150 SW 13th Avenue, Miami, FL  33135
Phone  (786) 264-1708; Fax  (786) 264-1859
Worship and Other Resources

    WORK
    A summary of a reflection given by the Rev. Dr. Giacomo Cassese's
    at an Annual Meeting of SFIWJ
Work
Church for bringing this prayer to our attention!

    Leader: Dear God, we pray for children, who put chocolate fingers everywhere,
    who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, who
    color outside the lines, and who can never find their shoes. Hear our prayer, O
    God.

    People: We pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who
    can’t race down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who never “counted potatoes,”
    who never go to the circus. Hear our prayer, O God.

    Leader: We pray for children who give sticky kisses and give fistfuls of
    Dandelions, who sleep with the dog and have funerals for their goldfish, who
    give hugs in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with
    Band-aids and sing off key.  Hear our prayer, O God.

    People: We pray for those who never get dessert, who have no favorite “blankie” to
    drag behind them, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on
    anybody’s refrigerator, and whose monsters are real. Hear our prayer, O God.

    Leader: We pray for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
    who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who get visits
    from the tooth fairy and who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who
    squirm in church and scream in the telephone, whose tears we sometimes
    laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry. Hear our prayer, O God.

    People: And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat
    anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed
    hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being.  Hear our
    prayer, O God.

    Leader: We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must,
    for those we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance, for
    those we smother with love, and for those who will grab the hand of anybody
    kind enough to offer it. Hear our prayer, O God.

    People: We pray for guidance that through our hearts and hands, we may work on
    behalf of children everywhere. Guide us that we might teach, nurture, and protect those
    children in our community and might share the love of Christ with the “least of these.”
    Hear our prayer, O God.  Amen.
Excerpt from "America's Table: A Thanksgiving Reader", shared at the
American Jewish Committee Diversity Breakfast in Miami on November 24th