Brand New Faith-Based Resources Available
Resource Updates: We are now publishing several faith-based resources that have been created this year by Duke Divinity Intern, Taylor Dellastatious Pfaff. Should you like to integrate these resources into your congregation, personal devotional life, or ministry context, please download and do so! These resources have been added to our two recently updated resource pages, […]
Oraciones para los Trabajores Agrícolas y Migrantes
Permision para reproducir mateiales de NFWM no es necesario, pero favor de citar a NFWM como fuente.
Oración Inicial
Líder. Recordemos las palabras de Cesar Chávez: “Cada vez que por la noche o por la mañana disfrutamos de las fruta y verduras sobre nuestra mesa que nuestra rica tierra nos da, recuerden que vienen del trabajo de los hombres y mujeres niños y niñas que han sido explotados por generaciones…”
Dios todo poderoso, a menudo ignoramos poner atención, no nos detenemos a pensar, que hasta ahora en día, la injusticia continua siendo un ingrediente invisible en muchos de los alimentos que comemos. Señor, sacúdenos para despertar, abre nuestros ojos para ver el poder y obligación que tenemos como consumidores y así ayudar a poner bien las cosas. La justicia lo exige. El amor lo exige.
Oración del Campesino en la Lucha — Cesar E. Chávez
Enséñame el sufrimiento de los más desafortunados; Así conoceré el dolor de mi pueblo.
Libérame a orar por los demás; Porque estas presente en cada persona.
Ayúdame a tomar responsabilidad de mi propia vida; Solo así, seré libre al fin.
Concédeme valentía para servir al prójimo; Porque en la entrega hay vida verdadera.
Concédeme honradez y paciencia; Para que yo pueda trabajar junto con otros trabajadores.
Alumbranos con el canto y la celebración; Para que levanten el Espíritu entre nosotros.
Que el Espíritu florezca y crezca; Para que no nos cansemos en la lucha.
Nos acordamos de los que han caído por la justicia; Porque a nosotros han entregado sus vidas.
Ayúdanos a amar aun a los que nos odian; Así podremos cambiar el mundo.
Oración por Mis Hermanos Migrantes
En la pared en el Centro Comunitario de Atención al Migrante y Necesitado en Altar, México.
Corazón de Jesús lleno de amor y misericordia, quiero pedirte por mis hermanos migrantes. Ten piedad de ellos y protégelos, pues sufren maltratos y humillaciones en su caminar, son señalados por la mayoría como peligrosos, y marginados por ser extranjeros. Haz que les respetemos y valoremos su dignidad. Toca con tu bondad el corazón de cuantos les vemos pasar. Cuida a sus familias hasta que regresen a sus casas, no con el corazón roto sino con sus esperanzas calmadas. Así sea.
Oración para la Semana del Trabajador Agrícola Migrante
Padre Nuestro, Dios de bondad, Tu que nos das la tierra para cosechar nuestro alimento escucha las oraciones de tus hijos, y da a todos los que trabajan en los campos plena justicia y dignidad humana. Ayúdanos a poner el espíritu de Cristo en todas nuestras labores diarias, para que estos esfuerzos produzcan una rica cosecha de amor, justicia y paz. Te lo pedimos en el nombre de Cristo, Nuestro Señor.
Bendiciones de La Mesa
de NFWM Cosecha de Justicia
Amante Dios, día a día hay hombres, mujeres y niños cruzando la frontera de los Estados Unidos y emprendiendo el viaje peligroso al norte. Una frontera hecha por seres humanos, no por Ti.
Rogamos, Dios, por Tu ayuda en deshacer las fronteras que hemos creado alrededor de nuestros corazones, para que veamos tu rostro en cada persona, y para que aprendamos a amar y dar la bienvenida a cado uno de tus hijos e hijas como miembros de un pueblo, un mundo, un Dios.
O Dios de libertad! Así como Moisés, nosotros también clamamos, “Deja salir a mi pueblo.” Que todos vayan donde abunda la vida que tu has prometido. Que los que tienen poder aprendan a usarlo con justicia. Que los que cosechan la comida sean alimentados al igual como nosotros. Aliméntanos bien con esta comida. Que nos fortalezca para seguir adelante en la lucha por romper las cadenas de la esclavitud, fructificando en una rica cosecha de justicia. Como Moisés, queremos ayudar a tu pueblo a encontrar la libertad. Amen
Dios Santo, fuente de rectitud y esperanza, ¿donde está Tú justicia si nosotros, tus seguidores, no la llevamos a cabo enfrentando las injusticias que Tú nos señalas? Cuando nos sentamos a la mesa a comer, abre nuestros corazones hacia los campesinos quienes diariamente sufren dolor y explotación para poder dar de comer a sus familias y a nosotros. Impúlsanos a actuar por su bienestar, ellos a quien dejamos marginados en nuestra sociedad. Ayúdanos a ser instrumentos de Tu justicia en el mundo
Dios misericordioso, unimos nuestras manos en oración, dándote gracias por los alimentos puestos sobre nuestra mesa. Te damos gracias por la vida y por todo lo que recibimos de ti. Ayúdanos para que tengamos presente las manos que prepararon estos dones, y especialmente las de los trabajadores del campo quienes han contribuido a la abundancia de estos dones. Abre nuestros corazones a las oportunidades maravillosas que tu amor nos presenta en la vida. Que esta comida nos sostenga en unión contigo, y con nuestras hermanas y hermanos para crear un mundo justo y humano. Te lo pedimos en tu Santo Nombre. Amen
Oración de Perdón
O Dios, hemos fallado en entender y aceptar las demandas que nos has dado por tu reino. Nos hemos unido a tus causas, pero hemos perdido interés. Prometimos ser valientes, pero nos encontramos con miedo. Queremos ser sensibles, pero nos encontramos como seres difíciles y duros. Se nos confronta con la gran oportunidad para el servicio en el trabajo por la justicia y paz, pero fallamos en tomar ventaja de ello. Perdónanos cuando permitimos que la comodidad se ponga en el medio del clamor y lucha del pobre, el hambriento, el enfermo, el prisionero. Hemos permitido cegarnos y nos hemos olvidado que lo que se haga con cualquiera de tus hijos lo estamos haciendo a ti. Ten piedad, O Dios y escucha nuestras confesiones. Toma nuestras limitaciones y conviértelas en posibilidades para Tu servicio. Amen.
