 The first scripture reading for today is from the book of Isaiah chapter 61 verses 1 through 3 This is the word of eyes the word that Isaiah speaks The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed to bind up the brokenhearted to To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God To comfort all who mourn To provide for those who mourn and Zion and give them a garland of instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning Notice that this piece is by one of our own Alfredo Freddy Barahona and his son Ernesto did the recording of this Jorge Elvijo Palencia song Profeta Pero la historia no Callarra y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra con su evangelio en la mano Monseño Romero quiso Hacer justicia y la hizo su albillano Por qué su voz fue el aliento que defendió al campesino Iluminando el camino la libertad de este pueblo Podrán matar al profeta Pero su voz de justicia no y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra Pecado fue querer Que los obreros comiera Que un padre nuestro tuviera Para rezar lo comiendo Cuando Dios no hace justicia Por qué no entienden los ricos En los pobres sale el grito que aprendieron del profeta Podrán matar al profe pero su voz fue justicia no y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra Su muerte no es coincidencia Debe temblar los tiranos Son ellos los que en sus manos Lleva la mancha del crimen Y toda la oligarquía Torpes de tanta demencia Afirmado sus sentencias Comienza ya su agonía Podrán matar al profeta Pero su voz de justicia no y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra y le impondrán el silencio Pero la historia no Callarra At this moment in the service We would like to honor the friends and partners Of Kairos who have passed away over the years Their work and their dedication not only helped shape Kairos But contributed to justice efforts around the world Some have been gone for many years But with others the grief is still fresh We named them with gratitude for the care and love they shared And the work they did and we ask comfort for all those Still mourning their loss So let's take a moment to gather ourselves Acknowledging the loss and honoring the lives Of those who have passed but who remain in our hearts And I will name them here Kimi Pernia Domico Digno Ochoa Esperanza Amirres Miranda Pascal Cabangula Kibembi Mary Ellen Natal Mary Orr Crispin Beltran Also known as Cabel Mariano Abraca Bishop Samuel Ruiz Father Joe Dezen Christopher Lind John Mehevick Topazio Renoso Warren Allmond Sister Doreen Kirby John Dylan Arthur Manuel Dorothy McDougal Audrey McClelland The Reverend Fletcher Stewart Dr. Bonnie M. Green Gloria Chekeza Aguilera Berta Cacires Richard Dick Peters Leela Engberg Jim Kirkwood Carlota Isabel Salinas Perez Ruben Herrera Zara Alvarez Reverend Vivian Seegers And Sister Ann O'Brien We also wish to honor in this moment many others who have died in recent years whose names we may not all know but who are no less beloved of God. Indigenous women, girls and gender non-conforming people who have been murdered or disappeared. Human rights defenders killed for their efforts. Migrant workers who died on the job or due to complications tied to their labor. Those who have passed from complications of COVID around the globe and all for whom injustice contributed to their death. We pray for comfort for all who grieve the will to change the structures that contribute to oppression and death and strength to see our grieving and our changing through. Let us now join in a prayer or thanksgiving. We sing a song of thanksgiving today as we remember the past 20 years of spirited action for justice of the work and ministry of Cairo's. Dear God One and many O God, you are our self place to hide. You are our mighty fortress. You are our ever present help in time of need. We can and do turn to you in the midst of our troubles and Lord our world is full of difficulties. We pose in the midst of all that is unholy, unthinkable and undeniable to look within and offer our gratitudes for a day that has dawned a new as we celebrate 20 years of spirited action for justice. We rejoice that we have voice and head and heart so that we can love one another love you and love all of your people for the work of influencing policy change towards dignity of creation for the work of influencing policy change for the work of dignity of all people we are thankful we celebrate the abundance in our lives and that we can share it with the world in jubilance and grace we offer ourselves and all that we are and have to be your justice and peace in the midst of all that is unholy and thinkable and undeniable for the past 20 years many many things to thank you for creator God receive our praises and thanksgiving in the name of Jesus pray amen and now let us move into a prayer of confession Lord we come in prayer to you burdened with our unhappy business all the deeds done under the sun that we would rather not remember the sound of sin in our world the sin of the doctrine of discovery used as justification to seize land subordinate and enslave infecting our assumptions about people of other ethnic groups and nations the sins of colonization past and present including our participation in the systematic oppression of indigenous sovereignty language culture and spirituality the sin of white supremacy this blight on our hearts our communities our institutions the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic and political advantage of another and many other sins too great to count or name hearer of all you know too clearly the sorrows of our world forgive us our sins and help us right the wrongs we've done give us words of repentance to share with those