Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
(Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Late Justice
Late justice may be more useless than none. Some expungings or making-rights or getting-backs lack the capacity to correct. The formerly aggrieved become exacting in unattractive ways: intolerant of delay, determined to collect. And shocked— shocked—at their new unappeasableness, who had so long been so reasonable. (Kay Ryan)
read morePrayer For Injustice
O God, we pray for all those in our world who are suffering from injustice: because of their race, color, or religion; for those imprisoned for working for the relief of oppression; for those who are hounded for speaking the inconvenient truth; for those tempted to violence as a cry against overwhelming hardship; for those deprived of reasonable health and education; for those suffering from hunger and famine; for those too weak to help themselves and who have no one else to help them; for the unemployed who cry out for work but do not find...
read morePrayer For Justice
God of justice and love, strengthen our minds and hearts to believe in ourselves and to love you more dearly. Remind us that in caring for your people we come to know you more deeply. Provide us with the courage to seek good for all members of our community, our nation, our world. May we walk humbly in this journey of following your Son’s path of reaching out to those most in need, and walking with them in righting the wrongs of our time. Amen. (William...
read moreFor Justice And Peace
Almighty and eternal God, may your grace enkindle in all of us a love for the many unfortunate people whom poverty and misery reduce to a condition of life unworthy of human beings. Arouse in the hearts of those who call you Father a hunger and thirst for social justice and for fraternal charity in deeds and in truth. Grant, O Lord, peace in our days, peace to souls, peace to families, peace to our country, and peace among nations. (Pope Pius...
read moreObservations And Experiments
Observations 1. Trout seem to learn that danger Is associated with artificial flies; Perhaps it is the hook in them. 2. I once saw a frog attacked And turned over by my dog And it lay quite still on its back. I am positive it made quite A separate movement to put Its front feet over its ears. Why did it? Experiments 1. Catch butterflies and clip Their wings with scissors. Do your observations Outside, where butterflies are numerous. 2. Pinch through ten worms. Obtain a fresh herring and place it On an open plate. Leave it. 3. Liberate a...
read morePrayer Or Action? The Tension Explored
What is our future as committed Christians as the third millennium begins? How shall we live the Christian life – how do we live the gospel now – as we seek to create a new, just, peaceful world? What resources of the Spirit of God are available to us in the quest to transform our cultures and societies? Two temptations are enticing. One is to plunge into activism without a spiritual grounding. The other, especially insidious, is to take a deep breath, close the doors of the churches on the problems of society, and focus on a private...
read moreParadox Blessing
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equity, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain to joy. And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the...
read moreBread And Justice
O God, to those who have hunger give bread; And to those who have bread give the hunger for justice. Amen. (Latin American)
read moreA Prayer Of Indigenous Peoples, Refugees, Immigrants, & Pilgrims
Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we come before you as many parts of a single body. people drawn from every tribe, every nation, every language; some indigenous—peoples of the land; some refugees, immigrants, pilgrims—people on the move; some hosts, some guests, some both hosts and guests; all of us searching for an eternal place where we can belong. Creator, forgive us. The earth is yours and everything that is in it. But we forget. In our arrogance we think we own it. In our greed we think we can steal it. In our ignorance we...
read moreBecoming A Voice For Those Who Have No Voice
I cannot speak, unless you loose my tongue; I only stammer, and I speak uncertainly; but if you touch my mouth, my Lord, then I will sing the story of your wonders! Teach me to hear that story, through each person, to cradle a sense of wonder in their life, to honor the hard-earned wisdom of their sufferings, to waken their joy that the King of all kings stoops down to wash their feet, and looking up into their face says, I know. I understand. This world has become a world of broken dreams where dreamers are hard to find and friends are few....
read morePlease Pray For Justice And Peace In Our World
Heavenly Father, We praise and thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, who is our peace and our reconciliation. We bring before you all those who are suffering because of violence, war, or injustice. We pray for all who experience hunger, poverty, and homelessness. We ask your blessing on our work in this world. Give us wisdom, courage, and discernment, as we pray and work together. We bring before you the terrible conflicts that scar our world and cry out for resolution and lasting peace. We bring before you the unjust structures...
read moreA Prayer To Be Merciful To Others
O Most Holy Trinity, as many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify your mercy. I want to be completely transformed into your mercy and to be your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor. Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my...
read moreA Prayer For Justice For Refugees And Asylum Seekers
God of mercy, help me to remember: My ancestors came across the seas! Help me keep in my mind Those who came long ago And those who now come to our shores. As I face you in prayer, God of Compassion, I remember my country’s words: Send them back or Stop the boats. Then I fear, not your anger But the steady gaze of boundless love and unlimited compassion That impel me to hear Jesus’s command: Love one another, as I have loved you. Or Pope Francis’s call to open our hearts To a universal communion Which excludes nothing and no one. Daring to...
read moreA Prayer For Social Justice
Almighty and eternal God, may your grace enkindle in all persons a love of the many unfortunate people whom poverty and misery reduce to a condition of life unworthy of human beings. Arouse in the hearts of those who call you Father a hunger and thirst for social justice and for fraternal charity in deeds and in truth. Grant, O Lord, peace in our days, peace to souls, peace to our community, and peace among nations. Amen. (Pope Pius...
read moreLord, Open Our Eyes
Lord, open our eyes, That we may see you in our brothers and sisters. Lord, open our ears, That we may hear the cries of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed. Lord, open our hearts, That we may love each other as you love us. Renew in us your spirit. Lord, free us and make us one. Amen. (Mother...
read moreA Prayer For Courage
Give us grace, O God, to dare to do the deed which we well know cries to be done. Let us not hesitate because of ease, or the words of men’s mouths, or our own lives. Mighty causes are calling us—the freeing of women, the training of children, the putting down of hate and murder and poverty—all these and more. But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifice and death. Mercifully grant us, O God, the spirit of Esther, that we say: I will go unto the King and if I perish, I perish. Amen. (W. E. B. Du...
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