Rito Penitencial
Celebrante: Hermanas y hermanos: Dios nos ha indicado lo que es bueno; y lo que nos pide es que actuemos en justicia, amemos de corazón y caminemos humildemente con nuestro Dios.
Líder: He visto a una familia que la han desalojado sin dinero, sin hogar, sin voz, sin trabajo. He visto a mujeres victimas y sin poder. He visto a hombres maltratados, humillados, tratados como inferiores, sin derechos. He hablado con niños explotados y sin esperanza de un futuro mejor.
Pueblo: O Dios, estamos frente a ti como aquellos que no pueden excusarse en decir: “Pero Señor, no lo sabíamos.” Porque nosotros sabemos que tu pregonas por tus hijos que sufren y por nosotros tus hijos complacientes y por toda la gente de la tierra.
Líder: He visto el sufrimiento en la gente, Dios. Yo he sentido tu presión para que nos preocupemos; he oído tu llamada a la acción.
Celebrante: Nos sentimos perdidos por la apatía y no nos atrevemos a tomar una posición o actuar positivamente cuando ha habido una oportunidad de lograr la justicia para bien de nuestras hermanas y hermanos. Pedimos tu perdón y estamos confiados en que lo tenemos, ya que estamos resueltos a cambiar. Despiértanos y haznos sentir tu amor para toda la humanidad, especialmente para tus pobres y oprimidos y que esto motive nuestros actos en su favor.
Declaración de Fe
Como pueblo de fe, creemos en la dignidad y la diversidad de todo ser humano y en la entereza de la tierra. Todos: AMEN!!
Juntos en nuestra tradición de fe, proclamamos que la compasión es más fuerte que el odio. Todos: AMEN!!
Elegimos vivir en comunidades justas y pacíficas construidas del respeto y la confianza. Todos: AMEN!!
Creemos que la fe puede conquistar al miedo y que nuestras más grandes alegrías llegar más allá que nuestros temores. Todos: AMEN!!
Hoy prometemos como comunidad construir comunidades saludables, comunidades de aceptación no con barreras sino con puentes. Todos: AMEN!!
Nos comprometemos a apoyar y proteger a nuestros hermanos y hermanas, con o sin documentos quienes laboran en los campos y quienes trabajan para obtener una mejor vida para si mismos y sus familias. Todos: AMEN!!
Oración Responsorial
Líder: En el amanecer y al final del día…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: En el soplo del viento, y en el frío del invierno…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: En el brotar de capullos y en el renacimiento de la primavera…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: En lo mas azul del cielo y en el calor del verano…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: En el bailar de las hojas y en la belleza del otoño…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: En el principio del año y cuando termina…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: Cuando estamos cansados y necesitamos fuerza…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: Cuando andamos perdidos y tristes del corazón…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: Cuando tenemos alegrías y queremos compartir…
Todos: Nosotros lo recordamos.
Líder: Mientras que vivamos nosotros, El también vivirá, porque El ya es parte de nosotros….
Todos: Así es como nosotros lo recordamos
Oración de Acción de Gracias
Líder: Oramos, Dios, en alegría y humildad por todas las grandes y simples alegrías; por lo débil en la tierra que ha confundido al fuerte.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Líder: Por los pájaros; por los niños y niñas y la alegría de su inocencia; por la alegría del trabajo intentado y logrado; por la alegría de la cosecha y la fiesta de la boda.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Líder: Por la gloria de Dios brillando en las vidas comunes; por los esposos y esposas proyectando complacerse el uno al otro; por los sacrificios de ambos por sus hijos.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Líder: Por todos los que han amado a la gente común y han llevado el dolor en sus corazones; por todos los santos en la oscuridad y los humildes.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Líder: Por la multitud de santos desconocidos y los ministros al campesino que han dado todo de si a los campesinos de América.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Líder: Por los hombres, mujeres, niñas y niños que nos alimentan, por sus líderes y por todos los que han arriesgado una vida a salvo y segura para servir su causa justa.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Líder: Y por cada uno de los que, creen y esperan y aman y trabajan y ríen juntos en una lucha común por la justicia y la paz.
Responda: ¡Gloria a ti O Dios!
Letanía de Acción de Gracias
Servicio Devocional, Convencion de FLOC
1. Dios Creador, al principio no había nada. Nada que tu hayas hecho. Nada que no hayas hecho. Todo dependía de tu decisión para hacer algo. Y estamos hechos a tu imagen.
Todos: Gracias a Dios!
2. Dios Creador, al principio pusiste la oscuridad en su lugar. Optaste por la luz por lo tanto por la esperanza y honestidad. Te negaste a estar complacido con sombras y medias verdades. Y estamos hechos a tu imagen.
Todos: Gracias a Dios!
3. Dios Creador, al principio hiciste distinciones. Sol y luna, mundo y cielo, tierra y mar, cada uno con su propósito propio para complementar a los otros. Las diferencias las hiciste parte del cuadro, las raíces, no los rebeldes a la armonía. Y estamos hechos a tu imagen.
Todos: Gracias a Dios!
5. Dios Creador, te damos gracias por las tantas victorias, lo cual solo pudo ser posible con una sola voz unida de los trabajadores agrícolas.
Todos: Gracias a Dios!
6. Dios Creador, te damos gracias por la ayuda de los consumidores a través del país quienes han tornado la lucha de los trabajadores como su lucha y quienes utilizan su poder de consumidor para apoyar la lucha por una justicia y dignidad en el campo.
Todos: Gracias a Dios!
7. Dios Creador, por los procesadores alimenticios y todos aquellos que controlan la industria agrícola, te pedimos les des la sabiduría para poner un valor superior en la gente que en las ganancias monetarias. Todos: Bendícenos Señor!
