USCCB - (SDWP) - Cover the Uninsured Week

Cover the Uninsured Week

March 10-16, 2003

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is a national co-sponsor of "Cover the Uninsured Week," an effort led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Other national co-sponsors include Catholic Health Association, major health organizations, and business and labor groups. This week long series of events from March 10-16, 2003 is designed to focus on the more than 41 million Americans who lack any form of health insurance.

On Friday, March 14, An Interfaith Call for Care will be marked by community-wide prayer breakfasts bringing together religious leaders to learn more about the plight of the uninsured and urge them to respond with concern, compassion, and justice. For more information and interfaith materials go to the Cover the Uninsured website: CoverTheUninsuredWeek.org

Below are suggested Catholic liturgical materials for the weekend of March 15-16, 2003:

Prayers for Care

Prayer for Care
The following prayer may be used or adapted for use in an interfaith gathering or for use by individual congregations of various faith traditions.

Eternal God, we praise you for giving us life and calling us into community to care for each other.

We acknowledge that we have failed to care for every member of our human family, and have not assured that all may receive the health care they need for the life that you intend. Forgive us for hearts that have been slow to feel another's pain, for hands that have been still when a caring touch was needed, and for voices that have remained silent while millions suffer for lack of health care.

Strengthen in us a determination to solve the problem of uninsured Americans, so that all may have the care they need. While we work together, sustain and uphold those who suffer while they await healing and care. Guide doctors, nurses, and all other health care providers to serve with skill as agents of your love and healing.

For the blessing of life, we give you thanks. For comfort from you and from your people in illness and loss, we give you thanks. And for the call to care and the will to do it, we give you thanks. Amen.

General Intercessions (Prayer of the Faithful)

Priest:
My brothers and sisters, through this common prayer let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, not only for ourselves, but for the health and well-being of all whom God has created, saying, "Lord, make us whole."

Deacon/Cantor/Other:
For the holy Church of God, that in the name of Jesus who healed the sick and welcomed the outcasts, we minister to all who suffer in mind, body, and spirit, and call for care that excludes none, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, make us whole.

For all our brothers and sisters throughout the world, a world in which disease knows no borders, suffering is a shared language, health care is a common need, and good health is a universal hope, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, make us whole.

For our nation, that we assure health care for everyone and so doing discover that true strength comes from ensuring justice and compassion for all and not just for some, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, make us whole.

For ourselves and our community, that we don't pass by the problems of others but work together to solve the problems that afflict our neighbors, offering comfort and care, support and solidarity, advocacy and action to heal the broken places, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, make us whole.

For all who are uninsured, that they find strength and hope in you and justice and care from your people, and for the sick that they are sustained by faith and served lovingly by doctors, nurses, and other caretakers, acting as agents of your love, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, make us whole.

For all who have died, especially those who died for lack of care, and for the loved ones who grieve their passing, we pray to the Lord.

Lord, make us whole.

Priest: We know, O God, your desire for health and wholeness through Jesus Christ, who told the woman who reached out and touched him, "Your faith has made you well." Grant us today what we ask of you in faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Roman Catholic Homily Resource
Roman Catholic Lectionary for 2nd Sunday in Lent, Year B:

Gen. 22:1,2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 (Sacrifice of Isaac: "Do not lay your hand on the boy,")

Ps. 116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19 ("I believed, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted.'" )
Romans 8:31b-34 ("If God is for us, who can be against us?")

Mark 9:2-10 (Transfiguration)

Homily Points:

In the first reading, God calls Abraham to be ready to follow His will even to the point of sacrificing his only Son, Isaac.
God"s test of Abraham"s faith reveals the depth of Abraham"s trust in God.
The Psalm refrain echoes Abraham"s great trust: "I believed, even when I said, I am greatly afflicted..."
St. Paul"s message gives us a way of echoing the same kind of trust in our lives: "If God is for us, who can be against us ?"
The promise of Jesus is that no matter what our suffering, it has been overcome in his death and resurrection: God never abandons us.
Abraham"s willingness to sacrifice his only Son is meant to prefigure the sacrifice of Jesus, whose own life is one of praise and thanksgiving to his Father.
Even in his Transfiguration, Jesus chose a messiahship of solidarity with those who suffer. The real mystery of Jesus" life is disclosed in this event: it is his willingness to give of his life for others that will bring about his full acceptance by the Father.
Our life of solidarity with the poor and suffering demands that we work to alleviate the injustices which cause their hardship, even at the cost of some sacrifice in our own lives.
The trust of Abraham is that of St. Paul, and ultimately, that of Jesus" own trust in his Father: God never abandons us in our suffering or in our struggle to address injustice on behalf of the poor. Like Jesus, we are transfigured through such experience by our trust in the Father.