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Focus on Mission Sept. 2003 - Prayer Service for Global Solidarity
 

Prayer Service for Global Solidarity - Focus on Mission 17::  Prayer Service for Global Solidarity ::

 

 

 

Here we offer a prayer service reminding us of our call to be in solidarity with our sisters and brothers around the globe.

 

Opening Prayer: 

God of All, help us to recognize all of our sisters and brothers in the global community.

Open our hearts to them that we might live in solidarity with this extended family.

God of Justice and Peace, help us to be committed to change unjust structures and to be peacemakers in a suffering world, empower us to be Christians not only in word but also in compassionate action.

Give us the courage to speak out for truth and justice and to pray-fully and patiently call for transformation.

May global solidarity and peace be achieved through the power of compassion, understanding and love.

In the name of Jesus, Prince of Peace, we pray for global justice. Amen.

 

 

Reading: Genesis 4:9

Then the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

 

Reflection:

Cain’s question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Gn 4:9), has global implications and is a special challenge for our time, touching not one brother but all our sisters and brothers.

Are we responsible for the fate of the world’s poor?

Do we have duties to suffering people in far-off places?

Must we respond to the needs of suffering refugees in distant nations?

Are we keepers of the creation for future generations?

 

For the followers of Jesus, the answer is yes.
Indeed, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
As members of God’s one human family, we acknowledge our duties to people in far-off places.
We accept God’s charge to care for all human life and for all creation.
“We have heard the Lord’s command, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ In our linked and limited world, loving our neighbor has global implications. In faith, we know our neighbors live in Rwanda and Sudan, in East Timor and China, in Bosnia ands Central America. God of Peace, help us be committed to be peacemakers in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as across our country and next-door.
Baptism, confirmation, and continuing participation in the body of Christ call us to action for ‘the least among us’ without regard for boundaries or borders.”

From Called to Global Solidarity: International Challenges for U.S. Parishes, Unites States Catholic Conference, 1997


Catholic Social Teaching:

Reader 1: Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far… It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.

Pope John Paul II, Solicituo Rei Socialis, #38

 

Reader 2: It is not only the poor who need our solidarity and advocacy. Our world is still marked by destruction of human life and denial of human rights and religious liberty in so many places. Genuine solidarity requires active and informed citizenship. It requires common action to address the fundamental causes of injustice and the sources of violence in our world.

Called to Global Solidarity: International Challenges for U.S. Parishes, USCCB, 1997

 

Reader 3: Each person is also a member of society; hence people belong to the human community. It is not just certain individuals but all who are called to further the development of human society as a whole. Civilizations spring up, flourish and die. As the waves of the sea gradually creep farther and farther in along the shoreline, so the human race inches its way forward through history. We are the heirs of earlier generations, and we reap benefits from the efforts of our contemporaries; we are under obligation to all. Therefore we cannot disregard the welfare of those who will come after us to increase the human family. The reality of human solidarity brings us not only benefits but also obligations. 

Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progresio, #17

 

 

Reflection Question:

1. Which of these quotes spoke to your heart?

2. What does it ask of you?

3. How can you respond to this challenge?

4. What could be a first step in responding?

 

 

Closing Litany:

Reader 1: In all holiness we are called to share in creation.

All: We are called to solidarity, to build a new creation.

Reader 2: In all holiness we are called to create a just society which allows for the human dignity of all; that provides life, food, and freedom for people to walk in their own land.

All: We are called to solidarity, to build a new creation.

Reader 3: We are called to reject the false gods of economic, political and military systems that are destroying people through starvation, violation of earth’s resources, disease and violence.

All: We are called to solidarity, to build a new creation.

Reader 4: We are called to study and understand global issues.

All: We are called to solidarity, to build a new creation.

Reader 5: Jesus, you call us to build a new world. Inspire us to live as you lived, to comfort as you comforted, to challenge as you challenged. Guide us and keep us faithful to the reign of God in our midst.

All: AMEN.

Adapted from the “Development and Peace Solidarity Day Booklet,” 1991

 

 

USA - Families in Poverty Grow

The number of Americans living below the poverty line increased by more than 1.3 million last year, a Census Bureau report shows. Economic hardship hit individuals and families alike. The report indicated that the total percentage of people in poverty increased to 12.4 percent from 12.1 percent in 2001 and totaled 34.8 million. At the same time, the number of families living in poverty went up by more than 300,000 to 7 million in 2002.

The number of children in poverty rose by more than 600,000 during the same period to 12.2 million. The rate of increase in children under age 5 jumped a full percentage point to 19.8 percent living below the poverty line from 18.8 percent a year earlier.

The new data, some analysts say, may raise the level of scrutiny on a variety of federal programs like welfare reform and the recently enacted increases in child tax credits, which excluded about 6.5 million low-income working families with children.

The adjusted poverty line figures for 2002 have yet to be released. But in 2001, a family of two adults and two children would have to have made less than $17,960 a year to be ranked as living below the poverty level. For a single person under the age of 65 the poverty line in 2001 was roughly $9,200 a year.

Source: “Census Shows Ranks of Poor Rose by 1.3 Million,” New York Times, September 3, 2003.

  

Discussion Questions

 

 

How do we link this kind of news with our prayer life?

A family of four making $18,000/year would not be counted as a poverty statistic. How difficult is it to cover the yearly living costs of a family of four on $18,000 or $19,000?

Should $17,960/year as the poverty line for a family of four be changed? Why or why not? 

 

 

A CALL WE ALL SHARE

The U.S. Bishops have called us to remember that Global Solidarity should be a priority for people of faith:

"We urge all Catholic educators to share the Church's teaching on the global dimensions of our social mission more intentionally, more explicitly, and more creatively. We encourage the incorporation of the call to global solidarity into our schools, religious education programs, sacramental preparation, and Christian initiation programs. We need to match efforts to share the principle of solidarity with opportunities to act on it-to share our financial and material resources, to search for the structural causes of poverty, to promote development, and to advocate for human life, human dignity, and human rights."

– Called to Global solidarity: International Challenges for U.S. Parishes, United States Catholic Conference, Washington D.C. 1997 – 

Published - September 2003