Oración Final
escrita por Su Eminencia Roger Cardinal Mahoney
Padre, Dios de bondad, nos das la tierra que nos proporciona alimentos. Escucha las oraciones de tu pueblo y dales a todos aquellos que trabajan la tierra una plena medida de dignidad humana y justicia. Que traigamos el espíritu de Cristo en todos nuestros esfuerzos, y que estos esfuerzos traigan una cosecha rica en justicia, paz, y amor. Te pedimos esto por Cristo nuestro Señor.
Todos responden: Amen.
A Contemplative Day: Buddhist Meal Prayers
Make copies and pass out to group to read aloud together before meal.
*
Over the full serving bowls of food, say:
In this food I see clearly
the presence of the entire universe
supporting my existence.
*
Looking into one’s own empty bowl, breathe in the suffering of all those whose bowls are empty while saying:
All living beings are struggling for life.
Breathe out while saying:
May they all have enough food
to eat today.
*
Food is served. Just before eating, see into the food and beyond the food to all the hands that brought it to you: the cooks, the grocery clerks, the truck drivers, the food processors, the farmers, etc., and hold them in gratitude and compassion while saying:
The plate is filled with food.
I am aware that each morsel
is the fruit
of much hard work
by those who produced it.
*
At the first mouthful, say:
With the first taste, I promise
to practice loving-kindness.
With the second, I promise
to relieve the suffering of others.
With the third,
I promise to see others’ joy as my own.
With the fourth,
I promise to learn the way of nonattachment and equanimity.
*
After the meal, say:
The plate is empty.
My hunger is satisfied.
I vow to live for the benefit
of all living beings.
Farm Worker Worship Service
Compiled by the National Farm Worker Ministry
OPENING PRAYER
Leader: Let us begin by recalling the words of Cesar Chavez: “Every time we sit at a table at night or in the morning to enjoy the fruits and grain and vegetables from our good earth, remember that they come from the work of men and women and children who have been exploited for generations…”
Lord Jesus, too often we don’t pay attention, we don’t stop to think that, even in this day and age, injustice remains an invisible ingredient in much of the food that we eat. Shake us awake, Lord, open our eyes to see our power and obligation as consumers to help put things right. Justice demands it. Love demands it.
SONG: WHATSOEVER YOU DO (or other appropriate song)
BEATITUDES OF THE FARM WORKER
Reader 1: I was hungry, and you said “We only deal with problems in the city, not in the rural areas.”
Reader 2: I was imprisoned, and you said you were sorry but there was nothing you could do.
Reader 3: I was naked, and you looked the other way as you passed Me by in your expensive three-piece suit.
Reader 4: I was sick with pesticide poisoning, and you never thought of the human cost in the vegetables on your table.
Reader 5: I was homeless, a migrant sleeping in My old car with My family of six, and you refused to see how your board members could make a difference.
Reader 6: I was grieving over My children, who never had a chance to get an education, and you said “Too bad” and continued with your business as usual.
Reader 7: Whatsoever you do to the least of My people, make no mistake, you do it to Me.
POSSIBLE READINGS
Matthew 10:34-39, Matthew 19:16-26, Luke 4:16-21, Mark 12:41-44, Luke 18:1-8
“Gandhi, King, Chavez, Mother Teresa, the nameless saints–they are all irritants, challenging the careful, comfortable ways we have organized our lives. Yet we love them. Why do we love them? It is only partly because of who they are. They give flesh to what they believe and thereby awaken a spirit deep within us. By their words and deeds they call forth that part of us that yearns to give life, to love mercy and to do justice. By living their lives the way they do they reach for what is deepest and best in each of us–pulling, organizing, putting our love for justice to work in practical ways that serve the poor. We respect and love ourselves more as we put into practice what we believe in our hearts; and we love, with a universal love, those persons who led us on that better way…” (The Rev. Wayne “Chris” Hartmire, founding director, NFWM)
“Most middle class church people will squirm out of taking responsibility for justice work if they have no direct stake in it. If not too much is asked, it’s all right. But when we contemplate deeper involvement we quickly think about possibly offending people we regularly see at church, at home, at work, or about losing our job, going to jail, getting embroiled in a long fight and not being able to get loose. Middle class people need poor people pulling them into action on behalf of justice and wholeness. Works of love and justice renew our always disintegrating integrity. People who were blessed and renewed in their work with the farm workers are an important reminder of the rewards of the Kingdom. These experiences enhance our understanding of the Beatitudes.” (Pat Hoffman, Ministry of the Dispossessed, Ventura, CA)
POSSIBLE SERMON / REFLECTION THEMES
1. God’s bias toward the poor and weak and the implications of this for our response to the farm workers’ struggle.
2. The difficulty of avoiding the issue of farm worker justice–we all eat, we are all consumers.
3. Jesus and the prophets as the challengers of the comfortable.
4. Justice as one way of practicing love in an imperfect world.
5. Why do we get tired of a justice struggle like the farm workers’ cause? How do some people stay with it?
6. Relating to the poorest of the poor: service as compared to servanthood, charity as compared to justice work, giving from one’s surplus time/money/energy as compared to sharing.
7. The farm workers and nonviolence.
SONG: HERE I AM, LORD (or other appropriate song)
CLOSING PRAYER (written by His Eminence Roger Cardinal Mahoney)
Father, God of goodness, you give us the land to provide us with food. Hear the prayers of your people and give all who work on that land a full measure of human dignity and justice. May we bring the spirit of Christ to all our efforts, and may these efforts yield a rich harvest of justice, peace, and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
All Respond: Amen.
CHARGE TO THOSE PRESENT
Leader: Listen to the words of Dorothy Day (Loaves and Fishes by Dorothy Day, Harper & Row, 1963):
“Young people say, ‘What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?’ They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. but we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transform all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes.
“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? When we begin to take the lowest place, to wash the feet of others, to love our brothers [and sisters] with that burning love, that passion, which led to the Cross, then we can truly say, ‘Now I have begun.'”
