Saturday 21 March 2009

The Lord's Prayer: Liberation Theology Version


Our Father and Mother
who is in us here on earth,
holy is your name
in the hungry
who share their bread and their song.
Your Kingdom come,
which is a generous land
flowing with milk and honey.
Let us do your will,
standing up when all are sitting down,
and raising our voice
when all are silent.
You are giving us our daily bread
in the song of the bird and the miracle of the corn.
Forgive us
for keeping silent in the face of injustice,
and for burying our dreams;
for not sharing bread and wine,
love and the land,
among us, now.
Don't let us fall into the temptation
of shutting the door through fear,
of resigning ourselves to hunger and injustice,
of taking up the same arms as the enemy.
But deliver us from evil.
Give us the perseverance and the solidarity
to look for love,
even if the path has not yet been trodden,
even if we fail;
so we shall have known your Kingdom
which is being built forever and ever.
Amen.


I read this Latin American paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer many years ago in a church bulletin in Winnipeg. In true Liberation Theology style, it emphasizes collective solidarity among the poor and oppressed instead of expressing a concern solely for individual salvation.

5 comments:

Andréa said...

Beautiful. I wish more churches preached this.

Unibeat said...

What church did you read this at?

Jacob said...

I love it! Going to read it at my home church when I get a chance.

Unknown said...

Hi! This I'd from a long time ago but I wanted to use this at my church and was wondering if you had source info. Thank you!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

@ Unknown -- Sorry, I don't have any specific source information for this. Like the post says, I just read it in a church bulletin probably about 25-30 years ago. It may possibly have originated in Nicaragua since our Minister at that time had previously served in that country, but this is just speculation on my part.