we've wronged bringing courage to amplify the voices of the most vulnerable among us and a resounding love for the lowest and the least most of all tune our ears to the voice of Jesus so that always and everywhere we might hear his song of peace for every creature under the sun amen let us move into some words and prayers of assurance the God who challenges us is also the God who encourages us the God who confronts us is also the God who accepts us and loves us unconditionally may the God of mercies through the death and resurrection of the Christ send the Holy Spirit the forgiveness upon us to grant us pardon for all the wrongs we have done both individually and communally as a country as a people and as churches especially wrongs done towards our aboriginal brothers and sisters through adherence to the doctrine of discovery the sins of colonization and oppression and our attitudes of white supremacy through this acknowledgement may our provident God give us humility and sorrow for our sins and may the creators great light shine out of this terrible darkness giving us courage and wisdom to right these wrongs glory be to God whose power working in all of us can make us infinitely able to accomplish true reconciliation and healing far more than we could ever ask or imagine with a strong will to change unjust structures glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to all creatures and people of goodwill we offer this prayer and all the holy names of God Amen I'm going to read to us from the story of Esther from chapter four we come to Esther's story at a time when she is being challenged to stand up to the king of Persia in order to save the Jewish people from massacre she and her cousin are exchanging messages our scripture begins with Esther speaking all the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called there is but one law all alike are to be put to death only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone may that person live I myself have not been called to come into the king for 30 days when they told Mordecai what Esther had said Mordecai told them to reply to Esther do not think that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews for if you keep silence at such a time as this relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter but you and your father's family will perish who knows perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this then Esther said in reply to Mordecai go gather all the Jews to be found in Sousa and hold a fast on my behalf and neither eat nor drink for three days day or night I and my maids will also fast as you do after that I will go to the king though it is against the law and if I perish I perish every once in a while we come up against a Bible story that does not sound like a Bible story more like a soap opera the book of Esther is one of those odd and colourful biblical narratives it's nestled between Nehemiah and Job in the Old Testament five centuries before Jesus Christ there were pockets of Jewish people living throughout the powerful Persian Empire Esther is a vivid account of life in the court of the king of Persia it's a story worth telling but to make a long story very short the king needs a new wife a group of young women are brought to the court for the king to choose among these women is Esther Esther is an orphan adopted by her cousin Mordecai Esther is Jewish a fact that she must hide if she wants a chance to be queen the king along with the rest of the royal court is delighted with Esther she is sweet tempered and lovely to look at Esther proves immediately that she is not just a pretty face with help from Mordecai she saves the king from a would be assassin the vindictive villain of the peace hatches a plan to kill the Jewish people to whom Mordecai and Esther belong Mordecai goes to Esther for help to prevent the attack by intervening with the king but she is at a loss because even though she is his wife she would be risking her life to approach the king until she is invited and the king has not granted permission for him to for her to speak to him Mordecai challenges Esther with these words he says if you keep silence as such a time as this relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter but you and your father's family will perish who knows perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this in other words Esther is risking her life by not speaking to the king she is condemning others to death if she stays silent it's a no-win situation after a great deal of prayer and reflection Esther decides to put herself at risk she intervenes and Mordecai and the rest of the Jewish people are saved presumably everybody lives happily ever after Esther's story has all the best elements of tragic comedy, beauty queens and intrigue, betrayal and loyal heroes but as I said before it's a strange kind of Bible story because you may have noticed that God is not mentioned at all yet God is in this story God may be hidden but God's fingerprints are all over this one God has gone incognito but where where in Esther's story do we see God I think we see God most working in Esther's character and her actions she's beautiful inside and out she's put severely to the test and she chooses to put her position at risk her life at risk for the sake of her people above all she is able to recognize within her circumstances the silent working of divine providence she has become queen for such a time as this God has placed her in a situation in which she must discern God's call to action in a week or to stay silent if I can borrow a phrase from the author of Esther's story perhaps it is for such a time as this that you and I have been created perhaps God has