Let us begin with one action.
[Contact the National Farm Worker Ministry for current actions requested by farm worker organizations around the country. Choose which action(s) would be most appropriate for your group. Some actions can be done in a gathering, e.g., letter-writing, and some, e.g., making a phone call, can be done after participants have returned home from the service. All are valuable ways of aiding farm workers in their struggle for justice.]
Litanies and Responsive Prayers
LITANTY OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
From scripture and the words of Cesar Chavez
Leader: When we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us. So, it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of people we are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving do we find life.
Response: FOR WHOSOEVER WOULD SAVE HIS OR HER LIFE WILL LOSE IT, AND WHOEVER LOSES HIS OR HER LIFE FOR MY SAKE, WILL FIND IT.
Leader: But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. God gave us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth.
Response: THEREFORE, CHOOSE LIFE THAT YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS MAY LIVE.
Leader: Our struggle is not easy. Those who oppose us are rich and powerful and they have many allies in high places. We are poor. Our allies are few. But we have something the rich do not own. We have our bodies and our spirits and the just of our cause.
Response: FOR THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD IS WISER THAN HUMAN KIND, AND THE WEAKNESS OF GOD IS STRONGER THAN HUMAN KIND.
Leader: We can choose to use our lives for others to bring about a better and a more just world for our children. People who make that choice will know hardship and sacrifice. But if you give yourself totally to the non-violent struggle for peace and justice, you also find that people will give you their hearts and you will never go hungry and you will never be alone. In giving yourself, you will discover a whole new life full of meaning and love.
Response: BUT THEY WHO WAIT FOR THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH. THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH THE WINGS LIKE EAGLES. THEY SHALL RUN AND NOT BE WEARY: THEY SHALL WALK AND NOT FAINT.
Leader: What do we want the churches to do? We don’t ask for more cathedrals. We don’t ask for bigger churches or fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, as God among us. We ask the churches to sacrifice with the people for social justice, and for love of brother and sister. We don’t ask for words. We ask for deeds… a multitude of simple deeds for justice, carried out by men and women whose hearts are focused on the suffering of the poor and who yearn, with us, for a better world. Together, all things are possible!
Response: ASK AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU: SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND: KNOCK AND IT WILL BE OPENED TO YOU. AMEN. AMEN.
INTERCESSIONS
Leader: For the reconciliation of all people through the revolution of non-violent love…
Response: We pray, O God.
Leader: For churches and synagogues, that they may be humbled, reformed, united…
Response: We pray, O God.
Leader: For all poor and hungry, migrant workers, outcast and unemployed…
Response: We pray, O God.
Leader: For victims of discrimination, harassment and brutality…
Response: We pray, O God.
Leader: That farmworkers may someday win the justice they seek…
Response: We pray, O God.
Leader: That with compassion and fidelity we may work for a better world…
Response: We pray, O God.
Pause for Personal Intentions… (Respond: We pray, O God.)
Leader: For the labors of those whose backs are sore from bending, whose lungs cry for air free of dust and poisonous fumes, whose labors enable us to eat…
Response: We pray, O God.
AFFIRMATION OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
Leader: We believe in God,
Women: Whose breath gives energy for the struggle,
Men: Whose power goes beyond human weakness
Leader: We believe in Christ,
Women: Whose solidarity accompanies all our deaths,
Men: Whose life frees us to the resurrection.
Leader: We believe in the Spirit,
Women: Who liberates us from powerlessness
Men: And brings us toward all truth.
Leader: We believe in God the Holy Trinity,
All: Whose grace upholds our being, whose unity call us to be the church an to live out the hope of the Kingdom.
A CHRISTIAN CONFESSION
Leader: God, you send us truth-speakers like Isaiah and Jesus,
People: And we throw them out or nail them to crosses. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you send us truth-speakers of your Word,
People: And we claim they are extremists or radicals or idealists. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you send us truth-speakers,
People: And we divert our attention or turn up the TV or talk about “practicalities” so we won’t be disturbed. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you send us truth-speakers,
People: And we ignore them because they remind us that we are implicated in this injustice. Have mercy.
Leader: God, you incessantly send us truth-speakers,
People: And we seek to hide from your call to participate in bringing lasting justice. Have mercy on us all.
A THANKSGIVING LITANY
from Interfaith Worker Justice, www.nicwj.org
Speaker: O God of seed and harvest, the meal before us is a sight to behold and we are grateful.
Response: The meat and the vegetables, the fruit and bread, the drink and fellowship of this meal are gifts from Your mighty hand and outstretched arm
Speaker: This turkey has given up life so that we might have life.
Response: We are mindful of the sacrifice—the exchange of death for life—associated with our being fed and nourished.
Speaker: From egg to chick to bird to food, countless human hands have brought this turkey to our table.
Response: We are grateful for the farmers, the poultry plant workers, the shippers and market place workers, and those who have prepared this meal.
Speaker: We are sorry and repent for any suffering, abuse or exploitation that workers feel as the result of their labor on our behalf.
Response: We commit ourselves to eat this meal in peace, and rise from this table for work for justice and harmony on the earth and among the people of the earth.
ALL: Taste and see how good God is!
A CHRISTIAN LABOR DAY LITANY
from Interfaith Worker Justice, www.nicwj.org
Leader: O Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, on this Labor Day we thank You for Your care and loving concern for workers throughout the world. We remember all workers: men and women; young and old; all races, ethnic and language groups in Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Africa, North Africa, North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America and the Middle East. Help all working personal realize a deeper understanding of Your presence, and call them to do justice and build human community where they are employed.
Leader: For workers who face dangerous conditions or hazards in their work without sufficient warning or protection,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For all who face the conflicts of working and caring for children without adequate support,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For all workers who cannot find work and for whom unemployment assistance is not available,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For workers who are displaced by technical change or global pressures to relocate jobs,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For children whose childhood has been cut short because they are forced to work,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For all who face difficulties or are discriminated against in getting work or at the workplace because of race, gender, ethnicity, physical disabilities, political or religious beliefs or sexual orientation,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For all workers who have been affected by labor disputes or who have been discriminate against as a result of their union activity or because they sought justice in their place of employment,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer.
