MULTIFAITH RESOURCES
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue - Refugee Relief Mission: The Moral Imperative
World Refugee Day Reflections
Our Gracious Lord,
There are many in Your world today who have been forced from their homes by persecution and violence.
Keep them in your constant care, and bring them to a place of safety.
Be the Good Shepherd to refugees who are in flight. Guide them to the green pastures of safety.
Be the Everlasting Father to refugees who have lost home and loved ones. Lead, protect and provide for them.
Be the Great Physician to refugees who are suffering. Grant them healing and hope.
Be the Hiding Place to refugees who are languishing in camps. Shelter their souls as well as their bodies.
Be the Deliverer to refugees who have been able to return home. Restore their lives so that those who have sown in tears may reap in joy.
Be the Wonderful Counselor to refugees who have been resettled. Help them find their way in a new land.
Be the Giver of all good gifts to those who serve refugees. Empower them to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with You.
Be the Lord of lords to all the earth, that those who rule would do so in justice and righteousness, and no one would have to become a refugee anymore.
We ask these things in the precious and powerful name of Jesus. Amen.
God of our Wandering Ancestors,
Long have we known
That your heart is with the refugee:
That you were born into time
In a family of refugees
Fleeing violence in their homeland,
Who then gathered up their hungry child
And fled into alien country.
Their cry, your cry, resounds through the ages:
“Will you let me in?”
Give us hearts that break open
When our brothers and sisters turn to us
with that same cry.
Then surely all these things will follow:
Ears will no longer turn deaf to their voices.
Eyes will see a moment for grace instead of a threat.
Tongues will not be silenced but will instead advocate.
And hands will reach out—
working for peace in their homeland,
working for justice in the lands where they seek safe haven.
Lord, protect all refugees in their travels.
May they find a friend in me
And so make me worthy
Of the refuge I have found in you.
amen
As we continue to witness the most widespread refugee crisis since World War II, we remember that the stories of our tradition are stories of wandering, of flight, of forced migration. Our Holy Scriptures tell us of the sojourns of the people of God – of slavery and persecution, of wandering in the wilderness, of exile and loss. '
Today, as we pray for the Church and for the world, we remember our own sacred stories and how they call us to live in God’s world, to bring forth God’s dream of shalom.
With all our heart and all our mind, let us pray to our God, saying, “Lord, hear us.”
Sovereign God, may we who are the Body of Christ, the Church, embrace and welcome the immigrant, the refugee, and all who seek shelter from any danger.
We lift our prayer to You,
People: Lord, hear us.
God of protection, whose Son fled violence from his own home with Joseph and Mary and sought refuge in a foreign land, hear the cries of all who suffer because of hatred, war, violence, greed, and famine. Help us to peacefully mend our divisions, that all you have created in this world may be whole.
We lift our prayer to You,
People: Lord, hear us.
God Who makes us One, we pray for our nation and all the nations of the world, that those who govern the people and have authority over them may consider each life to be of value and may serve the people of their nation with equity and fairness, dedicating themselves to peaceful resolution of conflict.
We lift our prayer to You,
People: Lord, hear us.
Gracious God, we pray for our newest neighbors, that those families who have sought refuge from the ravages of war and violence may find not only shelter and sustenance, but also a loving and supportive community in which to create a new beginning with dignity.
We lift our prayer to You,
People: Lord, hear us.
Loving God, there is no one that goes unnoticed in Your eyes. Take into Yourself all who suffer. May Christ the Wounded Healer relieve the pain of hunger of the refugee, heal the afflicted body, soothe the fears of the mind, bring peace to the soul, and be tender with the broken hearted, that those who have endured unspeakable trials may find themselves restored in Christ.
We lift our prayer to You,
People: Lord, hear us.
Eternal God, may you receive those who have died during times of war and violence into your loving and peaceful arms and may they find rest for their souls. Comfort those who mourn the loss of their friends and loved ones and give them relief from the painful memories they bear, giving assurance of eternal life.
We lift our prayer to You,
People: Lord, hear us.
Almighty and Loving God, you who have crossed the boundaries of Heaven and Earth to be with your people, visit those who must flee their homes because of violence and oppression and lead them to a land of safety.
We give thanks to you, Source of All Being, that you hear our intercessions on behalf of our refugee brothers and sisters. We thank you that love swallows fear, that in your compassion we learn to walk with those who suffer, that when we give of ourselves we receive far more, and that when we receive those who stand knocking at our doors, we receive Christ the Beloved One.
May all praise, glory and honor be to our God, the Most High.
Amen.
Prayers & Sermons in Support of Refugees
Spirit of Hope, God of Many Names, Source of Love,
We gather, hearts heavy with grief for our neighbors in Paris,
in Beirut, in Baghdad; all cities victimized by terrorists.
We pray for the victims, for the families,
for the communities marred by chaos and hatred.
May they have the resources they need to heal the wounded,
to care for the distraught,
to move forward in rebuilding places of peace.
And as we grieve, may those who mourn have the space and the time to allow their hearts to be full;
for the world has lost too many this week.
We hold in our hearts the Syrian refugees,
our siblings in the world who are escaping from these same terrorists.
May we not be swayed by false or confusing media reports
that seek to make “all of them” out to be not like “all of us.”
May we be in solidarity with these peaceful neighbors.
Mother of Grace,
teach our leaders to lead not from a place of reaction,
or from arrogance, or from fear or hatred;
help our leaders to lead from a place of hope,
a place of compassion;
the only sources of true strength in a world torn by factionalism and strife.
Where war has beget war,
and refugees have become homeless,
may we find new ways to house the homeless,
to feed the hungry, to welcome the stranger;
and not fall prey to a gospel of indifference and distance.
In our global world,
may we learn to be a global neighbor,
rooted in the hope of a world where peace is at the center.