gifted us with our particular voices and treasures for such a time as this it is for such a time as this that God has called us to be kairos those of us who are disciples of Jesus Christ believe that we are caught up in the story of God's mission to the world we are part of something that is much bigger than our individual selves we belong to the story of God in the world and that means that we have been given roles to play and a place in the narrative we have a purpose and a call there are at least two aspects of call that are difficult for many of us the first is discerning what exactly God is calling us to do and be how do we know what God is saying and are we hearing correctly what is it that we are being prepared for and urged to accomplish how are we being prepared to make visible what is hidden once we have fully understood the nature of our call if indeed we can ever fully understand then are we willing to do what God has asked will we risk ourselves our comfort our security will we speak or stay silent will we go or stay put will we give or will we keep or will we maintain the status quo whether we as characters in God's divine story are willing to take direction from the Lord of the universe is usually up to us we are not puppets on a string we are free to say yes or no we are free to stay silent at such a time as this we are free to ignore the insistent whisper of God's call none of us have the fate of a people or a nation resting on our shoulders like Esther did our decision to heed a call or to ignore it most likely does not have far reaching or catastrophic implications but there are urgent consequences associated with our decision to do what God calls us to be what God calls us to be if we are being called to reach out to neighbors to feed them or clothe them or advocate for them then there are consequences for our neighbors if we choose not to do so if we are being called to speak out for justice then there are consequences for those whose lives are threatened by injustice if we choose to stay silent all this is a reminder that we are connected we live not as individuals but as a community of faith it is a reminder that you and I have been born for such a time as this Cairo's time to live as the body of Christ in this time in this place for this moment sustained by the gracious love of creator's son and Holy Spirit may God's infinite gentleness and wisdom guide us to recognize the divine voice in our ears even when it is almost too quiet to hear and to discern exactly how it is that we should respond to the time in which we live Amen I will now be sharing a song from Verney incredible partners from the Philippines and she actually she's with us now and it's morning time and we were together this morning which was night time for Verney and this incredible incredible gathering and so now we're going to hear from Verney who wrote this song actually as a reflection on everything that she was hearing from our other partners all over the world who have been with us in this amazing gathering Lidali Lidali Lidali Lidali Lidali Lidali Indigenous peoples march to say we're struggling to be free fighting for our rights to land generations will survive learning organizing mobilizing to be free in unity and solidarity our power the world will see Lidali Lidali Lidali Lidali Lidali Lidali people of the Philippines uniting with community Church people for the land working with communities learning organizing mobilizing to be free in unity in unity solidarity that is our ministry Lidali Lidali Dali, you the 20 years, Kairus walked with us, wait our passion to do the rising, mobilizing to be free, tighter partnerships and solidarity, a change world we will see. Dali, Dali. Thank you very much, Verne, for that inspirational song, the song of hope amidst struggle. My name is Dio Marsolino and I will be reading from the Old Testament. Eglisiastes chapter four, verses nine to twelve, entitled The Value of a Friend. Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other, but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lights together they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though one might prevail against another, two will withstand one. A three-fold cord is not quickly broken. May God have the blessing to the reading of this holy scripture. Thank you, Diva. Thank you for reading the scripture. Good day. Good morning to those in the Philippines. I've noticed in the chat and good evening to those in Eastern Canada. I'm calling in from Western Canada and Vancouver, British Columbia. My name is Reverend Murray Prudin, Executive Minister for Indigenous Ministries and Justice for the NIA Church of Canada, and Danse. I am Nihil Cree from Treaty Six Territory from North Central Alberta, from the Good Fish Lake Salt Lake First Nations, and the reflection from that scripture reading, it says it all in there. I really feel I don't need to explain too much, but more than one is better. How do we make friends? How do we accomplish to live together if we can't support each other? That is the biggest reflections I receive when I first chose the scripture, but I'm going to go a little bit more detail into the message of what is the ongoing hope God gives us and what is the ongoing call to work together. As I sit here with everyone, I also have this, and you probably can't see it too well, but I'll put it against my chest here. This is sweet grass, traditionally from Canada. Sweet grass is one of our medicines that we honour and use, and it was given to us by our great Mother Earth as one of our healing medicines, and we use it and we burn it for smudging for ceremony, and it smells sweet as the name goes, sweet grass, and we braid it. We braid