Prayer of Intercession
Human Rights Sunday, 9 December, 2007
Bruce Van Voorhis
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we illegally detain them, taking away their freedom, and mercilessly and inhumanly torture our sister and brother.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we come in the middle of the night, knock down the door and take them away, forcing our sister and brother to disappear.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we exploit their labor and deny our sister and brother the freedom to speak and protest.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we discriminate against them because of their race or ethnicity, because our sister and brother are different.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we are indifferent to their poverty and callously remark that our sister and brother are lazy or somehow deserve their poverty when they work every day just to survive.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we do not treat women the same as men, and we abuse our children.
On this Sunday, Human Rights Sunday, we declare, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, that we as equal human beings can no longer remain silent when our sisters and brothers are violently abused, exploited and face the separation of discrimination.
On this Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent, we await the arrival of the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Justice, the Prince of Compassion, for peace, justice and compassion are absent in our world today more than 2,000 years after your son came to live among us. We await, and need, your peace, justice and compassion, Lord, in our lives, in our societies, in our nations today.
On this Sunday, Lord, we lift up our prayers to you with others around the world for our West African sisters and brothers in Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. We pray that their rights as our sisters and brothers, as children of God, as human beings, will be respected.
We also remember today, Lord, our own faith community. We pray especially for the health of Suzzy Chow and the Rev. Tan Chi Kiong and ask for your strength and comfort for the Rev. Tan’s wife. We give thanks that the Rev. Tan is now at home once again from the hospital. We also pray for the health of our African brother Paul Bitindu Hamedee who is unjustly in detention and ask that he will soon be released. We pray that this year’s Advent season will be a meaningful spiritual time for each of us and our church family.
We now take some moments of silence to speak to you about what is in our hearts (silence). Amen.
Human Rights Sunday, 9 December, 2007
Bruce Van Voorhis
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we illegally detain them, taking away their freedom, and mercilessly and inhumanly torture our sister and brother.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we come in the middle of the night, knock down the door and take them away, forcing our sister and brother to disappear.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we exploit their labor and deny our sister and brother the freedom to speak and protest.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we discriminate against them because of their race or ethnicity, because our sister and brother are different.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we are indifferent to their poverty and callously remark that our sister and brother are lazy or somehow deserve their poverty when they work every day just to survive.
We say, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, but we do not treat women the same as men, and we abuse our children.
On this Sunday, Human Rights Sunday, we declare, Lord, that our neighbor is our sister and brother, that we are all children of God, that we as equal human beings can no longer remain silent when our sisters and brothers are violently abused, exploited and face the separation of discrimination.
On this Sunday, the second Sunday of Advent, we await the arrival of the Prince of Peace, the Prince of Justice, the Prince of Compassion, for peace, justice and compassion are absent in our world today more than 2,000 years after your son came to live among us. We await, and need, your peace, justice and compassion, Lord, in our lives, in our societies, in our nations today.
On this Sunday, Lord, we lift up our prayers to you with others around the world for our West African sisters and brothers in Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. We pray that their rights as our sisters and brothers, as children of God, as human beings, will be respected.
We also remember today, Lord, our own faith community. We pray especially for the health of Suzzy Chow and the Rev. Tan Chi Kiong and ask for your strength and comfort for the Rev. Tan’s wife. We give thanks that the Rev. Tan is now at home once again from the hospital. We also pray for the health of our African brother Paul Bitindu Hamedee who is unjustly in detention and ask that he will soon be released. We pray that this year’s Advent season will be a meaningful spiritual time for each of us and our church family.
We now take some moments of silence to speak to you about what is in our hearts (silence). Amen.
posted by Kowloon Union Church | 11:24 am
