Here is a simple mantra that has been chanted on picket lines and marches.
Breathing in: Justice Here . . .
Breathing out: Justice Now.
Other Prayers
Break Open Our Hearts
Spirit of Justice,
Break open our hearts.
Break them wide open.
Let anger pour through
Like strong storms,
Cleansing us of complacency.
Let courage pour through
Like spring storms,
Flooding out fear.
Let zeal pour through
Like blazing summer sun,
Filling us with passion.
Force of justice, grant me
Anger at what is,
Courage to do what must be done,
Passion to break down the walls
Of injustice
And build a land flowing
With milk and honey
For God's beloved.
God's special love.
God's poor ones.
Spirit of Justice,
Break open our hearts.
Origin: Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, is a feminist peace activist and the author of Between Two Souls: Conversations with Ryokan (Eerdmans, 2004).
Options:
• Say this as a morning prayer, once a week. Choose a line or phrase for lectio divina.
• Record your daily reflections in your prayer journal. Review these insights at the end of six months or a year.
— Frances Sheridan Goulart, Mary Lou Kownacki in God Has No Religion: Blending Traditions for Prayer by Frances Sheridan Goulart
Cleave Us a Way, O Lord (1920)
Dear Lord we come to Thee,
In quest of Liberty
Thy mercy lend.
We know no better way
Than serve, obey and pray,
Almighty Friend.
Unsheathe Thy vengeful sword
Cleave us a way, O Lord,
As naught else can.
Let no base foe oppress,
Let no vain thought repress
Our future usefulness
To God and man.
We have no ancient creed,
We have no glutton’s greed
To satisfy.
We seek the lofty height,
Where Justice, Truth and Right,
Condemn oppressor’s might,
Like God on high.
May World Democracy
Include equality
For every one,
Father, all-wise and just,
Do as Though wilt with us,
In Thee, alone, we trust
Thy will be done.
— Raymond Garfield Dandridge in Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans by James Melvin Washington
Practicing Justice
The next time you find yourself facing a difficult ethical situation, repeat the following Native American prayer: "May we be helped to do whatever is most right."
— Frederic Brussat, Mary Ann Brussat in Spiritual Rx: Prescriptions for Living a Meaningful Life
Prayer for Justice in the Marketplace
IN THE CENTER OF THIS TEEMING city, with the sights and sounds of a working city surrounding us, we utter a prayer for justice in the marketplace. We meet here to give support to working people who strive to support their families, who seek some semblance of security in their lives.
We are mindful of the cries of the prophets of every time and tradition, who have spoken about justice pouring down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. We are mindful of those courageous souls in every age and clime who have spoken truth to power. We are mindful of one prophet who so identified with the poor that he said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
In this center city space, we realize we are all neighbors – workers and management, rich and poor, city and suburb. We would seek, then, simply to be neighborly toward one another – treating our neighbors as ourselves, treating our neighbors as we would like to be treated – that justice might prevail.
The quest for justice is a lonely, hard road. We lift up our voices to pray for justice – that those of us who hunger might have bread, and that those of us who have bread might have the hunger for justice. Amen.
— Richard Gilbert in For Praying Out Loud: Interfaith Prayers for Public Occasions by L. Annie Foerster
We Pray for the Courage to Resist
Our gracious God, Source and End of all
we cherish,
we pray for courage and we pray for faith.
In every time, those who have sought
to follow the Way of Jesus Christ
have found the path to be challenging,
and so do we.
We are in the world of empire
but wish to be not of it.
We enjoy to the fullest
the large and small benefits of power,
knowing that we may forfeit some
as we work to share power with others.
We love our families,
we love our country,
we love your world,
we pray for ourselves.
That we may love and serve with integrity,
send us your Spirit!
We pray, great God, for the courage to resist —
to resist inner voices of fear and of selfishness
that make us hoard what privilege we have;
to resist policies and structures that mask
violence, hatred, greed, or discrimination;
to resist those who proclaim
that dominations cannot end
nor can justice come to all.
Grant us the courage to risk,
the courage to suffer,
the courage to choose well
the direction of our days.
That we may have the courage to resist,
send us your Spirit!
We pray, gracious God, for the faith to
resist —
to speak truth to power,
be ministers of reconciliation,
and builders of your beloved community.
Grant us the wisdom that is born of faith,
discerning the spirits,
naming the devious,
proclaiming your truth.
Filled with your love
that will not let us go,
may we be empowered to love in return
all people around us
and those we may never come to know.
May we see you, great God, in them,
thou source of human dignity.
Grant us the faith to be the disciples you
need
even here, even now.
That we may have the faith to resist, send
us your Spirit!
Send us your Spirit of resistance, 0 God,
lest we make our peace with the suffering
of others,
lest we lower our commitments and call it
progress,
lest we be silent in the face of oppression,
lest we not testify with the whole of our
lives to your inbreaking realm,
on earth as it is in heaven.
In the name of Christ we pray. Amen.
— Alison L. Boden in Resist! by Michael G. Long
