NIGHT PRAYER: Saturday 9/26

Tonight’s prayer is prompted by Pope Leo’s address (9/25/26) to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Here are some excerpts from his speech which I encourage you to read in its entirety.

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What does it mean to be human? Every culture is challenged by this
question, which lies at the heart of every form of knowledge, every art and
every religion…

Before all else, the human person is someone who is conceived and born. Thus, first of all, to be human means to be a child. None of us chose to
be so. None of us decided from whom, when or where to be born. This evident
truth sheds light on something that is not merely biological but ethical: as
children, we are all brothers and sisters. From the outset, our humanity is a
gift and a trial, a promise and a responsibility…

Secondly, we are all born naked and in need. We are poor by birth, in need
of bread and words, of care and affection — that is, of all that nourishes body
and spirit. We know this well, and yet, as we become adults, we risk forgetting
it. It is precisely those in need who suffer the greatest consequences of
this forgetfulness, whenever their humanity is betrayed or cast aside,
exploited or deceived…

Thirdly, to keep alive the memory of our common humanity is to recognize its
grandeur — that is, its immense potential — even though it is diminished by
many forms of evil and injustice. Those engaged in the fields of education,
science and culture are called all the more to care for every person, so that
the beauty of our freedom may shine forth. This beauty has a name: justice.
Freedom is indeed beautiful when it is oriented toward goodness and truth; it
is disfigured when it descends into arbitrariness, violence or the thirst for
power. To be human, then, implies a responsibility before history: the human
being is one who grows, learns and works with both hands and mind. By that
labor, we may cultivate the earth or disfigure it, create works of art or destroy
them. At this particular juncture, we must recognize that the most terrible of
“human works” is war, for then science itself is placed at the service of an
inhumane will to destroy and to kill.

First of all, Lord,

help me to be human…

Help me to be a brother, a sister,

to all of my brothers and sisters

and remind me, Lord,

that everyone is sister and brother to me…

Let me see, Lord,

that my deepest human needs

are the needs of every human being,

of all my brothers and sisters

wherever they may be

and that their poverty is my poverty

and that my wealth belongs to them…

Help me see, Lord, and help me delight

in the beauty of freedom,

in the light of justice,

in the graciousness of peace:

help me know my own personal responsibility

for cultivating beauty in all my thoughts,

in my words and in the work of my hands…

Help me to be human, Lord,

for human is what you made me to be…

Protect me, Lord, while I’m awake

and watch over me while I sleep

that awake, I might keep watch with you

and asleep rest in your peace…

Pope Leo speaks, of course, in the context of Christian faith. Tonight’s song doesn’t reference that faith but yet speaks beautifully of what it means to be – human… In my posts, I have purposely avoided using AI generated music – but, curiously and ironically, I’m making an exception here…

Don’t judge me by the shade I wear,

Don’t weigh me by my name.

Don’t draw a border round my life

From bloodline, rank or faith.

Stand before me just once

And look beyond what you assume.

Before you read my identity—

Read the way I move through the world.

See me—
See me as human.

Past every label, Read what lives within.

Don’t place my worth On prejudice’s scale—

Let what I do Become my name.

See me—
See me as human.

Beyond division,
Look for equal regard.

Ask whose burden
I helped carry—

That is where
My truth begins.

When I place food
In a hungry hand,

Why should faith
Be questioned first?

When I lift someone
Who has fallen,

Why should lineage
Matter then?

One word that gives
A grieving heart courage

Can become a kind of prayer.

And standing beside
A shattered soul—

Even silence can be compassion.

Conscience never asks me—

“How much did you acquire?” It asks—

« Whose pain
Became lighter because of you?”

That is the measure
That matters.

See me—
See me as human.

Past every label,
Read what lives within.

Don’t place my worth
On prejudice’s scale—

Let what I do
Become my name.

If the house is taller,
Is the heart taller too?

If the title shines,
Does character shine with it?

If hands overflow with fortune

But empathy has disappeared—

What does that splendour mean?

Don’t measure me
Only by what I say.

Measure the trust
I refused to betray.

Measure the darkness
In somebody’s life

Where I chose
To become a light.

Do not carve my name
Into stone.

Let it remain as courage
Inside one heart.

I do not need
A crown to remember me—

If I became relief
To someone’s suffering,

That is enough.

The voice born in me today

May echo through a thousand minds tomorrow—

To see a human being
Simply as human—

That is what
Real progress looks like.

See me—
See me as human.

Past every label,
Read what lives within.

Beyond colour!
Beyond division!

Let what I do
Become my name.

Human! Human!
Greater than status.

Human! Human!
Greater than division.

Compassion! Equal regard!

Let humanity prevail!

Beyond colour…

Beyond names…

Beyond prejudice…

Look once
With an open heart—

I am… Human.

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