Art as Justice

The FSPA Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation committee offers these prayers as points of reflection as we journey as a community with the struggle for justice, but in particular the struggle for justice with immigration.

 

 

May the fire of Easter and resurrection build in us the courage to embrace our whole community as one and challenge the racism that divides us as a nation and prevents justice for immigrants.

Generation Between the Fires

We are the generation that stands between the fires:
behind us the flame and smoke
that rose from Auschwitz and Hiroshima;
before us the nightmare of a Flood of Fire,
the flame and smoke that consume all Earth.

It is our task to make from fire not an all-consuming blaze
but the light in which we see each other fully.

All of us different,
all of us bearing One Spark.

We light these fires to see more clearly
that the Earth and all who live as part of it
are not for burning.

We light these fires to see more clearly
the rainbow in our many colored faces.

Blessed is the One within the many.
Blessed are the Many who make One.
Arthur Waskow

 

 

For migrants who are forced on dangerous journeys as they seek communities where they may earn enough income to provide for their own dear loved ones.

Mother of Exiles

Mother of Exiles, Shelter of the Homeless,
we are in need of your mercy.

We ask your blessing on your children everywhere
who are in danger today.

Bless all who suffer from injustice.
Shelter them in the warmth of your love
and safeguard them from the evil that rages around them.

Turn our eyes and hearts to their needs
and give us the courage to act for their good.

We ask this, relying on your compassion
and confident of your love.
Pat Kozak

 

 

For earth community as we struggle to be present to the needs of the day in particular the struggle of migrant sisters and brothers.

May our eyes

May our eyes remain open even in the face of tragedy.
May we not become disheartened.
May we find in the dissolution
of our apathy and denial
the cup of the broken heart.

May we discover the gift of the fire burning
in the inner chamber of our being
burning great and bright enough
to transform any poison.

May we offer the power of our sorrow to the service
of something greater than ourselves.

May our guilt not rise up to form
yet another defensive wall.

May the suffering purify and not paralyze us.
May we endure; may sorrow bond us and not separate us.

May we realize the greatness of our sorrow
and not run from its flame or touch.

May clarity be our ally and wisdom our support.
May our wrath be cleansing, cutting through
the confusion of denial and greed.

May we not be afraid to see or speak our truth.
May the bleakness of the wasteland be dispelled.

May the soul’s journey be revealed and
the true hunger be fed.

May we be forgiven for what we have forgotten
and blessed with the remembrance of
who we really are.
The Terma Collective

 

 

For all those on the migrant journey who face the reality of “parting" from family, land and home.

Partings

Torn from her far beginnings,
the moon was once earth,
a daughter whose leaving broke land to pieces.
Here is the scar of rupture,
this ocean of ancient rain
that still rises
and falls with the moon’s turning dance
around her mother.

This is what it means to be mother and child,
to wear the skin of ancestors,
the mother’s stolen lands
carried on the face of the other.

Earth tells her,
return all lies to their broken source,
trust in the strange science of healing.
Believe the medicine of your own hand.
Believe that emptiness is the full
dance between us
and let it grow.

It is a road of deliverance
sure as the path Moses pulled
between the red, uncertain waters
and others followed.

Think of the place
where a continent divides
and water falls away from itself.

Think of the midwife
whose knife made two lives
where there was only one.
She had mastered the way
of beautiful partings.
Linda Hogan

 

 

Prayer for Migrant Domestic Workers

Blessed are the women who care for others children in
order to provide for their own,
Who leave their homes, their families, their friends and their
cultures,
Who do all of this, not by choice, but by force of necessity.
Blessed is their strength.
Blessed is their courage.
Blessed is their sacrifice.
Blessed are the children who must grow up without their
mother's care,
Who experience loneliness and sadness at the great void in
their lives.
Blessed is their strength.
Blessed is their courage.
Blessed is their sacrifice.
Cursed is the global economic system that impoverishes
billions of women, men and children throughout the world.
Cursed are those who take advantage of these women as
they seek to provide for their families, denying them their
rights and their dignity.
Cursed are those who see the suffering of these women and
do nothing.
Blessed be the communities of people that are impoverished,
underemployed and hungry due to unjust economic conditions
dictated by the countries of the North.
Blessed be these communities that lose woman after woman
as they leave to find work in the countries of the North.
Blessed be these communities as the children grow up in
them without mothers.
O God, we confess to you that we have allowed our hearts
to harden: we are filled with selfish desires and apathy
towards the suffering. Heal us with your life-giving Spirit of
love. Help us to work compassionately and mercifully for a
more just world.
Amen.
Source: www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

Reflections on migrant workers

When it comes to setting women free from every kind of exploitation and domination, the Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ himself.

Transcending the established norms of his own culture, Jesus treated women with openness, respect,
acceptance and tenderness. In this way he honored the dignity which women have always possessed according to God’s plan and in his love. As we look to Christ . . . it is natural to ask ourselves: how much of his message has been heard and acted upon?

