As part of the Religious Sisters of Charity corporate response to Human Trafficking, prayer and reflection was identified and adopted as central and integral to combating the problem of Human Trafficking. It is also hoped that through deep prayer and reflection on the problem of Human Trafficking across the congregation we will be led to greater awareness and commitment to address the problem.
Each month a different area of the congregation prepares a resource that can be used for prayer/reflection. We invite all visitors to our website to join us in prayer/reflection.
JUNE 2012 – UNANIMA Anniversary Prayer: Trafficking
UNANIMA is well-known among the NGO community at the UN for its ten-year battle against trafficking. Individual UNANIMA communities have taken on local/ regional/ national projects against trafficking, but the fight will go on as long as there is a demand. And it is a very complex issue, tied as it is to issues of poverty, migration, and human wants / needs. People are trafficked for sex, for labor, for body organs, for a supply of child soldiers, and even as a source of adoptable babies. Please join us in campaigning to end this heinous crime…
PRAY: Come, Holy Spirit! Many are longing for the freedom you offer. Fill the hearts of your faithful women and men with courage, wisdom and knowledge, so that they may be liberators of their brothers and sisters who are trafficked. Enkindle in lawmakers everywhere the desire for just laws which protect children, women and men from exploitation. Send forth your spirit so that the hearts of those who traffick others may be created anew with a sense of compassion and respect. Renew the face of the earth, making it a worthy setting for all God’s children. O Spirit, who instructs the hearts of your people, grant us a love and desire for what is right and just, and bless us and all our sisters and brothers with the enjoyment of peace.
ACT:
- Continue your good work in the effort to stop human trafficking.
- Contact the UNANIMA office for Stop the Demand materials.
- Pray for the victims and perpetrators of trafficking.
MAY 2012
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Not For Sale Sunday – 20th May |
APRIL 2012
“During the summer of 2012 thousands of hopeful young athletes will choose to travel from around the world to win gold in London. Every year many times more young and vulnerable people are forced to travel around the world – trafficked to make gold. It is a tragic fact that traffickers seek to use any and every global sports event to make gold from the buying and selling of people”. (Stop the Traffick, April 2011)
We invite you to come together as individuals, families, cluster groups, communities or parishes to pray this prayer at a time that suits you between now and the official opening of the Olympic Games in London on 27th June 2012. By so doing, you will be joining in the Global Olympic Campaign that seeks to raise awareness and put a stop to the heinous crime of Human Trafficking.
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Olympic Games Liturgy |
JANUARY 2012
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Torn Woman |
DECEMBER 2011
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Morning Litany |
NOVEMBER 2011
This month’s reflection is a video which can be viewed on our Video’s page. Please CLICK HERE to see it.
OCTOBER 2011
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The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary |
SEPTEMBER 2011 – Prayer for an End to Trafficking
O God, our words cannot express
what our minds can barely comprehend and our hearts feel,
when we hear of men and women, boys and and girls
deceived and transported to unknown places
for purposes of sexual exploitation and enslavement and all kinds of abuse
because of human greed and the desire for profit at this time in our world.
Our hearts are saddened and our spirits angry
that their dignity and rights are being transgressed
through threats, deception and force.
We cry out against the degrading practice of trafficking:
- Against the sale of women and girls into the sex industry,
- Against the sale of people of all ages for their bodily organs,
- Against the capture of boys who become child soldiers,
- Against the enslavement of men in dangerous, dirty and demeaning work,
- And against the sale of babies.
We pray that the buying and selling of people will end.
We make our prayer through Christ, Our Lord. Amen
AUGUST 2011 – Reflection on Human Trafficking
One of the main causes of human trafficking is lack of opportunities to lead a dignified life, a life that assures access to basic needs such as food, water, shelter, education and health. This lack of opportunities is sometimes created by bad leadership, the kind of leadership that focuses on serving oneself. This is often the case in developing countries which are mostly rich in resources but with very poor people who often fall prey to human trafficking as they search for means of survival. Jesus, the Good Shepherd has set an example of how a leader must be:
Bible Passage for Personal reflection: John 10:7-16
1. How am I fostering good leadership in my apostolate?
2. What steps can I take to promote servant leadership?
- Let us therefore pray that servant leadership may be a value that those seeking public positions may consider so that like Christ, they can truly be at the service of the people they lead.We also pray for leaders in the Church that they continue to be prophetic in their ministries so that sinful acts such as acts of human trafficking may be denounced everyday and that commitment to their elimination may be shown in taking concrete steps that will prevent people from being victims.
- We also pray for the end to the spirit of human selfishness that often leads one to seeking easier ways of amassing more and more wealth by compromising other human beings’ dignity.
- For governments that have committed themselves on paper to fight human trafficking that they may take their commitment seriously by finding solutions to all possible causes of this cruel crime so that people’s human rights may be secure.
Conclude with the Song:
Brother/sister let me be your servant
Let me be as Christ to you, pray that I
Might have the grace to let you be my servant too
We are Pilgrims on a journey, we are sisters on the road
We are here to help each other, walk the mile and bear the load.
JUNE 2011
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Evening Prayer |
APRIL 2011
As we continue on our Lenten journey, accompanying Jesus on his journey to Calvary, we are invited to stop and notice where Jesus is being crucified today. To recognize the gardens of Gethsemane in our world today as it struggles with the failures and challenges of modern life. To notice the men, women and children in our towns, villages and neighborhoods who are bruised and broken and to reflect on the lives of people who have fallen victim to the modern day slavery, that is Human Trafficking.
- There Are An Estimated 27 Million People Trapped In Slavery At This Moment
- There Are An Estimated 13 Million Children Trapped In Slavery At This Moment
- Human Trafficking Is Often Run By Organized Crime.
- The Average Age Of A Young Woman First Being Trafficked Is 12-14 Years Old
- 75% Of Human Trafficking Is For Sexual Exploitation
- 75% Of All Victims Of Human Trafficking Are Female
- Over 50% Of All Human Trafficking Victims Are Children
- Human Trafficking Is The Fastest Growing Criminal Enterprise In The World
- Human Trafficking Is The Second Largest Criminal Enterprise in the World
(source: Doctors at war against trafficking worldwide)
We invite you to pray through these Stations of the Cross (source: Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange- Justice Resources) reflecting on Jesus suffering that continues today in the lives of people who have been trafficked.
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The Garden of Gethsemane of Our Time |
MARCH 2011
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Prayer Service |
FEBRUARY 2011
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Theological Reflection on Chocolate |
