Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(Photo: At St. Paul’s Commons, Echo Park on Thursday with the Rev. Canon Melissa McCarthy and Troy Elder, the immigration rights attorney who serves as executive director of IRIS Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Service, Los Angeles. Our conversation was about IRIS’s continuing work on behalf those at risk in our world and neighborhoods.)