Leader: For all workers whose work is taken for granted, is unappreciated or lacks meaning,
All: Jesus, worker and carpenter from Nazareth, hear our prayer. Amen.
JUSTICE FOR FARMWORKERS
from Interfaith Worker Justice, www.nicwj.org
Leader: God of Seed and Harvest, we give thanks to You for Your graciousness. As Your people, we know that we are called to be attentive to the workers who harvest food for our tables. These workers often suffer hardships to bring us our feed. Keep us mindful of farmworkers and their struggles. Keep us attentive tot heir cries for justice and dignity. For the 20,000 strawberry workers of California, who work up to twelve hours a day in the fields without clean drinking water or bathrooms, and in the midst of pesticides.
All: We pray for the men and women in the fields to be loved more than the profits they bring.
Leader: For the fifteen thousand tomato workers in Southwest Florida who have organized for fair wages and working conditions, yet the tomato growers refuse to respond to the workers and recognize their union.
All: We pray for the courage to respond.
Leader: For the thousands of pickle workers who toil in six-hundred pickle farms in North Carolina. These workers earn only half what Ohio pickle workers make under union contracts.
All: We pray that ALL workers be treated with fairness and dignity.
Leader: For each farmworker whose average life span is only fifty years, compared to more than seventy for other Americans.
All: We pray for the courage to advocate for justice in an economy that deems some lives more valuable than others.
Leader: We give thanks for leaders like Cesar Chavez, who throughout history have advocated for the basic rights and freedoms of farmworkers. We pray that their vision for love and justice will continue to burn brightly.
All: O God, keep us mindful of farmworkers. Keep our ears open to their cries for justice. May we be nourished and strengthened to work for justice and compassion. Amen.
LITANY OF THANKS
from National Catholic Rural Life Conference www.ncrlc.com
Leader: For the gift of life and a place at the banquet of life,
Response: Let us always be thankful!
Leader: For America’s heritage of land and abundant resources,
Response: Let us always be thankful!
Leader: For the bread on our tables and the bread on our altars which sustains our life,
Response: Let us always be thankful!
Leader: For our families and the security their love gives us,
Response: Let us always be thankful!
Leader: For the blessings of a bountiful harvest and economic security,
Response: Let us always be thankful!
Leader: For the prophets and peacemakers everywhere in the world
Response: Let us always be thankful!
Add other prayers which you wish to voice, responding with “Let us always be thankful.”
CONFESSION AND PARDON
Unison: God of all ages and peoples, God of all times and beyond time, Hear our prayers.
Men: Forgive us, O loving Creator, for our deafness and blindness and muteness of spirit. Forgive us, 0 Lifegiver, for the evil we have wrought, the corrosion we have brought to the intricate sculpturing that is your creation
Women: Forgive us our participation in oppression, whether it be on the grand scale of government and church, or on the minor scale of family and home Forgive us those things we did with awareness as well as those things we did unaware of the dominance given us by accidents of wealth, nationality, color or gender.
Unison: We make our confessions of neglect, or corruption, Of failing to take ourselves seriously. We confess, trusting that these uplifted prayers. Already initiate the healing of all who dwell in lonely exile here.
Leader: The Good News is present among us. Even in our brokenness, in our separation from ourselves, from God and from one another, there is that Grace that makes us whole.
Let us turn to each other and extend the sign of forgiveness and peace. Peace be with you!
Unison: And also with you!
(Extend The Peace to those around you with an embrace, a kiss, or a handshake.)
PRAYER OF OFFERING
Leader: We offer and dedicate our gifts and lives to God.
Reader: We confront anew the way in which your power works, O Eternal One. You came as one of us — frail, human, limited and bound. Your power expressed itself in the gentle breathing of a newborn infant, in the stumbling of a child and in the frustrations of an adult.
You let us know that your power and your love are identical. We rejoice that you have extended your special care to all of us. We offer you our newly-discovered power, Which does not seek to coerce or dominate, But to enhance the wonder of your creation.
Leader: Accept our offerings, we pray. Loving God. Breathe into them and into us the possibilities of new life throughout the earth. Amen.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Leader: Let us praise God in gladness and humility for all great and simple joys; for the weak things of the earth which have confounded the strong.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
Leader: For birds; for children and the gladness of innocence; for the joy of work attempted and achieved; for the joy of harvest and the wedding feast.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
Leader: For the glory of God shining in common-place lives; for husband and wife scheming to please one another; for the sacrifices of both for their children.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
Leader: For all who have loved the common people and borne their sorrows in their hearts; for all obscure and humble saints.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
Leader: For the multitude of nameless saints and farm worker ministers who for nearly 80 years have given of themselves to the farm workers of America.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
Leader: For the men, women and children who feed us all, for their leaders and all who have risked a safe and secure life to serve their just cause.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
Leader: And for each other, who believe and hope and love and work and laugh together in a common struggle for justice and peace.
Response: Glory be to you. 0 God!
INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Leader: Let us seek God’s help in the struggle for justice for farm workers.
People: For the workers who harvest the food that comes to our tables, may they have a living wage. Lord, hear our prayer.
Leader: May the seeds of our actions produce a harvest of justice.
People: For the fruits of decent housing, health care, and hope for the future. Lord, hear our prayer.
Leader: May the church be filled with the Holy Spirit to be in solidarity with the workers.
People: For strength to the organizers who work for the fruits of justice. Lord, hear our prayer.
All: God bless our hearts and our hands in this harvest of justice. Amen.
PRAYER OF COMMITMENT
Leader: Are we the People who live for others? Whose human relations are charged with forgiveness?
Assembly: WITH GOD’S HELP. WE WILL BE THAT PEOPLE.
Leader: Are we the People who walk the second mile when one mile would do?
Assembly: WITH GOD’S HELP, WE WILL BE THAT PEOPLE.
