Hunger for Bread & Justice

DSC_4846, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


O God, to those who have hunger give bread,
And to us who have bread give the hunger for justice.

Prayer from Latin America

Prayer

RIC_8335-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

O Creator of my beginning.

Bear me. 

Bear with me.

Bear me forth into this once more day –

this time of my life You have given me.

Bless me.

Mary Jo Leddy

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

RIC_1127, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Creator God,
We give you thanks for all creation –
         The planets, the cosmos, the waters, the land, the air, the plants, the trees,
         The four legged, the two legged, the wing-ed,
We give thanks for creation made whole and good and wise.

We give thanks that you speak to us
         In ways we can hear in our hearts.
We give you thanks that you hear us
         In ways we can be heard in truth.
We give thanks that you lead us
         In ways we can lead others in humility.
We give you thanks that you love us
         In ways we can love ourselves and others with courage.
And we give thanks that you gather us in community
         In ways we can live lives of justice, kindness, and humility.
Miigwech. Nya:weh
Amen.

Kim Uyede-Kai, Prayer offered at Francis Sandy Theological School Annual Celebration and Graduation (June 17, 2011)

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Prayer

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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Today I root myself in the earth. I connect to the seasons and cycles of life, the great wheel of nature that sustains us all. I reach beneath my daily life, funding my soul with the grace that underlies all things. I am grounded in life itself.

Julia Cameron, Transitions: Prayers and Declarations for a Changing Life

Light

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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

We light a light
in the name of the God who creates life,
in the name of the Saviour who loves life,
in the name of the Spirit who is the fire of life.

J. Philip Newell, Celtic Treasure: Daily Scripture and Prayer

Question to ponder

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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

What did you do when the poor
suffered, when tenderness
and life
burned out in them?

Otto René Castillo
Robert Márquez, ed. Latin American Revolutionary Poetry

God of Abundance

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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

O God of abundance, you feed us every day.
Rise in us now, make us into your bread,
that we may share your gifts with a hungry world,
and join in love with all people,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Sara Miles, Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

Tranquility

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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Given the fact that both myself and others are exactly the same in not wanting pain,
What difference could there ever be between us,
What reason that I protect myself and not all others?

Shantideva, 8th Century Buddhist Sage

Prayer

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Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Prayer is not a pious gesture at all.
It is a respnse to the One whose heart beats with ours.

Joan Chittister

Celtic Prayer

I arise today
through the strength of heaven, light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightening,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

"St Patrick's Breastplate/The Deer's Cry," translated by Kuno Meyer in Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donouhe