Holy One,
Eighty years ago this month France, the Soviet Union (now Russia) the United Kingdom, and the United States used the rule of law in setting up a tribunal called the Nuremberg trials. Not outright execution (as was considered) but mindful prosecution brought justice as over two dozen Nazi leaders had their wartime crimes laid out in the light in that initial tribunal. We lift up the wisdom that generated this foundation, that set in place after the horror and degradation of two world wars the rule of law. This laid the basis for much of modern-day international law. Let us hold sacred our humanity — the beating heart of justice.
Lord, it is raining,
We pray for Palestine as winter rains are flooding tents, sewage plants are in need of fuel, UN supplies continue to be restricted. A ceasefire is laden with killing, abductions of children by the IDF of Israel and terror continues. We name the peoples of Bani Sheila, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, Deir al-Balah, Gaza City, Janslia, Khan Yunis, and Rafa. We hold these peoples that have endured so much, to now be displaced once again and now by water. May the UN Security Council plan on Gaza as voted this past Tuesday lead to a just peace. Notable in a letter submitted by the US; Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey endorsed the plan. Lord, release this sense of unending suffering by the Palestinian people. May we recognize Spirit in this moment.
God of space and terra firma,
sometimes it all seems so far away. We pray for China as an April launch of Astronauts Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Dong in April 2025 for China’s Shenzhou-20 space mission was complicated with space debris. They have now returned leaving behind three of their colleagues until another spacecraft can retrieve them. It is believed that a small piece of space debris damaged the shuttle.
Christ, you are here among us,
We ask for your deliverance:
We pray for asylum seeker Maribel Lopez abducted by US ice agents, detained and deported to Guatemala from where she originally fled from years of violence. She has been returned but continues to be detained; separated from her two-year old toddler and two young adult children since early September, when federal agents raided the nutrition-bar factory where she worked. Sustain her.
Spirit, we need story tellers,
As those journalists who tracked and documented Maribel’s horrendous journey, we hear this Saturday, November 15th how Pope Leo is seeking to be “partners in dialogue.” The Pope is meeting at the Vatican with over thirty directors, actors, and screenwriters. His call to recognize the importance of viewing film together in movie houses, the voice and spirit that the film making community itself generates and the cinema as a tool to explore poverty, disenfranchisement, war, and violence. His “workshop of hope” a call that such investigation deepens our humanity and recognition of the other.
We pray, Comforter,
for the resilient humanitarian organizations around the world and especially in Sudan, Gaza, and Jamaica. In Cuba a UN Plan of action continues to unfold addressing the devastation of hurricane Melissa.
Awaken us, God,
while at the same time we provide aid, we seem to take it away somewhere else. The Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) (Spain) reports the donor countries official developmental aid is being cut and will cause 22.6 million additional deaths with almost a quarter of those being children under five. We pause and cry: Lord have mercy. We pray for action that circumvents this future, that the lives cut short, the preventable deaths and suffering anticipated by 2030 is met by compassion and action. 93 low- and middle-income countries are bring impacted. This is 48% of all UN member states which includes 2 observer states (the Holy See and Palestine). Empower us to do your work among the marginalized.
We pray for common sense and peace as the US builds military presence in the Caribbean and in the proximity of Venezuela. We ask for diplomacy, contemplation and compassion. We cry out enough war. Enough subterfuge with clandestine or covert operations.
Creator, we are listening to the breathing of the 30,000 year old Amazon basin, its diversity and immeasurable value to peoples of this planet. Hear its many voices. You know this sacred space. It seems the balance of extraction and forest destruction versus preservation is being discussed by COP30 political leaders and corporate lobbyists this week. We name Brazil and Peru, Guyana, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, French Guiana, and Venezuela—countries who share the largest rainforest in the world—a supplier of life, nutrients and oxygen. Expand our consciousness on what it means to be stewards as indigenous peoples throughout the basin are demonstrating and demanding to be at the table.
Lead us, guide us, comfort us, and redeem us.
Amen.
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