Leader: Are we the ones who turn the other cheek? Who give the shirt off our backs when our coat is gone?
Assembly: WITH GOD’S HELP, WE WILL BE THAT PEOPLE.
Leader: Are we a community recognized and known by our love?
Assembly: WE PRAY THAT WE ARE THAT PEOPLE.
Leader: When the poor of the world ask us for bread, do we give them a stone? When they ask us for fish, do we reach them a serpent?
Assembly: NEVER. GOD HELP US; NEVER.
Leader: Do we care only for those who care about us? Do we serve only those who will tell us how grateful they are?
Assembly: NO, GOD HELP US; NEVER.
Leader: Are we the People who thirst for a Justice that promises cannot slake?
Assembly: YES, WE ARE THAT PEOPLE.
Leader: Are we the People who are restless enough to make peace? Who are strong enough to be gentle, and gentle enough, to resist violence?
Assembly: WITH GOD’S HELP, WE WILL BE THAT PEOPLE.
Leader: Are we the ones who take seriously our titles “-“Salt of the earth” — “Light of the world” —”Leaven of our society?”
Assembly: YES, WE ARE THE ONES.
Prayers
Blessing Prayer
Bless the hands of the people of the earth,
The hands that plant the seed,
The hands that bind the harvest,
The hands that carry the burden of life.
Soften the hands of the oppressor and
Strengthen the hands of the oppressed.
Bless the hands of the workers,
Bless the hands of those in power above them
That the measure they deal will be tempered
With justice and compassion. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Creator God we hold the seed of life that you have
given us, and we confess our need for:
a place to be planted
strength to break our shells,
nourishment for our roots,
light for our life,
We need weeding to rid our lives
of that which robs growth,
fruit to feed the future,
seeds to pass on for other plantings,
space to expand.
a place to die, and
something to return to
this soil that nurtured
our growth.
Lord God, Grower of all, give us a place where there is room to grow.
Prayer for All Needs
We beg you Lord,
to help and defend us.
Deliver the oppressed.
Pity the insignificant.
Raise the fallen.
Show yourself to the needy.
Heal the sick.
Bring back those of your people who have gone astray.
Feed the hungry.
Lift up the weak.
Take off the prisoner’s chains.
May every people come to know
that you alone are God,
that Jesus is your Child,
that we are your people, the sheep that you pasture.
Amen.
–Clement of Rome
A Prayer of the Heart
O God, as we place our needs before you, we ask to be cleansed of all that inhibits us from being a holy people who seek justice and peace in life. Renew our hearts and enable us to be faithful children of yours, nurturing creation as you would want. Amen.
A Blessing
May God, who comforts the downtrodden and the downcast, comfort you, give you courage to stand strong and steady and faithful in the midst of your problems, and in the heart to comfort others in their troubles as you yourself have been comforted, in the name of the Creator and of the Holy Spirit and of the Child and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace over a Thanksgiving Meal – 1
from Interfaith Worker Justice, www.nicwj.org
O God of seed and harvest, we pause to give thanks for the table set before us and the food that graces it.
[The people gathered take turns naming the various foods on the table being blessed, by saying, “thank you for the ____” until all the foods have been named.]
In a moment we will eat this food, harvested from many parts of the nation and world. It will be transformed into the flesh and blood of our bodies. Keep us mindful of the many workers who labor in field and factory to bring us this food.
From the bounty and nourishment of the meal, we dedicate ourselves to work to abolish poverty, unsafe working conditions, workplace abuse, and unjust wages among those who feed us through their labor.
We pray this in the name of the Creator God, who not only fed the Israelites in the desert but transformed simple folk like us into disciples for justice and peace. Amen.
Grace over a Thanksgiving Meal – 2
from Interfaith Worker Justice, www.nicwj.org
O God of seed and harvest, we come to this table mindful of Your graciousness.
It is truly a miracle that this food before us:
the Kansas wheat, the poultry from Alabama, the corn from Iowa, the potatoes from Idaho, the fruit from California, (foods from other regions may be added) becomes us.
Our eyes, our hearts, our hands, our bodies – alive with the cells and juices of our muscles, bones and flesh – are created and nourished by the food from your bountiful hand.
Keep us mindful of the workers whose labor makes our meal possible. May the nourishment of this meal strengthen us to work for justice and equity, in a compassionate and merciful way, among those who labor in the fields and workplaces to feed us. Amen.
Navajo Blessing
God is before us.
God is behind us.
God is above us.
God is below us.
God’s words shall come from our mouths
For we are God’s essence, a sign of God’s love.
All is finished in justice.
All is finished in justice.
All is finished in justice.
All is finished in justice.
Prayers to Be of Service to Others
from Erin Balleine, former NFWM Staff
May I be fertile ground for grapes of justice for you people today. Show me how and give me courage to work for justice. In Christ’s name. Amen. May my branch bring forth good fruit: peace, patience, and justice. May these flow like a river through my soul enabling me to reach out to hear and serve the needs of my neighbors. In Christ’s name. Amen
Let me be a vessel and an instrument as you work in me to fulfill your will. In the name of the Christ. Amen.
God, who is the Vine, please take away the briars and thorns that hide from the needs of your people. I would be a branch for justice. This night help me to know what you call me to do. Amen.
The leaders of the temple recognized that you were speaking about them. You speak to me also. Dear God, I would be a faithful tenant. Forgive my waywardness. Help me to produce your harvest. In Christ’s name. Amen.
Most gracious God, who causes all things beautiful to grow, may the seeds of love and compassion planted today blossom. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Prayer for My Brother and Sister Migrants
Prayer on the wall at CCAMYN (Centro Comunitario de Atencion Migrante y Necesitado) in Altar, Mexico.
Heart of Jesus full of love and mercy, I watch over my sister and brother migrants. Have pity on them and protect them; they suffer mistreatment and humiliations on their way, looked on as dangerous by most, and marginalized for being foreigners. Help us to respect them and appreciate their dignity. Touch with your goodness the hearts of we who see them pass by. Take care of their families until they return home, not with broken hearts but with their hopes fulfilled.
