Liturgy – Working for Justice
Prayer Celebration Directions

GATHERING SONG
GATHERING PRAYER
Leader		Creator God, source of all justice, We give you thanks and praise. We ask that you instill in us, as you have in others, a desire to seek what is right and just. Teach us the ways to work for justice. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
All		Amen.
READING
Reader		A reading from the Gospel of John. (Read John 12:24-26) The Gospel of the Lord.
All		Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
RESPONSE
All		Praise the Lord!
Group 1		Servants of God, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of our God, now and always. Over all nations is the Lord, higher than heaven is God’s glory.
Group 2		The Lord, our God, looks down on the earth below. The Lord raises up the lowly from the dust. God lifts up the poor and seats them with royalty.
All		Praise the Lord! (based on Psalm 113)
Leader		Oscar Romero, once faced with the reality of injustice, changed to become a seeker of justice, a seeker of peaceful resolution to problems.
All		Guide us in seeking justice, in finding peaceful solutions, Lord.
Leader		To live in a place of comfort, to have our needs met, can make poverty and injustice remain abstractions unless we are willing to look beyond ourselves.
All		Give us the courage to look beyond ourselves to the needs of others, Lord.
Leader		In John’s Gospel we heard of the need for death in order for new life to come about. Archbishop Romero, shortly before his own murder, spoke of new life coming about through the Salvadoran people following his death. Each good life motivates many other lives.
All		May we lead lives to motivate others, Lord.
Leader		Loving and just God, may we always enjoy the rights of freedom and justice. May we continue to pray and work for those who do not enjoy such privileges. Make us grateful for what we have and what we can give to others to better their future.
All		Amen. Shalom.
RITUAL
Leader		We bless these seeds that we will plant today. We recognize each as a symbol of a life that must end for a new one to begin. As the seed dies, it gives of itself to nourish the new seedling, which will become a new plant, a new life. As I pass the bowl of seeds around, please pray over them, expressing your own hopes for future life, not only of these seeds, but of the future of all life around us.
All		(Each participant accepts the bowl of seeds, holds and prays over it, and passes it on to the next person. The last person returns it to the prayer table.)
CLOSING SONG (Following the Closing Song, plant the seeds in an outdoor area to which the group has access, or in individual cups for participants to care for at home.)