Mother Forgive Them

(Adapted from an East London-Eastern Cape ecumenical service on gender based violence)

This prayer of anger, confession and intercession can be adapted to open space for any members of the worship to express their pain and anger…. To include any clause…  

Those that sexually harass the weak
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that spit on my body
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that condemn me for loose living
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that cast me out for having left my abusive husband
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that judge me with pious words
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that delay in treating me
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that exploit my illness for profit and gain
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that prevaricate and analyse endlessly
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that fight for power but not for those who suffer
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that squabble about anti-retroviral drugs
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those who reject and persecute me because of my sexuality
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that speak in hushed tones and whispers
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that erect barbed wire around us
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do

Those that submerge me under a mountain of statistics
Mother forgive them
For they know not what they do