Praying for Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico

Worship Monday, July 20th, 2009
Praying for Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico

This liturgy was put together by Suzanne Tomaiouli as we prayed according the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle for Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico


Welcome and Opening Remarks

Opening Hymn – Pescador de hombres/Lord, You Have Come to the Seashore
Verses 1 and 3 in Spanish, verse 2 and 4 in English

Prayer
Visionary God, architect of heaven and earth,
Unless we build in partnership with you we labour in vain.
Help us work to create cities modeled more faithfully on the plan of your Kingdom- communities where children are respected and encouraged, where young people can express themselves creatively, where the experience of old people is called on and valued
Where the insights and gifts of all God’s people are fully realised
Where shared gardens and plots bloom in once derelict places
Where all cultures and traditions are honoured and celebrated on soulful, carnival streets
Where gay couples can dance to the beat of their hearts
Homeless people are received with loving arms and open borders
News vendors cry Hosanna! All are fed and loved and set free…
O God, our maker, open our eyes to new possibilities and perspectives, organisations and projects, structures and outlooks….
Help us to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
To break down the barriers within ourselves that prevent us from reaching out to neighbours and making peace; to rebuild communities based on understanding and justice, illuminated with the true light of Christ. Amen

Neil Paynter

Reading from the Old Testament Judges 1: 1-8 (read in Spanish)
Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand. And Judah said unto Simeon his brother, Come up with me into my lot, that we may fight against the Canaanites; and I likewise will go with thee into thy lot. So Simeon went with him. And Judah went up; and the LORD delivered the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand: and they slew of them in Bezek ten thousand men. And they found Adonibezek in Bezek: and they fought against him, and they slew the Canaanites and the Perizzites. But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died. Now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem, and had taken it, and smitten it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire.

Gospel Mathew 5:16-25
You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother[b]will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[c]' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny

Song – Peace Be To These Streets
1.Paz a este lugar, paz a este lugar
Paz a este lugar en el nombre del Señor

Refrain – Walk here, Lord, draw near, Lord, pass through these streets today, Bring healing, forgiveness, here let your living waters flow.

2.Amor en este lugar, amor en este lugar, amor en este lugar en el nombre del Señor Refrain

3.Paz a este lugar, paz a este lugar, Paz a este lugar en el nombre del Señor Refrain

Holy Ground Litany – Iona Community

City streets city centre outskirts, edges, margins, concrete jungle cardboard city wasteland urban wilderness Housing estate slum shanty town bed-sit penthouse dockside development barrio shipyard high rise tower block tenement prison shop doorway park bench street corner railway arches under bridges underground stations ghettos of poverty ghettos of privilege

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground

Brass knuckles revolvers hand grenades uzi machine guns STEN guns whips chains Broken bottles fists nails scratching tearing bleeding hating mines machetes

Quitense las sandalias, porque el suelo que pisan es sagrado.

Fences walls barbed wire noise din clamour chaos rubbish heat stench fast cars traffic jams exhaust fumes gridlock shopping malls multiplex cinemas parks playgrounds back yards allotments rooftop gardens church cathedral mosque gurdwara synagogue temple

Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground

Carnival procession orange parade street theatre street preacher buskers pavement artist street vendor big issue sir? Big issue, madam? Vagrants beggars users junkies wheelers and dealers

Vuélvanse y miren, no escondan sus rostros de Dios

Civil unrest racial tension rioting petrol bombs Molotov cocktails, gang killings, car hijacking burned out cars roadblocks barricades riot shields water cannon rubber bullets tear gas

Turn aside and look; do not hide your face from God

Neighbours strangers young old black white women men gay straight transgender lost found lonely in a crowd homeless on the streets curb crawlers street children pimps street workers soup runs night shelters credit unions dole queues needle exchanges pain healing poverty wealth

I have seen the misery of my people….I have heard their cry indeed I know their sufferings


Prayers of Intercession
– response ‘Our God, come and free us. Lord, come quickly to our help.’

We pray for peaceful settlements in border disputes between countries, for the comfort and healing of the families and loved ones of those who have been killed and for those who have simply disappeared without a trace, that due process of law will be achieved and just punishment meted out to their killers.
Our God, come and free us. Lord, come quickly to our help.’
We pray for an end to human rights abuses by the military, and the repentance and conversion of those who benefit from corruption and the drug trade. We pray for justice, education and empowerment for the indigenous peoples of these countries, as well as those who are unemployed, and those who must work in sweatshops under difficult and often dangerous conditions.
Our God, come and free us. Lord, come quickly to our help.’

We pray for street children and all those living in poverty. We pray for women forced into the sex trade or into migrating in order to support their families
Our God, come and free us. Lord, come quickly to our help.’

The Lord’s Prayer – in the language of your ‘heart’.

Christ has come to turn the world upside down:
To humble the powerful and to lift up the lowly
Christ has come to turn the tables:
To topple vain idols and to stand with the poor
Christ has come to proclaim God’s kingdom:
(men) to feed the hungry,
(women) to give sight to the blind,
(men) to strengthen the weary,
(women) to set the prisoners free.
Christ has come to turn the world upside down
To overthrow the present order with a revolution of love.

Blessing
May the God who shakes heaven and earth,
whom death could not contain,
who lives to disturb and heal us,
bless you with power to go forth
and proclaim the Gospel. Amen

Closing Hymn - Santo Santo Santo Los Querubines