International Womens' Day

A prayer for today:

Who shall find a valiant woman?

Look! We are all around you:

in the work rooms of industry, and of every functioning enterprise,

unheralded, invisible, some way non-existent,

but we know otherwise.

Who shall find a valiant woman?

Look! We are all around you:

contributing, setting standards, changing the course of history,

preparing, supporting,

challenging those resentful of our claims and capabilities.

Who shall find a valiant woman?

Look! We are all around you:
Woman of courage, compassion, and patience.
Our number is legion, our gifts diverse,
our goal one and the same:
that history hear, that history is cognizant of,
that history will one day recall our names.

We honour the women of the Hebrew scriptures,
especially Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
whose courage, persistence, love, and fidelity
kept the lineage of faith alive.

We honour the women of Jesus' time,

who cared for the community of believers;
who followed Jesus to Calvary; who buried Him;

who proclaimed Jesus' resurrection
who passed the Gospel to their families, friends and strangers.

We honour the valiant women of our own time

who nudge us back on track;
who remind us of the promises of Christ,
who claim the Gospel for women, too;
who preach the reality of wholeness;
who strain against a patriarchal church
who challenge us to grow.

Living God, today we gather in and among your presence.
Valiant women throughout the world, and all gathered here,

raise our voices in global petition for your promise of wholeness,

of fullness of life, to be realized in all our world,

in our nations and in our lives.

May we, women and men alike, be agents of that fullness,

and live for ever in your kingdom.
This we pray in your holy name. Amen.