“Let it be with me according to your word.”
–Mary, on learning that she was to bear the son of God (Luke 1:38)
Let it be with us, according to Your word.
Let the hungry be filled with good things.
Let the lowly be lifted up.
Let the mighty be cast down.
Let your promise of mercy take root throughout all humankind.
Let it be with us according to Your word, for the least among us
- In the United States, castigated by a United Nations poverty and human rights investigation for having one of the highest rates of income inequality in the developed world, with low-income residents often being marginalized with little support from the government and few opportunities to climb out of poverty. The same report said that the massive tax reform bill just passed will turn the U.S. into “the World Champion of Extreme Inequality.”
- In Benin, where a two-year pilot project funded by the World Bank virtually stopped child slavery in the central commune of Za-Kpota. Just giving each family $6 per month provided them with enough income that they no longer needed to sell their children to labor in Nigerian mines, and instead were able to keep them home and send them to school.
- In Tanzania, after President John Magufuli pardoned singer Nguza Viking and his son Johnson Nguza for raping 10 primary school girls, aged between six and eight, in 2003. The pardon has been denounced by Human Rights Watch and Equality Now as promoting a culture of human rights violations in which young victims of sexual violence are being punished while perpetrators are going free.
- Children affected by wars in the Middle East, especially those displaced in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. A five-year grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will bring a local version of “Sesame Street” to an estimated 9.4 million children, teaching reading, language, and other skills.
Let it be with us according to Your word, for the mighty among us
- Following the election in Catalonia, Spain, where the separatist parties won a slim, smaller majority in the new Assembly.
- As the new leader of South Africa’s governing African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, pledges to fight corruption and pursue a policy of “radical economic transformation”.
- In Honduras, where a chaotic presidential election in Honduras—involving unexplained computer malfunctions and possible vote rigging—has ended with the country’s electoral commission proclaiming the incumbent president, Juan Orlando Hernandez, the winner.
- After U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – an act immediately and overwhelmingly condemned by the United Nations General Assembly.
Let it be with us according to Your word, for all who are sorrow-filled and all who are joyful.
Show us your mercy, that we all may proclaim,
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Leave a Comment or Prayer