We give thanks for fathers all around the world. We hold up to you the pains and sufferings of fathers who cannot care for their children because of unjust systems, policies and structures.
We pray for fathers in the United States who cannot find jobs to support their families. We pray for fathers who only receive a minimum wage of $5.15 an hour.
We pray for fathers in prisons in the U.S., including a million men of color, who, when released, will neither have the jobs nor the resources to mend their broken families.
We pray for fathers who are anguished because they cannot obtain health insurance and health care for their children.
We pray for immigrant fathers who came to the U.S. seeking work and are separated from their families in other lands. We pray for fathers in the military who are far away from their children and are being wounded in body and soul in the midst of death and destruction.
We give thanks for the fathers who, despite the many barriers they face, continue to reach out with love to their children, to guide and protect them. Help us support policies that will create jobs with decent income and benefits and will allow all men to take on their role of fatherhood with dignity. Bring the Iraq war to an end quickly so that fathers may return to their families and heal the effects of long separation.
We pray for the fathers around the world who struggle to feed their children in countries ravaged by poverty and disease because of debt, unfair trade systems, unequal distribution of resources, conflict and war, and limited access to work and food. We give thanks that in the midst of such hardships and suffering, many fathers remain hopeful for the future of their children.
For all these men, we pray for a transformation of unjust systems, policies and structures. Guide the world’s leaders to discern the way to create just communities in all parts of the world so that all men can live in dignity and peace with their families.
Amen.
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