May it be so.
Prayer for Forgiveness
God, we have failed to understand and accept the great demands placed upon us by your kingdom. We have joined your causes, but have lost interest. We promised to be courageous, but find ourselves afraid. We want to be sensitive, but find ourselves hard and callous. We are confronted with great opportunities for service in the work of justice and peace, but fail to take advantage of them. Forgive us when we let our comfort stand in the way of the cries and struggles of the poor, the hungry, the sick, the prisoner. We have allowed our self to blind us and have forgotten that whatever is done to any one of your children is done to you. Have mercy, 0 God, and hear our confessions. Take our limitations and turn them into possibilities for service; Amen.
A Prayer for Work and Workers
from Edie Rassel, NFWM Board
Worker God, who intends good for all your children, we seek your wisdom and courage as we work to change the harsh conditions under which so many labor. We remember the farm-workers, the growers, and Taco Bell. We ask that we might be your witnesses for good work, fair pay, and human dignity. Amen.
Benediction
from Edie Rassel, NFWM Board
May God our creator, the one who calls us, transforms us, and redeems us, bless us with the courage, vision and strength to work for justice for all workers everywhere. Amen.
Prayer for Renewal
O God of Peace and Love, Renew our minds and our wills that we may sow love instead of hatred, Peace instead of violence, Equality instead of dominance.
O God of Mercy and Justice. Forgive us when we turn into pieces, forgive us when we say we love you, but do not feed your people. Forgive us when, for the sake of so-called security and development, we make life for others a series of torture, misery and death.
O God of Song, Dance and Tears of life, Enable us to work with love. Enlighten us to walk with faith. Empower us to peace with justice. Praise and thanks to our God. Hope and Peace to all! Amen.
Prayer for Mindfulness
Let us begin by recalling the words of Cesar Chavez: “Every time we sit at a table at night or in the morning to enjoy the fruits and grain and vegetables from our good earth, remember that they come from the work of men and women and children who have been exploited for generations…” Almighty God, too often we don’t pay attention, we don’t stop to think that, even in this day and age, injustice remains an invisible ingredient in much of the food that we eat. Shake us awake, O God, open our eyes to see our power and obligation as consumers to help put things right. Justice demands it. Love demands it.
Unison Prayer of Confession
We are workers, God, just like you. But we confess that our work is not always done in a manner that affirms and honors each other. Our work is not always done in a spirit that is pleasing to you. We confess that, on some occasions, we have blindly bought goods made by people who are paid too little or work in unsafe conditions. We admit that we have failed to end an unjust system in which some workers have jobs that provide good wages, health insurance, sick leave, a pension, paid vacations, and other benefits, while others have jobs that do not.
Creator God, help us to build a new world out of the ashes of the old, a world where all workers are valued. One where those who clean houses are also able to buy houses to live in. A world where those who grow food can also afford to eat their fill. And one where those who serve us B in stores, schools, nursing homes, and many other places B are also served by us. It will be a world where all workers everywhere share in the abundance that you have given us.
Words of Assurance:
Our God is a God of grace and transformation. When we ask, God will give us the courage and strength to live out our faith in the workplace and the marketplace, as well as in the sanctuary.
UFW Prayer
Show me the suffering of the most miserable, so I may know my people’s plight.
Free me to pray for others, for you are present in every person.
Help me to take responsibility for my own life, so that I can be free at last.
Grant me courage to serve others, for in service there is true life.
Give me honesty and patience, so that I can work with other workers.
Bring forth song and celebration, so that the Spirit will be alive among us.
Let the Spirit flourish and grow, so that we will never tire of the struggle.
Let us remember those who have died for justice, for they have given us life.
Help us love even those who hate us, so we can change the world. Amen.
NFWM and UFW Honor 15 fallen Farm Workers with Prayer Vigils
NFWM’s Christy Lafferty & Lucy Boutte join Maria’s uncle, Doroteo Jimenez (center) and others in the vigil on May 14, 2009 to honor Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, who died of heatstroke last year while laboring in a San Joaquin Valley vineyard under nearly triple digit temperatures. Photo by Jocelyn Sherman/UFW.
Each year, many farm workers are denied water, rest, and shade by their employers as they work for hours under the hot summer sun, despite laws in California to protect farm workers from these very violations. Last summer alone, 6 farm workers lost their lives. NFWM and the United Farm Workers held prayer vigils throughout this summer in Los Angeles to honor the lives of 15 farm workers who have died heat-related deaths since 2004.
NFWM and the UFW honors the lives of 15 farm workers
This summer the National Farm Worker Ministry in California and the United Farm Workers will be holding prayer vigils to remember and honor the lives of 15 farm workers who have died since 2004 due to heat-related illness. We believe that these deaths were preventable and that by only speaking out with a collective voice can we help prevent future deaths. Vigils will be held on the anniversaries of each of the workers’ deaths, beginning May 9th and ending August 2nd. Please join us for these vigils if you live in the area (see calendar below). They will be held at the Los Angeles produce market on Olympic Blvd., one block west of Alameda St. For more information please contact Lucy Boutte (bouttelucy@aol.com, (951)634-8817) or Christy Lafferty (clafferty@nfwm.org, (323)893-9605).
Heat Vigils 2009 – In Memory Of:
May 9th, 2007– Eladio Hernandez
May 16th, 2008 – Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez
June 20th, 2008 – Jose Macarena Hernandez
July 9th, 2008 – Audon Felix Garcia
July 10th, 2008 – Ramiro Carrillo Rodriguez
July 13th, 2005 – Salud Zamudio Rodriguez
July 14th, 2005 – Ramon Hernandez
July 21st, 2005 – Augustine Gudiño
July 25th, 2006 – Richard Helmuth
July 26th, 2006 – David Vraggs, Rodolfo Valladares
July 28th, 2004 – Asuncion Valdivia
July 31st, 2005 – Constantino Cruz Hernandez
July 31st, 2008 – Jorge Herrera
August 2nd, 2008 – Maria de Jesus Alvarez
Pray and Reflect
Prayer and reflection are the basis of our work and an important support. We provide several prayer resources.