the sweet grass as a reminder that it's our Mother's braid, and that we burn it, the braid to cleanse ourselves. So this is sweet grass. This is what we, one of our medicines we honour here in our territories across this great land, a grass turtle island. Yes, very sweet. I'm going to talk about grass in a minute here, but this grass has been a gift. It's gift from creation, it's gift from the earth, and we're in relationship with the land and with this grass, and we always have to remind ourselves how precious every part of this earth and this land is, and that's one of the reasons we befriend the world and the land and all the elements, but also all the creatures and each other, each nations of people. We're humankind, we're not human different, we're humankind. I want to talk about blades of grass. I'll just tell you a little bit about blades of grass, and I always, I use this in part of a sermon too for a mentor of mine who passed away over the summer in late Reverend Robert Wright, back in my home community, and I had the honour to officiate his funeral, but when I gave this sermon and I'm only going to give a portion of it, it reflects in a way, and I hope it brings some understanding, especially to the scripture reading as well, and to this idea of two are better than one, that more is greater, that we should know if we really want to work together, then in my opinion, we got to be like a blade of grass, because as you know, as each blade of grass grows, life seems to have an influence on how well each blade of grass will grow as it reaches for the sunlight, and if there's too much dry heat, and the blade of will dry out, grasping for moisture, and if there's too much water for a blade of grass to grow, it won't drown, but adapt to a new wetland climate and the soil texture, and if it's too cold, the blade of grass could freeze and break off its stem, and if its roots are planted, rooted well, it will regrow and start its process again to reach for that sunlight in the sky, the elements of our world, influence, guide, teach, and mold each blade of grass every day of its existence, but still at the end of the day, no matter the influence and daily existence of the blade of grass, it's still a blade of grass, like its fellow brothers and sisters around it, so singing and dancing in the wind, a blade of grass. This is the beauty of the world that God has created. It teaches us and relates us to the earthly existence around us, and remember we're only given one world to live in together, and like a blade of grass, we too reach for that sunlight each day, each day we are each a unique individual blade of grass, but at the same time all living and breathing together with a great miracle of life on this earth plane, each striving for the sky, and remember you are love, each one of you a blade of grass, and each day as a blade of grass here on the land, we will remember and live this miracle of life and tell each other's story, that story of reaching for that sky, each one of us a precious and loving creation by God, and when we look at that blade of grass, I'm always brought to this idea of our sweet grass braided, and when you think about our scripture reading as well, if you have three strands together, it's harder to break, and this is why we braid, and are reminded of the story of why we braid our sweet grass too. When you braid it together, it's unbreakable, it's unbreakable, so let me remind you, everyone, all my relations out there, as being a blade of grass, if you braid each other and work together, we're unbreakable, that's what makes us people of the land, that's what makes us nihil, so back to the question beginning, what is ongoing hope God gives us, what is ongoing call to work together? My relations, we are the ongoing hope God gives us, and we are the ongoing call to work together, 20 years of spirited action for justice things, for another 20 years and beyond of spirited action for justice and hope, for generations to come, may God creator bless and keep us humble and always living in a good way as a blade of grass. Thanks be to God. Amen. Thank you very, very much, Mary, for your very powerful message, and as we walk together into the future, we are more than ever aware that the spirit is deep within us and all around us, and we also, as we did, as we began this prayer, we recognize that those who have gone before us are present with us this night. We, the people, pray, and the response to our prayer is compassionate creator, hear our prayer. Creator God, in you we are one. We hold in our hearts those who ignited the spark, which burst into kairos that day in January of 2001, and in a particular way those who have now entered eternal life. We hold in our hearts the many who forged ahead in significant ways these last 20 years. We hold in our hearts those who courageously persist today, and those who will join kairos in the future, and as we mark this pivotal moment, this kairos moment, we relish your love and light, beloved creator, and this evening we pray in thanksgiving for the gift of life that each of us enjoys, and for the lives of our over eight billion sisters and brothers, and all created beings with whom we share the earth, our home. May we be more aware of our oneness, our communion with all humanity and creation, and may the way we live reflect our awareness of our interconnectedness. And as we celebrate 20 years of spirited action, may all of us, staff, partners, volunteers, friends, supporters, and all connected to kairos, continue to be blessed with a heightened awareness of the preciousness of life in all its diversity, and look toward the future with renewed hope. We pray, compassionate creator, hear our prayer, and