Daily Prayers for December 2
In 1980 Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel, and Jean Donovan were murdered by officers of the Salvadoran military. Missionaries serving among the poor during El Salvador’s civil war, these women knew, as Ita Ford said the night before she died, that “one who is committed to the poor must risk the same fate as the poor.” Their deaths affected the North American church deeply, galvanizing opposition to US support for the Salvadoran government’s repression of its -people.
O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you
as the day rises to meet the sun.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Song “Were You There?”
O Lord, listen to the song : of your saints who cry, “How long?”
Psalm 12:1 – 5
Help me, Lord, for there is no godly one left : the faithful have vanished from among us.
Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor : with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart.
Oh, that the Lord would cut off all smooth tongues : and close the lips that utter proud boasts!
Those who say, “With our tongue will we prevail : our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”
“Because the needy are oppressed, and the poor cry out in misery : I will rise up,” says the Lord, “and give them the help they long for.”
O Lord, listen to the song : of your saints who cry, “How long?”
Isaiah 1:10 – 20 Luke 20:9 – 18
O Lord, listen to the song : of your saints who cry, “How long?”
Ita Ford wrote, “The reasons why so many -people are being killed are quite complicated, yet there are some clear, simple strands. One is that -people have found a meaning to live, to sacrifice, struggle, and even die. And whether their life spans sixteen years, sixty, or ninety, for them their life has had a purpose. In many ways, they are fortunate -people.”
Prayers for Others
Our Father
Lord, it was not enough for you to care for the poor. You chose to become one of them by descending as you did. Keep us free from fear and selfish preoccupations that we may walk as you walked among the poor, sick, and dying in body and spirit. Amen.
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;
may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;
may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;
may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.
