The Sisters of Charity of New York join with the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, Leadership Conference of Women Religious and others in the Faith 4 Asylum Nonviolence Campaign: Stop the Inhumanity https://faith4asylum.com/
Join with us as we participate in a National Day of Prayer on January 29th, marking one year since Asylum-Seekers were forced to “Remain in Mexico.”
Use or adapt the following prayer service, if helpful. You may also download this prayer. Click here.
Song: “Who Will Speak” by Marty Haugen or one of your choice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ70EZqlCys Chorus: Who will speak if we don’t?
Who will speak if we don’t?
Who will speak so their voice will be heard?
Oh, who will speak if we don’t?
Opening Prayer: We sit vigil today with asylum seekers prevented from waiting in safety in the U.S. and forced to wait in locations in Mexico where they face violence, extortion, sexual assault and kidnapping. We sit vigil today with the children in detention who have been separated from their parents at the border. We sit vigil today with migrants on the move around the world who are fleeing from war, violence and poverty. We sit vigil today with our immigrant brothers and sisters in our own country who are living in fear.
Reading: A reading from the Gospel of Mark (Mark 10:13-16) or your choice.
Prayers of Intercession:
Response: O Just Compassionate God, help us bring forth acts of love, justice and mercy.
Let us pray:
For those who seek asylum at our Southern Border and for the more than 57,000 people who have been forced to wait in Mexico for asylum hearings in the United States, we pray….
For the 816 asylum-seekers (Source: Human Rights First, January 2020) who have been raped, kidnapped, assaulted, and even murdered in Mexico, including 201 children, we pray…
For President Trump, lawmakers, administrators and personnel who develop and implement laws, policies and procedures and interact with our migrant brothers and sisters, we pray…
May we raise awareness of and advocate for asylum seekers, refugees, children in detention, migrant brothers and sisters, here and throughout the world, we pray…
[Add your own intention], we pray…
Closing Prayer (from July 18, 2019 Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children):
God, stir-up our hearts. Give us courage to rise up and stop this terrible suffering. Give us the strength, as individuals, groups, parishes, and as a society to put an end to these unjust immigration policies.
Give hope to our suffering brothers and sisters, redeem us from our hesitancy to act, and help this country to repent of its violence. Amen.
And so, we cry out to heaven—Stop the inhumanity—NOW!
All: Stop the inhumanity—NOW!
Closing Prayer/Song: Make Me A Channel of Your Peace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI1Gst7pEqc
or They Will Know We are Christians By Our Love, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CobNWUXb1M or a similar song.
- You are invited to:
Sign the People’s Pledge at link below. https://faith4asylum.com/join-the-campaign-2/ Sisters of Charity of New York have signed the organizational pledge. - Read the backgrounder https://justiceforimmigrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/remain-in- mexico_en-9-24.pdf
- Listen at https://www.thisamericanlife.org/688/the-out-crowd to hear reports of asylum seekers waiting across the border in Mexico, in a makeshift refugee camp, and from the officers who sent them there to wait in the first place).
- Call or email your U.S. Congresspersons to oppose “Remain in Mexico.”
SCNY Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation, January 2020