We Are Called to Solidarity with Those in Distress
Leader: From ancient times, God has called us to go to the help of those in distress. The words of Psalm 107 speak to us today of migrant families and their precarious existence and God’s abiding love and care for those in peril.
Reader: (Psalm 107: 1 – 9, 41 – 43)
“Give thanks to the Lord who is good, whose love endures forever!”
Let that be the prayer of the Lord’s redeemed, those redeemed from the hand of the foe,
Those gathered from foreign lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Some had lost their way in a barren desert; found no path toward a city to live in.
They were hungry and thirsty; their life was ebbing away.
In their distress they cried to the Lord, who rescued them in their peril,
Guided them by a direct path so they reached a city to live in.
Let them thank the Lord for such kindness, such wondrous deeds for mere mortals.
For he satisfied the thirsty, filled the hungry with good things.
While the poor were released from their affliction; their families increased like their flocks.
The upright saw this and rejoiced; all wickedness shut its mouth.
Whoever is wise will take note of these things, will ponder the merciful deeds of the Lord.
All: Grant, O God, that your life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatred cease; that we see your will and respond with even greater love and care for our brothers and sisters, our neighbors; that they find a place they may call home and live in justice and peace. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
National Migration Week is January 4 – 10, 2015