Pray. – Harvest of Justice Table Prayers
Harvest of Justice 2006
Gracious God, I most often come to my table blissfully ignoring the efforts that brought this bounty.I give thanks for the food and the hands that prepared it. But I do not as often give thanks for the hands that harvested it. I am blessed by hands that work so hard. Those hands call me to gratitude . . . to a mindfulness that the food I enjoy comes to me cheaply but comes from someone else at a greater price. Forgive me for overlooking this reality. Help me rise from my table, grateful and determined to work for justice for farm workers. Amen
We give thanks for farm workers, who teach us to pray in the midst of struggles, where God’s blessings abound, so that we raise our eyes and hearts to the heavens from where love and justice rain down. We give thanks for farm workers, who teach us to hope for a new day when all of God’s children can live together in peace, equality and solidarity, so that we work for the day when farm workers, growers, and corporations sit at the table together and bargain in good faith. We give thanks for farm workers, who teach us to share the earth’s goodness with all those around us at the table of plenty, so that we open our arms, hearts and homes to the most vulnerable in our society. Amen
Harvest of Justice 2005
2005 marks the 40th anniversary of the historic table grape strike, begun by farm workers in the Coachella Valley, CA. In April 1967, one and a half years after it began, the United Farm Workers signed the first ever farm worker contract with a grower.
The Lord said in Galatians, “… for you reap whatever you sow.” If we sow greed, what do we reap? If we sow exploitation, what do we reap?
The Algonquin leader Big Thunder said, “That which we put into the ground, Mother Earth returns to us.” If we sow courage, what is returned to us? If we sow non-violent solidarity, what is re-turned to us?
On this day, some forty years hence, we give thanks for the courage of those first farm workers who stepped out on to the picket line to face strikebreakers with bats and chains. We celebrate the men and women of faith who stood shoulder to shoulder with the grape workers. We give thanks for those times when we have seen justice returned to the farm worker. We give thanks that the hope sown forty years ago is alive still today. Hallelujah and Amen
Harvest of Justice 2004
Generous God, we are blessed with such an abundance and variety of food to choose from, and for this we are very grateful. At the same time, we are aware of the abuse of workers in the agricultural industry. Help us to do all we can to transform their plight, working with them for justice and fairness, so that they and their families may share in what they bring to our table. Amen.
God of Love and tender mercy, bless not only the food we are about to share, but also the farmworkers. Bless especially those held against their will, who labor 
in fear to bring the gifts of Earth to this table. Heal the wounds inflicted on them with an outpouring of your love. Transform the hearts of those who enslave to see in every human being a person of dignity and worth. Transform us too, O God, to be your bearers of justice, that we may all be free. Amen.
O God of freedom, like Moses before us we pray, “Let my people go.” Let all people go to the fullness of life that you have promised. Let those with power learn to exercise it justly. Let those who harvest this food be fed as we are fed. Nourish us well with this food. May it strengthen us for the journey ahead so that we may break the chains of slavery, yielding a rich harvest of justice. Like Moses, may we help your people find freedom.
Harvest of Justice Table Prayer 2003
Gracious God, we join our hands in prayer giving thanks for the food on our table. We give you thanks for life and all that we receive from your hands. Keep us mindful of the hands that prepared these gifts and especially the hands of farmworkers who have made this bounty possible. Open our hearts to the awesome opportunities of life your love presents. May this food sustain us as we join you, our sisters and brothers in creating a humane and just world. We pray in your holy name. Amen.
Harvest of Justice 2002
God of the Harvest, we are grateful for the food set before us, blessing from our good Earth and the work of human hands. Our minds are often slow to remember the men, women and even children who bring us the miracle of the harvest, as our hearts are slow to act when these same people are denied their fair share. Bring a harvest of love into our hearts to make your dream for a just world a reality in our day. Amen.
Generous God, Giver of Life, at your banquet of life, all are welcome. This meal is a reminder of the immigrants living in our midst who provide us with services but often are hidden in the shadows, invisible. Grant us the gift of a welcoming heart and mind that dispels the shadows bringing us all into your marvelous light. Amen.
Giver of breath and bread, we give thanks for the food that graces our table and the labor of farm workers whose hands pick, lift, pack and carry the vegetables and fruits we enjoy. As this food nourishes our bodies, may our spirits receive the energy to seek with them the justice they so rightfully deserve. Amen.
Bountiful God, may this meal which we are about to eat become a means of sharing life, of giving to one another, of expressing belongingness. Comfort those who experience separation, alienation, rejection. Send them some sign of your Love, even through us as we seek to follow Jesus and act as He did: welcoming the stranger, receiving gratefully from outcasts and outlaws, and honoring everyone’s right to sit at the table. We ask your blessing on them and us and this food as we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Harvest of Justice 2001
O God bless this food we are about to receive. Give bread to those who hunger, and hunger for justice to those of us who have bread. (Nicaraguan)
Prayer 27: Harvest of Justice Table Prayer 2001
Provident God, for the food that graces our table, we thank you. The movements of farm workers who bend, stoop, climb, lift, and carry the food we are about to eat, raise questions about our own willingness to move. We need your strength and confidence, O God, to welcome the challenge of moving beyond charity toward justice, to make your dream for a just world a reality in our day. Amen.
O God of the Harvest, despite the prosperity of this good earth, there are children in our fields, children who work to help their families, children who are exposed to pesticides, children whose parent cannot support them from the wages they earn. Bring a harvest of love in my heart so that I may work for justice in my world, justice for the children in the fields. Amen.
Harvest of Justice 2000
All loving God, too often we don’t pay attention, we don’t stop to think that, even in this day and age, injustice remains an invisible ingredient in much of the food we eat.
Shake us awake, O God, open our eyes to see our power and obligation as consumers to help put things right. Justice demands it. Love demands it. Amen