Here’s a prayer of intercession for January 8 (the first Sunday after Epiphany) written by the people at World in Prayer, drawing on recent world events.
Prayers of the People: January 8, 2012
Jesus, lover of our whole being, in the season when we remember and celebrate the trek of the Wise men from Orient bringing gifts to you at your birth, we ask with [hymn-writer] Jane Marshall:
What gift can we bring, what present, what token?
What words can convey it, the joy of this day?
And along with our joy of knowing, and embracing, and living the story,
we bring what we have,
what we, humans, produce:
Our hope for a better tomorrow.
Our trembling commitment to walk the future with you.
Our veiled understanding that, if we want to find Jesus we should look into the dark and smelly places of this world and not from the comfort of our cozy living rooms.
But we also bring to you our tragedies, our shortcomings, our guilt, our frustration, our desperation; our hopelessness in our own capability to change anything in our heart, our world and our future.
Here you have some of our gifts to you.
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Julian Tives Leon, a 60 years old man was in line on a bank in Mexico City, Mexico on Tuesday just after 9 AM, waiting to make a transaction when he suffered a heart attack. He died a painful death among indifferent customers who did not want to lose their place in the line, and uncaring bank staff too busy to help.
As we care more for our own business that other’s people lives;
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Lalita Tati, a seven years old girl, disappeared two months ago in a wooded area of Bijapur, India. She was found dead. Some relatives offered her as a sacrifice to a local goddess. It is customary in that area to sacrifice an animal every year and a young girl every twelve years to ensure a good harvest.
As we care more for our own business that other’s people lives;
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Amanda Cummings, a 15-year-old, jumped in front of a Staten Island bus carrying a suicide note, on Dec. 27, distraught because she was the target of bullying at her school.
As we care more for our own business that other’s people lives;
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Sahar Gul, a 15-year-old Afghan wife, was tortured and locked away in a toilet by her husband Ghulam Sakhi, 30, and in-laws for months after she refused to become a prostitute. She was in critical condition when she was rescued from a house in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province last week.
As we care more for our own business that other’s people lives;
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Christians, in North Nigeria, have been warned by a militant Islamist group to leave their land or be attacked. A spokesman for Boko Haram, said the terror group was “giving a three-day ultimatum to the southerners living in the northern part of Nigeria to move away.” The group has been linked to many attacks on Christians.
As we care more for our own business that other’s people lives;
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Jesus, lover of our whole being, full of compassion and grace, these are some of our gifts to you. What are you going to do with them?
Have mercy on us, dear Jesus!
Have mercy!
Amen
— from World in Prayer, a ministry of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist Lodi, California, USA. Prayers are written by a team of writers representing different denominations throughout the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. Visit their web site at http://www.worldinprayer.org/
For more resources for January 8, 2012, click on Epiphany 1 B in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.
