Thanksgiving prayer

O God, when I have food,
   help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work,
   help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a home,
   help me to remember those who have no home at all;
When I am without pain,
   help me to remember those who suffer,
And remembering,
   help me to destroy my complacency;
   bestir my compassion,
   and be concerned enough to help;
By word and deed,
   those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Amen.

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Central American Lord’s Prayer

In the name of Jesus

 
Our Father,
  who is in us here on earth,
holy is your name
  in the hungry
  who share their bread and their song.
Your Kingdom come,
  which is a generous land
  which flows with milk and honey.
Let us do your will,
  standing up when all are sitting down,
  and raising our voice
  when all are silent.
You are giving us our daily bread
  in the song of the bird
  and the miracle of the corn.
Forgive us
  for keeping silent in the face of injustice,
  and for burying our dreams,
  for not sharing bread and wine,
  love and the land,
  among us, now.
Don’t let us fall into temptation
  of shutting the door through fear;
  of resigning ourselves to hunger and injustice;
  of taking up the same arms as the enemy.
But deliver us from evil.
Give us the perseverance and the solidarity
  to look for love,
  even if the path has not yet been trodden,
  even if we fall;
so we shall have known your kingdom
which is being built for ever and ever.
Amen.
 

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True Hospitality

God of the Widow at Zarephath,
God of Joseph the Forgiver,
we stand in awe of people
   who showed hospitality
   in the midst of sacrifice and betrayal.
Take us deep into the heart of hospitality.
Help us to understand
   that the generosity the world needs
   often demands sacrifice on our part.
Be with those who have never known
   a table blessed by laughter and welcome,
   who have seldom heard affirmations
   and who do not know your abiding love.
Remind us, O God, that we are to set many tables,
   to speak blessings often and to be your love in the world.
In the name of Christ we pray. Amen

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Blessed are the poor

We are mindful, O God,
  that You dwell among the lowliest people of the Earth,
  that You sit on the dust-heap among those in the slums and those in prison,
  that You are present with the juvenile delinquents and the homeless,
  that You throng with the beggars seeking bread,
  that You suffer with the sick,
  and that You stand in line with the unemployed.
May we be mindful that when we forget the unemployed, we forget You.

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