute justice, it is God who must distribute justice. The women who would be reciting my litany have seen these dry bones, and they have come to the CSW to right the injustices of this valley. With these women in mind, Kath and I changed the refrain to “Thunder the earth with your justice, O God, and invest life into the bodies of your people.”
