Prayer for (Hacienda Luisita) Farmers

O God of life and love,

You created the earth, its seas and lands.

You let the land produce vegetation to be food
for all peoples and the beasts of the earth.

 
From humus You formed humankind
to till the ground and take care of the earth.

You fill parched lands with water,
and bring in those who are hungry
to settle there and cultivate the soil.

 
You have wanted farmers to plant
and to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Yet a voice is heard in the countryside
mourning and great weeping,

raging and deep despair.
Farmers rage and wail for their children,
for their future seems so bleak and dreary.

 
You have heard their groans and moans.
You are the God of all families on these islands.
All of us are your people; all of us your sons and daughters:

the poor and the rich, the landless and the landed,
the hungry and the healthy, the simple and the smart,

living in huts and haciendas, in dumpsites and mansions.

Bring us all closer together in our shared humanity
and our shared faith in You
as a God of justice, peace and freedom.

May we feel your Spirit of compassion and wisdom within us.

Touch our hearts, and enlighten us on how best we can empower
poor farmers to raise themselves from their affliction.
Set them free from their bondage to hunger and misery.

May those who have oppressed them for so long
repent and repair what they have ruined.

We ask this with trust in your justice and mercy.