World Refugee Day 2023
As people of faith, we are called to be a voice for the voiceless, to advocate for justice, to welcome the stranger, to extend hospitality, and to work towards a world where all individuals can find safety, refuge, and a place to call home. We acknowledge that the refugee crisis is a global challenge, affecting millions of lives across the world. As Methodists, we are part of a wider family that spans continents and cultures. Therefore, we join hands as members of the European Methodist Council to commemorate and dedicate a special Sunday for migrants and refugees, on the Sunday closest to the 20th June, which is World Refugee Day.
A Prayer of Confession and Intercession (Taken from World Refugee Day 2023 - Service Resources)
Lord, before you we come, acknowledging our forgetfulness and that our homes, churches and arms have been closed out of shame, fear and dread, which has been greater than our genuine commitment to embrace and give shelter...forgive us beloved God.
Forgive us Lord for forgetting that I was a stranger and you welcomed me with your grace and love, refuge you gave to my life by being my great Saviour.
We pray for all those refugees, men, women and children, hurting and homeless... forgive us Lord our forgetfulness of them all today.
Forgive us Lord for forgetting that I was a stranger and you welcomed me with your grace and love.
Forgive us, beloved God, for we have done nothing to build shelters where all those who are homeless can come, for those who are forgotten and banished from their land and home... forgive us for our negligence of selfishness and foolishness. Forgive us Lord for forgetting that I was a stranger and you welcomed me with your grace and love,
O gracious God who looks with love and compassion on the poor, the needy, the lonely, the immigrants, the marginalised, and the refugee, forgive us our forgetfulness and fear to embrace all those who suffer believing that among us they will find a refuge...You are the omnipotent shadow, you are the shelter, the hope, the refuge and the peace of the suffering. Forgive us and let us rekindle the flame that announces that among us there is room for the stranger, for the despised, for the foreigner and for all who are discriminated against... Fill us with the goodness of your Spirit of love that embraces and comforts the suffering and as a community we reflect compassion and brotherhood. Amen.
Rev. Raquel Itzel Villalvazo Moreno, Liturgist | Universidad Madero - Iglesia Metodista de México A.R.