2009 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Day 3

Christians face to face with economic injustice and poverty

Day 3 will offer a meditation on the great disparity between the rich and the poor. Our relationship to money, our attitude toward the poor, is a gauge of our discipleship in the following of Jesus, who came among us to set us free and to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to slaves and justice for all.


Scripture

Leviticus 25:8-14, The jubilee which liberates.
Psalm 146, (145), The Lord executes justice for the oppressed.
1 Timothy 6:9-10, The love of money is the root of all evil.
Luke 4:16-21, Jesus and the jubilee as liberation.

Meditation

We pray for the kingdom of God to arrive. Today the world community is confronted with the growing precariousness of labor and its consequences. The idolatry of the market (profit), like the love of money appears as ‘the root of all evil'. What can and must the churches do in this context? Let us look at the biblical theme of jubilee which Jesus evoked to define his ministry.

According to the Leviticus text, during the jubilee, liberation was to be proclaimed. The jubilee implied a community ethic, the freeing of slaves and their return home, the restoration of financial rights and the cancellation of debts. For the victims of unjust social structures, this meant the restitution of law and of their means of existence.

The priorities of today's world, in which ‘more money' is seen as goal of life, can only lead to death. As churches, we are called to counter this by living together in the spirit of jubilee and following Christ. As Christians experience the healing of their divisions they become more sensitive to other divisions which wound humanity and creation.


Prayer

God of justice, there are places in this world overflowing with food but others where there is not enough and where the hungry and the sick are many.

God of peace, there are those in this world who profit from violence and war and others who because of war and violence are forced to leave their homes and become refugees.

God of compassion, help us to understand that we cannot live by money alone but that we can live by the word of God, help us to understand that we cannot attain life and true prosperity except by loving God and obeying his will and his teaching. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute