Church leaders have urged those responsible for the cuts to reflect on the consequences of decisions that will hit the most vulnerable members of society hardest.
It's high time the moral dimension of the cuts reached the foreground, and it does so with these strong words which speak clearly and touch you, whether you are religious or not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God of compassion and justice
We offer our prayers for the communities of West Yorkshire;
We give thanks
That they are places of belonging and welcome
And for the countless ways in which the needs of each person are met
through the commitment, gifts and skills of others.
Forgive us we pray,
When we take the work of others for granted;
When we diminish the value of human life;
When we fail to treat all people with the respect which they deserve;
When we forget our need of one another;
When we forget the needs of the poor among us;
When our own desire for status or security dulls our senses,
closes our ears, blinkers our sight;
Gift us with vision, we pray,
To see the world around us with new eyes;
To recognise the light of your presence in every person;
To discern Godly wisdom in the midst of hard human choices;
Attune our listening, we pray,
To hear the cries of those deprived of work,
and of those bearing the burden of working long hours;
To know the anger and the angst of people who feel pushed to the margins
by those with wealth and power;
To catch the whispers of our neighbours who feel they have been silenced,
whilst others shout more loudly;
Give us courage, we pray,
To stand alongside those in greatest need;
To challenge easy solutions and false assumptions;
To work in partnership with others where we can make a difference together.
God of justice and compassion,
As, on this day, we face the truth
that we are made of dust and to dust we shall return,
Re-mind us of the common humanity that we share;
Re-kindle your compassion in our hearts;
Strengthen our resolve to live more generous lives;
Re-tune us to your deep wisdom amidst the responsibilities that we hold
and the choices that we make,
That we might seek to walk in the way of Christ,
and remain true to our calling, even through the wilderness.
We ask this, and all our unspoken prayers, in the name of Christ, Amen.
http://www.wyec.co.uk/assets/files/Prayer for Ash Wednesday.pdf
Published by the West Yorkshire Ecumenical Council
It's high time the moral dimension of the cuts reached the foreground, and it does so with these strong words which speak clearly and touch you, whether you are religious or not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God of compassion and justice
We offer our prayers for the communities of West Yorkshire;
We give thanks
That they are places of belonging and welcome
And for the countless ways in which the needs of each person are met
through the commitment, gifts and skills of others.
Forgive us we pray,
When we take the work of others for granted;
When we diminish the value of human life;
When we fail to treat all people with the respect which they deserve;
When we forget our need of one another;
When we forget the needs of the poor among us;
When our own desire for status or security dulls our senses,
closes our ears, blinkers our sight;
Gift us with vision, we pray,
To see the world around us with new eyes;
To recognise the light of your presence in every person;
To discern Godly wisdom in the midst of hard human choices;
Attune our listening, we pray,
To hear the cries of those deprived of work,
and of those bearing the burden of working long hours;
To know the anger and the angst of people who feel pushed to the margins
by those with wealth and power;
To catch the whispers of our neighbours who feel they have been silenced,
whilst others shout more loudly;
Give us courage, we pray,
To stand alongside those in greatest need;
To challenge easy solutions and false assumptions;
To work in partnership with others where we can make a difference together.
God of justice and compassion,
As, on this day, we face the truth
that we are made of dust and to dust we shall return,
Re-mind us of the common humanity that we share;
Re-kindle your compassion in our hearts;
Strengthen our resolve to live more generous lives;
Re-tune us to your deep wisdom amidst the responsibilities that we hold
and the choices that we make,
That we might seek to walk in the way of Christ,
and remain true to our calling, even through the wilderness.
We ask this, and all our unspoken prayers, in the name of Christ, Amen.
http://www.wyec.co.uk/assets/files/Prayer for Ash Wednesday.pdf
Published by the West Yorkshire Ecumenical Council