Dear Friends,
We hope that you are safe and well!
Our Meditation today highlights World Refugee Day with prayers and a call to action.
We invite you to join us as we commit ourselves to working tirelessly to end systemic and structural racism in our society, in healthcare, in the workplace, in the Church--wherever it shows up so that everyone may come to have more abundant life. May this meditation nourish our contemplative-active hearts and sustain all of us in action.
In the spirit of our philosophy of co-creating community and our awareness that the Spirit speaks through each of us, we invite you to share your meditations with us as well. We truly believe that in God’s economy of abundance, when we share our blessings, our thoughts, our feelings, we are all made richer.
We hope and pray that you and your loved ones experience genuine peace of mind and heart, and remain in good health during this challenging time.
As Summer unfolds, may you find peace, healing, hope, and the infusion of joy in your life!
With our love and care,
Ron & Jean
MEDITATION 391: World Refugee Day: Prayers and a Call to Action
As we recognize World Refugee Day on June 20, honoring the strength of all who have fled conflict and persecution, let us also keep in mind how we can better welcome those fleeing persecution at our southern border.
PRAYER FOR IMMIGRANTS AND ASYLUM SEEKERS
God of rebirth,
we pray for immigrant adults and children
who have been forced to leave behind
all that they have ever known.
Heal them from the trauma of
fear, deprivation, loss and abuse.
Comfort them
and give them peace and wholeness.
Prepare us to be welcoming friends
who relieve their uncertainty.
Accompany your people, O God.
Lead us in active ways of love for our neighbors
who have no place to call home
or lay their heads this night.
Clothe us in the armor of light
to serve and tend the needs of refugees
and all who flee violence.
Strengthen us that we may be balm
in a wounded world.
(Lutheran Immigrant and Refugees Services)
Give Us Hearts
God of love and compassion: may we always recognize your spirit:
in the refugee family, seeking safety from violence;
in the migrant worker, bringing food to our tables;
in the asylum-seekers, seeking justice for their families;
in the unaccompanied child, traveling in a dangerous world.
Give us hearts that break open whenever our brothers and sisters turn to us.
Give us hearts that no longer turn deaf to their voices in times of need;
Give us eyes to recognize a moment for grace instead of a threat.
Give us voices that fail to remain silent but which decide instead to advocate prophetically.
Give us hands that reach out in welcome, but also in work, for a world of justice until all homelands are safe and secure.
Bless us, O God...
- Fr. Dan Hartnett S.J.