with hearts overflowing with gratitude, and filled with need, we ask that you grant us the wisdom and the courage to strive to be ever more intentional, ever stronger, ever more trusting, ever more tender and compassionate to one another, ever more tender and compassionate to the most excluded, misunderstood, and unwelcome in our own neighborhoods, and ever more tender and compassionate in our world. And as we do all we can to respond to the communities with whom we work, to our partners, and also to the cries of the world, we pray, compassionate creator, hear our prayer. And so let us take just a moment of silence, being aware of all the unspoken prayers, those that are deep in our hearts and in the hearts of all our sisters and brothers, all our family throughout the world. And we know that Jesus is more than ever aware of our needs even before we are, and he brings them all to our mother, our father. And so we pray, may the blessings of this celebration, that if it has been truly grace-filled, be deeply rooted in our grateful collective heart, and as we walk into the future together, may we dare to hope that we do so in a profound spirit of justice for truth and reconciliation. Amen. And as part of our closing, we're going to hear now from my community, the Nietzsche singers, to close us in a good way. I mean, so the next song we're going to dedicate is a traveling song. A traveling song is dedicated for people who have traveled on to the spirit world and as well giving good vibes all across Canada for traveling and the people in South America or all over the world. We travel with you in spirit and be wet. And now friends, may God bless us with discontent, with easy answers, half truths, superficial relationships so that we may live from deep within our hearts. May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation in this world so that we may work for justice, equality and peace. May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and to help change their pain to joy. May God bless us with the foolishness to think that we can make a difference in the world so that we may do the things which others tell us cannot be done. If we have courage to accept these blessings, then God will also bless us with happiness because we will know that we have made life better for others with inner peace because we will have worked to secure an outer peace for others with laughter because our hearts will be light and with faithful friends because they will recognize the friend in us. These blessings are ours, not for the asking but for the giving. From one who wants to be our companion, our God who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. Well thank you everyone for a great ending to our day. We've walked where we were walking for 10 years, 20 years of spiritual justice and this has been a great thing. Thank you all of you for coming to this service this evening and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow to our final day and our plenary where we will talk about where it is we are going and we're going to be walking in solidarity forward. Thank you. We've had our benediction and our thanks and now we can pretend we've walked out into the lobby. So some of you will slip away quickly and some of you may linger to chat a little bit. That was beautiful. Thank you for that blessing of everything. Bernie, we are glad to see your face. Thank you for your song. You're welcome. Miigwech, Yaman. So nice to see all of you, my God. And Lee, we thank you for your song as well. How many singers were there? Four. Sometimes though people passing through the square would start singing with us. Alison, it was nice to hear those names like Anne O'Brien and Doreen and John. A lovely remembrance. Were there any that we missed that you would want to mention now? Anybody think of someone who's part of the caravans community that we missed? I thought there might be a few names in the chat but you know as the days went on when we had that as we were gathering that list quite a few people contributed and I thought yeah the folks that have been core I think mostly been mentioned. Well folks we go ahead. Thank you for doing that work so we can remember everyone. It was really hard to you know just even as we've been going throughout all the work of the past year how hard it is that a lot of our elders have passed. It was striking to me that there were so many more names sort of from 2017 on. Those memories are fresh and those people are very much missed. Yeah I thank you for pulling this all together Shannon. It was beautiful. Little bit of legwork in the background that's all. I guess. So folks we don't need to draw this out either. We're going to meet again tomorrow unless anyone has any anything else you want to say I'm going to close it up. Just wanted to mention oh thank you everyone. This was lovely and I wanted to mention that tomorrow there is a workshop at 8.45 on women's peace and security and land defense. So you're all welcome to that. 8.45 a.m eastern time. So Jeanette you know with your feeling like 5.45. I might have to get the recording for that one. Yeah no problem we're recording it. It's in French but it will be translated. Yeah okay I wanted to thank everyone for all this beautiful service that was put together and for everybody on the steering committee as well and I'm sorry I won't be able to take part tomorrow but my thoughts will be with you and with prayers and thank you to Cairo staff and all the tremendous volunteers across Canada and internationally. Together we are stronger. Thank you. Just like that parade. Blessings. Yeah peace upon your night. Thank you Jeanette. Good night all. Good night. Blessings all. Blessings.