Letter of Pope John Paul II to Women, #3
[Emigration in search of work] is an age-old phenomenon which nevertheless continues to be repeated and is still today very widespread as a result of the complexities of modern life. Emigration in search of work must in no way become an opportunity for financial or social exploitation. As regards the work relationship, the same criteria should be applied to immigrant workers as to all other workers in the society concerned. The value of work should be measured by the same standard and not according to the difference in nationality, religion or race. For even greater reason the situation of constraint in which the emigrant may find himself should not be exploited. Pope John Paul II, Laborem Exercens, #23

Source: www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

Prayer for Migrant Women

O God, Creator of the heavens and of earth,
Help us to see one another through eyes
Enlightened by understanding and compassion.
Help us to listen to the voices of all of our sisters throughout
the world with respect and attention.
Open our ears to the cries of women who have been denied
their rights and their dignity.
Empower us to be instruments of justice for all,
For in the wholeness of Christ,
all mothers are our own mothers,
and we are one.
Amen.

Source: www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

We Pray for Immigrants

Our immigrants brothers and sisters arrive in our
country after long, arduous journeys. They come in
response to the pressures of poverty at home.

We pray for the immigrants in this land.

They come to fill an economic gap in our country;
they accept jobs that our workforce does not want.
They often experience terrible conditions on the job.
We pray for immigrants and for workplace rules
to protect their dignity.

We are sorrowful for the misconceptions held by so
many people in our nation of immigrants as lazy,
and as receiving undeserved benefits.

We pray for recognition in our society that
immigrants pay much more in taxes than they
receive in benefits.

Our policymakers are currently entrenched in a
battle about immigration legislation. Some are
tempted to ignore the human aspects of immigration,
to make undocumented immigrants felons, and
to spend millions on border security without giving
immigrants who are already here a path to citizenship.

Change the hearts of our leaders, Lord of all.

Change our own hearts and inspire us to call
for comprehensive immigration reform that
includes a path to citizenship and a bright
future for our undocumented sisters and brothers.
Amen.

Source: www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

Prayer to Change Our Hearts, Our Policies

Undocumented persons among us are often accused of breaking the law. Instead, it is our poverty-producing policies which have broken the law of human dignity.
Change our hearts and our policies, O God.
Our leaders sometimes see these persons as a burden. Yet, if we came from a life without opportunities, wouldn’t we do the same?
Change our hearts and our policies, O God.
We long for a more just world, where families need not be separated for lack of opportunity. Inspire us to challenge the systems and structures that perpetuate poverty.
Change our hearts and our policies, O God.
Amen.
- prayer by Jill Rauh www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

Prayer to Jesus, the Immigrant

Jesus, as an infant you fled to Egypt with your mother Mary and Joseph.
You were a vulnerable family in a foreign land, looking for shelter and sustenance.
Help us to welcome those like you who cross our borders today.
Give us hearts of compassion, humane response,
And laws that respect the dignity of all immigrants. Amen.
Source: www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

A quote from Catholic social teaching:

"The simple truth is clear: We must welcome the stranger, for in his or her face we see Christ.
Sadly, the migration experience today, according to the bishops of both [the U.S. and Mexico],
is far from the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed. . . . The church in the United States is
very, very Hispanic and what a blessing that is. They (Hispanic immigrants) come with the
values that are so needed in the United States today. When there is a moral issue that concerns
so many of our people, we have to speak. This is a special moment in the history of the
Catholic church and the history of migration."

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick at the Strangers No Longer: Together on a Journey of Hope conference in El Paso,
Texas, on June 24, 2005. www.educationforjustice.org

 

 

Speak to Us, God

Speak to us, O God.
We live in a time where fear of the "other" dominates
public discourse. Help us hear your voice.
Wisen us, O God.
Help us to see national security as a not only military,
but also human, issue.
Call us, O God.
Put a calling in our hearts to challenge unjust policies
that increase poverty abroad and create the need for
immigration to the U.S.
Move us, O God.
May the words of the bishops, which call for an approach
to immigration that goes beyond "enforcement only," challenge us. Amen.
by Jill Rauh, Education for Justice, www.educationforjustice.org

 

Prayer for Our Nation of Immigrants

God, we are a nation of immigrants. We pray
that you would make us more compassionate
toward our sisters and brothers who come to the
U.S. looking for a decent job and to be reunited
with family members.
As people of faith, help us to call for immigration
policies that better reflect the dignity of every
person who crosses our borders. Amen.

Source: www.educationforjustice.org

 

Gifts
by Kathy Roberg, FSPA

People gifts, glories untold, unwrap, untie, layers unfold.
Gifts that are small, un-noticed by those around, can hold treasures yet to be found.

Unwrap the external person you are, untie the knots and the tightness in me.
Open with care - fragile within - but once discovered - new life will begin.

Gifts that are flashy and loudly declare
something of value deep down there.
Persons such gifted seem safe and secure and only the gifter knows gifts that are pure.

Gifts can come simply brown paper and cord, these may be the person gifts close to the Lord.

A gift may be elegant in golden adorn, these may hide person gifts broken and torn.

Gifts may be wrinkled and battered from giving, person gifts worn out from a lifetime of living.

No matter the person gifts, forgotten or awed, All are inspirations, gifted by God.