Gracious God, we pray for courage.
We feel so small in the face of injustice.
All around us we see and endure the destruction of the earth and human lives
through racial injustice, climate injustice, and gender injustice.
We pray for those most vulnerable to this suffering.
We pray for women.
We pray for the women who have been pushed aside, silenced and made secondary.
We pray for the women of the Church who have been subordinated and oppressed, even while nourishing its foundation and people.
We pray for the Church which has participated and strengthened gender injustice throughout much of history, while women have been exploited, abused, mutilated, raped and destroyed.
We pray for all the women’s lives cut short and forgotten.
We pray in remembrance to their lives and spirits.
Yet, despite such suffering and death, we remember that women are the bearers of life.
Women are the rearers of humanity.
In the midst of gender injustice, we feel that we are not enough:
that there is no action we could take to right these wrongs;
that there is no word we could speak to change the course.
Yet, we are reminded of our unbounded promise through the miracle of our lives.
We are reminded of the unbounded courage when the Spirit enters our lives.
We ask for your Spirit to come into our lives:
That the Spirit may embrace us with love, grace and courage,
so that we might continue to walk the faithful journey,
love one another, and live into your light
as we act and speak against gender injustice.
We pray for your Spirit to fill us with courage.
Amen.
Credit: Rev. Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim