World Refugee Day 2023

World Refugee Day is an international day organized every year on June 20 by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honor refugees from around the world. The day was first established on June 20, 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The theme for 2023 is “Hope Away from Home.”

In honor of World Refugee Day, we invite you to join us on June 20th as we pray for protection for refugees as well as for personal transformation as we face the needs of refugees everywhere. While we might not all be saying the prayer at exactly the same time, our focused presence and pause will be felt. Say the prayer with a large group or even on your own. Remember, when one prays, we all pray!

 We invite you to check out your local area for activities regarding World Refugee Day.

A Moment for Grace

A Prayer for Refugees

God of our Wandering Ancestors,

Long have we known
That your heart is with the refugee:
That you were born into time
In a family of refugees
Fleeing violence in their homeland,
Who then gathered up their hungry child
And fled into alien country.

 Their cry, your cry, resounds through the ages:
“Will you let me in?”
 Give us hearts that break open
When our brothers and sisters turn to us with that same cry.
Then surely all these things will follow:
Ears will no longer turn deaf to their voices.
Eyes will see a moment for grace instead of a threat.
Tongues will not be silenced but will instead advocate.
And hands will reach out—
working for peace in their homeland, working for justice in the lands where they seek safe haven.

Lord, protect all refugees in their travels.
May they find a friend in me
And so make me worthy
Of the refuge I have found in you. 

AMEN

prayer from www.crs.org