Jack Murphy, Chair of the SVDP Voice of the Poor Committee shares these prayers for systemic change: Voice of the Poor Prayer and Prayer for Vincentians about to Engage in Systemic Change.

For similar resources, see these links to Vincentian Prayer Resources and Systemic Change Resources.

Voice of the Poor Prayer

Lord of all people,

During your time on earth you identified with the poor and instructed us to care for

one another, for our neighbor and especially for the least of our brothers and sisters.

Be with us as we advocate for the poor.

Help us to persevere in joy and love on their behalf.

Add your voice to ours as we speak out for those who are not heard in our communities.

Guide us as we work, comfortable in the knowledge that we are doing your will for

this day and time and place, and that you will take care of tomorrow.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, his Blessed Mother, our patron St. Vincent and

our founder Blessed Frederic.

Ruth Zemek

Prayer for Vincentians about to Engage in Systemic Change

May God be with us as we serve those in need.

May we find creative ways to assist them in becoming independent.

May we pray for unity amongst Vincentians throughout the world.

May we explore new ways to teach and learn from those we serve.

May we pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us on the Vincentian Pathway to ending poverty as we now know it.

May we find courage and stamina to improve the structural systems that keep

our friends in need in their place at the bottom of the ladder.

May we stand with them and for them in their struggles for justice

in the care provided for and to them.

May God bless all of us knowing we are all doing our part to improve the system of care for those in need.

———–

More on Jack Murphy

Jack serves on the Board of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, recently named one of Georgia’s Top 50 Charities by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. He is also national chair of Voice of the Poor, The Society’s advocacy & education effort. He is on the Superintendent’s Community Council Board for the Fulton County School System, The Alumni Board of Belmont Abbey College, and is a member of the CCHD Committee for Catholic Charities. Jack is an Adjunct Professor in the MBA program at Keller Graduate School, teaching courses in Human Resources and Management. He has visited Nicaragua to work in an orphanage of special needs children and traveled to Africa to work with a Duluth-based NGO to build a high school in Ghana. He and his wife, an elementary school principal, have two grown daughters.