Liturgy for Brazil and its indigenous peoples

Ecumenical Centre ~ Morning Prayer16 June 2008
Praying through the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle for Brazil and its Indigenous Peoples

Assurini Indians
At the border of the Tocantins River in Brazil, on the outskirts of the Amazon rainforest, fourteen Indian tribes competed in the First Traditional Indian Games of Pará (I Jogos Tradicionais Indigenas do Pará)

Welcome
L: On the behalf of all the peoples' father - Maíra* of everything -
On the behalf of the Son,
Who made all people brothers and sisters,
In the blood mixed with all bloods,
On the behalf of the Liberating Alliance.
On the behalf of the Light for all cultures.
On the behalf of Love which is in all loves.
On the behalf of the Land-without-Evil,
Lost in the profit, won in the sorrow,
on the behalf of the vanquished Death,
on the behalf of Life, we sing , O God! (from Missa da Terra sem Males)

*origin/completeness/ the land without evil

Song: Cantai ao Senhor (Thuma Mina # 3, sung in Portuguese)

Psalm 148

1 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!
3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike, old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

Aleluia (from Missa da Terra sem Males; see attached)

Gospel Reading: John 1: 1-14 (read in Portuguese)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

Aleluia (from Missa da Terra sem Males; first phrase only)

Telling the Story of the Land without Evil ~ Simei Monteiro

Intercessions (From WCC 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre)

L: Spirit of peace, fill all the world with your transforming presence.
May the leaders of all countries rule with maturity and justice.
May all nations have tranquility and their sons and daughters be blessed.
May the people and the flocks and the herds prosper and be free from illness.
May the fields bear much fruit and the land be fertile.
May the face of all enemies be turned towards peace.

Sung Response: Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara / Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara
(TM 46)

L: Spirit of unity, we pray for your church.
Fill your people with all truth and peace.
Where we are corrupt, purify us. Where we are in error, direct us.
Where anything in us is amiss, reform us. Where we are right, strengthen us.
Where we are in need, provide for us. Where we are divided, reunite us.

Sung Response: Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara / Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara

L: Spirit of love, watch over those who wake or watch or weep,
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend the sick, rest the weary, give courage to women in childbirth,
soothe the suffering, and bless the dying.

Sung Response: Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara / Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara

L: God of Creation, of planting, growth and harvest:
Sow the potential of your Word in our lives, in the midst of this world,
like seed broadcast across a field of fertile soil.
Through the presence of your Son, our Light and our Life,
nurture the tender shoots of faith as they grow strong and tall.
By the power of your Spirit, help us to reap a harvest
of honest belief, unity, justice, peace and love. Amen.

Sung Response: Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara / Oré poriaju vereko Ñandejara

Affirmation of Faith

L1: I believe in God, the Almighty that led the people
in exile, and in exodus,
the God of Joseph in Egypt
and of Daniel in Babylonia,
the God of foreigners and of immigrants.

L2: I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean,
who was born far from his people,
who fled from his country with his parents
when his life was in danger,
and when he returned to his own country
he suffered oppression
at the hands
of the tyrannical Pontius Pilate.
He was persecuted, beaten,
and finally tortured,
accused and condemned to death, unjustly.

All: But on the third day, this despised Jesus,
rose again from the dead,
not as a foreigner
but instead to offer us citizenship in heaven.

L1: I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the eternal immigrant
of the Reign of God among us,
who speaks all the languages,
who lives in all the countries,
and who joins together all the races.

L2: I believe in the Church as sanctuary
for the foreigner
and for all the believers who form it,
that speak the same language
and have a common purpose.

All: I believe in the Communion of the Saints
that begins when we accept
the diversity of the saints.

L1: I believe in forgiveness that puts everyone
on the same footing of equality,
and I believe in reconciliation,
that identifies us, one to the other,
much more than race, language or nationality
identifies us.

All: I believe in resurrection,
the moment in which God will unite us
as one people
and all of us will be unique,
but at the same time alike.

Beyond this world,
I believe in eternal life,
in which no one will be an immigrant,
but instead citizens of
the infinite Reign of God. Amen.
(A Creed for the Immigrants: José Luis Casa, translated by: Kelly Ray)

Song: A little beyond this our time (see attached)

Final Compromise

L: America, Ameríndia, still Passion:
One day your death
Will have resurrection!
The Easter we eat
Feed us with the time to come.
We will be your peoples
The people who are to come.
The poor of this earth

All: We want to invent,
this Land without Evil
That comes each morning.
Uirás* always looking for
A Land that will come...
Maíra in the origins.
At the end, Marana-tha. Amen

*human beings

Blessing

L: Let us ask for God's blessing:

All: May the blessing of the God of peace and justice be with us;
May the blessing of the Son who weeps the tears of the world’s suffering
be with us;
And may the blessing of the Spirit
who inspires us to reconciliation and hope be with us;
from now into eternity. Amen