Document
JUST MARKET
Call to prayer
L: We are gathered in the name of the triune God
to whom we bring our prayers.
Greeting
L: We come hungry,
All: hungry for a justice
L: enacted rather than spoken about.
L: We come hungry,
All: hungry for a market
L: which satisfies more than the highest bidder.
L: We come hungry,
All: hungry for a peace
L: deeper than the manipulation of desire.
L: We come hungry,
All: hungry to one who says:
L: I am the bread of life,
I am the living water,
I am the way, the truth and the life.
L: We come hungry
All: for his blessing on us, and on all the hungry.
Amen.
Prayer of confession
L: God who tells us what is good,
All: we confess that we steal, lie and covet.
L: We bargain the poor away from their due and give the rich what they demand.
All: Forgive us.
♪ Kyrie eleison (Lord have mercy)
L: Hungry God,
All: we confess that we have sinned against you,
L: and against the ignored cries,
the overlooked imbalances,
the disregarded desperations,
the dismissed frustrations,
the hollow eyes.
All: Turn us to you,
L: so we give you not only our attention,
but our lives in the service of the one who is bread for all,
Jesus Christ.
All: Amen.
Affirmation
L: We are constantly asked to believe in the gods of the market and economic systems with its charts and surveys, with its principles and descriptions of how the world works.
But as Christians we challenge these idols and re-affirm our commitment to the way of Christ.
L1: It is not true that the value of our lives is determined by how much we possess and consume.
L2: This is true: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
Matthew 22:37,39
All: This is true. This we believe.
L1: It is not true that wealth and power are the sum and aim of humanity.
L2: This is true: Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ Luke 18:25
All: This is true. This we believe.
L1: It is not true that jobs must always go where labour is cheap and employment servile.
L2: This is true:
Thus says the Lord: I will not revoke the punishment because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals Amos 2:6
All: This is true. This we believe.
L1: It is not true that the market is always the best distributor of wealth and resources.
L2: This is true:
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1
All: This is true. This we believe.
L1: It is not true that the earth is meant for human exploitation and degradation.
L2: This is true: The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.
Psalm 24:1
All: This is true. This we believe.
L1: It is not true that greed must always prevail.
L2: This is true: Do not love the world or the things in the world. For the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.
I John 2:15-17
All: This is true. This we believe.
L1: It is not true that we will always be at the mercy of those who plunder and kill to gain what they want.
L2: This is true: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9
All: This is true. This we believe.
Prayer of St. Francis
L: Lord,
Make me an instrument of your peace,
where there is hatred,
All: let me sow love;
L: where there is injury,
All: pardon;
L: where there is discord,
All: union;
L: where there is doubt,
All: faith;
L: where there is despair,
All: hope;
L: where there is darkness,
All: light;
L: where there is sadness,
All: joy.
L: O Lord, grant that I may not
so much seek
All: to be consoled as to console;
L: to be understood as to understand;
All: to be loved as to love.
L: For it is in giving
All: that we receive.
L: It is in pardoning
All: that we are pardoned.
L: And it is in dying
All: that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Commitment
L: We go to the lakeshore carrying our nets,
bringing along the fruits you helped us gather.
These fruits are not just for ourselves,
they are meant to be shared.
All: We commit ourselves
L: to walk in the margins of life,
seeking in the encounter with the other,
a way to live the gospel of peace and justice.
The fire lit on the sand
is a sign of your presence and solidarity
in the midst of your people.
All: We commit ourselves
L: to live in solidarity following your example,
lighting bonfires of hope
in the farthest recesses of human dignity.
Your voice invites us to share.
Blessed by your love,
our food becomes sacred
as it goes from hand to hand.
All: We commit ourselves
L: to a way of life
that is able to share
and is eager to create new spaces
where the fullness of life is possible.
