~February Prayer of the Month ~

Litany for the Federal Budget
By Rev. Mari Castellanos

Holy One, we thank you for gathering us this day as your people, women and men committed to loving you in one another. We thank you for entrusting us with the care of your precious creation and for calling us to be doers of justice and makers of peace. We seek your grace to be the church you call us to be, even as we acknowledge our frequent failure to live into that call.

We pray for those who have power; may they have compassion as well.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

We lift up to you our lawmakers; may they hold your law in their hearts.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

We commend to you those who have influence; may they use it on behalf of those who feel forsaken.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

 For our sisters and brothers who hunger for bread and justice, we ask the fullness of your mercy and pledge our best efforts to obtain the fullness of justice.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

For the poor of the earth who sustain our extravagance with their labor and whose environment we devastate with extractive industries and with our waste, may they be lifted out of poverty as we repent and make amends.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

We surrender all of these concerns to you, Holy One, mindful of your mercy and of our responsibility. 

Amen.