Here’s a prayer litany for Labor Day. It was posted on the Illinois Great Rivers Conference
website.
Litany of Labor
Let us pray to the Lord of all creation,
from whom comes life and work and purpose.
Almighty God,
when you formed us lovingly out of the dust of the
earth,
you breathed into us the breath of life
and gave us work and purpose for living.
You placed Adam in the garden of Eden to till and keep it.
Through our work,
you made us co-creators with you,
shaping the world in which we live.
You gave dignity to our labor
by sending your Son to labor with us.
By our labor, you enrich the world.
By our labor, we enjoy the fruits of creation.
By our labor, we find direction and purpose.
By our labor, our families are made secure.
For providing varieties of work and for blessing us by
our labor:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those who plow the field and those who make the
plow;
for farmers and farm workers, for steelworkers and machinists;
for those who work with their hands and those who move
the earth:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those who tend the sick and those who seek new
cures;
for doctors and nurses, for scientists and
technicians;
for those who keep notes and those who transcribe:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those who think and those who create;
for inventors and explorers, for artists and
musicians;
for those who write books and those who entertain:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those who work in offices and those who work in
warehouses;
for secretaries and receptionists, for stockers and
bookkeepers;
for those who market products and for those who move
them:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those who inspire our minds and those who motivate
us;
for teachers and preachers, for public servants and
religious servants;
those who help the poor and those who work with our
children:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those whose labor is tidiness and cleanliness;
for janitors and sanitary workers, for drycleaners and
maids;
for those who produce cleaning products and those who
use them:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
For those who sail the waves and those who fly the
skies;
for captains and attendants, for astronauts and deep
sea divers;
for those who chart and those who navigate:
We give you thanks, O Lord.
You bless us all with skills and gifts for labor.
You provide us opportunities to use them,
for the benefit of others as well as ourselves.
Guard and protect those who labor in the world.
Bless the work of our hands, O Lord.
Look kindly upon the unemployed and the disabled.
Give health to the sick, hope to the bereaved.
Keep us from laboring only for greed.
Make us loving and responsible in all that we do.
Creator Lord,
you are the source of all wisdom and purpose,
you are the blessing of those who labor.
Be with us in our labor to guide and govern our world.
Give all men and women work that enhances human
dignity
and bonds us to one another.
Give us pride in our work, a fair return for our
labor,
and joy in knowing that our work finds its source in
you;
through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
~ posted on the Illinois
Great Rivers Conference website. http://www.igrc.org/pages/detail/2100
