Not for Sale Sunday

Vigil of Prayer in solidarity with Trafficked women, men and children throughout the world.

‘Not for Sale Sunday’
Whenever your Church wants to Make a Difference

(Suggested opening hymn – Optional
Song of Ruth – Father we come in prayer)

Opening Prayer

Creator God, we believe that the human person is the clearest reflection of your presence in our world. All of our work in pursuit of both justice and peace is designed to protect and promote the dignity of every person, as an expression of your creative work and the meaning of Christ’s redemptive ministry. Be with us as we reflect on the plight of all those women, men and children whose dignity is violated through trafficking for sexual exploitation.

(Adapted from The Challenge of Peace, No 15 US Bishops, 1983)

Psalm 116 (from Psalm-Prayers for every mood, Kevin Lyon)

I love the Lord because he hears my prayers. He bends down and listens.
So I will pray as long as I breathe!

Death stared me in the face. I was afraid and sad. Then I cried, ‘Lord save me!’
How kind he is! How good he is! This God of ours is so merciful!

I was facing death and then he saved me. Now I can rest.
For the Lord has done this miracle for me. He has saved me from death.

He has dried my eyes from tears.
My feet from stumbling, that I may walk before you, Lord, in the land of the living.

What return can I make, for all the good Lord has done for me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

I will bring him the sacrifice I promised. I will do this in front of all the people.
His loved ones are very special to him. He does not lightly let them die.

O Lord, you have freed me from my chains, I will serve you forever.
I will worship you always. I will give you a sacrifice of thanks.

Glory be to the Father…

Reading Luke 8:43-48
As Jesus went along, the people were crowding him from every side. Among them was a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years; she had spent all she had on doctors, but no one had been able to cure her. She came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once. Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, the people are all round you and crowding in on you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I knew it when power went out of me.” The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus’ feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once. Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Litany

Blessed are you who work for justice… who welcome the outcast, befriend the migrant and cast off the yoke of slavery from trafficked sisters and brothers.
May the kingdom come

Blessed are you who work for justice… who risk you own security to help others in need, care for the innocent and act to uphold human rights and dignity.
May the kingdom come

Blessed are you who work for justice… who seek to bring hope and healing, compassion and liberation to the oppressed, and walk in solidarity with them.
May the kingdom come

Blessed are you who work for justice… who open doors for acting justly, loving tenderly, and walking humbly with God.
May the kingdom come

Creed

I believe in the equality of all, rich and poor.
I believe in liberty.
I believe in humanity through which we can create unity.

I believe in the love within each of us, and in the home, happy and healthy.
I believe in the forgiveness of our sins.

I believe that with divine help we will have the strength to establish equality in society.
I believe in unity, the only way to achieve peace.

I believe that together we can obtain justice

(Young people of Ayacucho, Peru)

Prayer for an end to Trafficking

O God, our words cannot express what our minds can barely comprehend and our hearts feel when we hear of women and girls deceived and transported to unknown places for purposes of sexual exploitation and abuse because of human greed and profit.

Our hearts are saddened and our spirits angry that their dignity and rights are being transgressed through threats, deception and force.
We cry out against the degrading practice of trafficking and pray for it to end.

Strengthen the fragile-spirited and broken-hearted.
Make real your promises to fill these our sisters and brothers with a love that is tender and good and send the exploiters away empty-handed. Give us the wisdom and courage to stand in solidarity with them that together we will find ways to the freedom that is your gift to all of us. Amen.

(School Sisters of Notre Dame, Canadian Province)

Final Blessing

May God’s Arms Surround You
May the roots of faith grow strong within you.
May your vision of peace be like a clear sky.
May you be touched by the lightning flash of bright hope.
May you drink deeply at the well of joy.
May the love of God
Be your blanket and your pillow,
Your bed and your room,
And may God’s arms surround you
Now and forever more.
Amen

© Christina Rees 2006
(Taken from Not for Sale Sunday Website)