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NOVENA PRAYERS SEVENTH DAY

Writer's picture: PhilPhil

PANDEMIC PRAYERS IN POVERTY

THE PANDEMIC WILL HAVE PUT OUR NATION AND NATIONS GLOBALLY DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO DEBT. THE KNOCK-ON EFFECT IS THE EXTENT OF POVERTY INTO WHICH MILLIONS MORE PEOPLE WILL BE PLUNGED.





Jesus - "I have come that you might have life - life in abundance"

Jesus's mission - "I have been anointed to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, liberty to the captives, to set at liberty those who are oppressed...…"

Luke 4. "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,naked and you clothed me..." Matthew 25




One of the most - amazing , interesting and unlikely followers of Jesus, whose discipleship took Luke 4 to heart, was Dorothy Day.




DOROTHY DAY (1897 – 1980) was an American journalist and social activist

who became known for her social justice campaigns in defence of the poor,

the forgotten, hungry and homeless.

After a childhood of poverty, she went to college in Illinois, where she

readily aligned herself with radical Marxists.

She worked as a journalist, writing articles for left-wing journals;

a turning-point was meeting and writing about Leon Trotsky.

She initially lived what used to be described as a “bohemian lifestyle”,

with two successive partners, and who underwent an illegal abortion.

With the birth of her daughter, Tamar, she began a period of spiritual awakening, which led her to embrace Catholicism.

She became a Roman Catholic in December 1927.


She helped found The Catholic Worker Movement in 1933,

a group which espoused non-violence,

and hospitality for the impoverished and downtrodden.

In the 1930s. she and the Movement inaugurated a "house of hospitality"

in the slums of New York City and then a series of farms

for the poor to live together communally.




The movement quickly spread to other cities in the United States,

to Canada and the United Kingdom;

more than 30 independent but affiliated Catholic Worker communities

had been founded by 1941.

Dorothy Day’s major conviction was her perception

of what revolution was most necessary.

Not a violent revolution but “a revolution of the heart,” as she called it:

an ability to see Christ in others, and to love others as God loves us.


In the 1960’s Dorothy would go to Rome

to urge the Church to make a strong anti-war statement.

Dorothy was thrilled when many protested the Vietnam War.

While in Rome she joined a ten-day fast

to bring the attention of the public

to the starving millions of the world.



In the 1970’s Dorothy marched with Cesar Chavez

to protest the mistreatment of farm workers.

One thousand protesters were arrested, Dorothy among them.

By this time Dorothy was in her seventies

and beginning to look a little frail.

However, she took her two week incarceration stoically,

remarking, “If it weren’t a prison

it would be a nice place to rest.”


Dorothy was beginning to tire.

She turned down speaking engagements

but continued to write for the Catholic Worker

and to visit with family and friends.

Dorothy was distressed about the changes in the world in the 70’s.

Even the Catholic Church seemed to be changing.

But she found consolation in her Bible.

As she had done since the earliest days of her conversion

she read from the Psalms every morning.

Reading her Bible, Dorothy was comforted

in her belief that Jesus Christ is our example of love and living.


"My strength returns to me with my cup of coffee

and the reading of the psalms."


The Catholic Worker Movement still exists,

with nearly two hundred houses of hospitality around the world

and a newspaper that is still published

and still evangelizes for the “revolution of the heart”.

In March of 2000, Pope John Paul II officially bestowed upon her the title of

"Servant of God".



“I just go straight ahead, doing the best I can

with the very poor human material God sends us.

Just look at the kind of disciples He chose for Himself,

and how little they understood Him,

how they wanted a temporal kingdom

and thought all was lost until the Descent of the Holy Spirit enlightened them.

Why should we expect to be anything else but unprofitable servants?

We simply have to leave things in God’s hands.”

(Dorothy Day, to Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Aug. 9, 1936)

“He is with us in our kitchens, at our tables,

in our breadlines, with our visitors, on our farms.

What we do is very little.

But it is like the little boy with a few loaves and fishes.

Christ took that little and increased it.

He will do the rest.

What we do is so little we may seem to be constantly failing.

But so did He fail.

He met with apparent failure on the Cross.

But unless the seed fall into the Earth and die,

there is no harvest.

And why must we see results?

Our work is to sow.

Another generation will be reaping the harvest.” — Dorothy Day, 1940

Our manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount. It challenges us to make more of a heaven here, and have a long range view of a new social order wherein justice dwells. (Dorothy Day, Feb. 7, 1969)

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Jesus taught them, saying:

‘Blessèd are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessèd are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessèd are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessèd are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessèd are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessèd are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessèd are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessèd are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessèd are you when people revile you

and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil

against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,

for in the same way they persecuted the prophets

who were before you.’ Matthew 5. 1–12


Merciful God, you have compassion on all that you have made and your whole creation is enfolded in your love:

help us to stand firm for your truth,

to struggle against poverty,

and to share your love with our neighbour,

that with your servant Dorothy

we may be instruments of your peace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God of all trust, may we who confess your faith

prove it in our lives with abundant hope, outrageous hope,

and dependence upon nothing but your word alone,

through Christ our Lord. Amen.


Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come; thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

PARAPHRASED LORD'S PRAYER: Sarah Dylan Breuer


Loving Creator we honour you,

and we honour all that you have made.

Renew the whole world

in the image of your love.

Give us what we need for today,

and a hunger to see the whole world fed.

Strengthen us for what lies ahead;

heal us from the hurts of the past;

give us courage to follow your call in this moment.

For your love is the only power,

the only home, the only honour we need,

in this world and in the world to come. Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Our Lady of The Americas

WE ASK MARY TO PRAY WITH US for particular individuals,

especially for those who do not know her Son.

Hail, Mary, full of grace,

the Lord is with thee,

blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners, now,

and at the hour of our death.



Let us bless the Lord;

and may the souls of the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God, ✠ rest in peace and rise in glory.


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