Before Our Eyes They Die--March 16, 2012

Lord Jesus, you did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted.
For the weak you became weak.

Millions of people cry to us today for food,
sorely afflicted, their money gone.
Children die in Africa before our eyes.

Shall we hide our faces from them?
Are our hearts so hardened?
Give us compassion to save some.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 22; 148; 105; 130
Gen. 47:1-26
1 Cor. 9:16-27
Mark 6:47-56

Selected Verses
Ps. 22:24
For he did not despise or abhor
      the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
      but heard when I cried to him.

Gen. 47:15
When the money from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan was spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us food! Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone."

1 Cor. 9:22
To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some

Mark 6:52
…for [the disciples] did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.