Human rights day
Read more about the work of human rights defenders around the world.
The local creek in La Guajira, north-east Colombia
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?”
“What do you think?” Jesus asks the disciples, as he tells the now well-known parable of a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine in the hills to go in search of the lost one. The honest answer, I suspect, is that few of us would leave ninety-nine sheep unguarded to search for one foolish stray.
Jesus, however, shows us just how radical and limitless God’s love is. The message is clear; no one is unimportant, no one is expendable or forgettable.
Today is Human Rights Day, marking the anniversary of the presentation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Pope Saint John Paul II called “one of the highest expressions of the human conscience of our time.”
Yet so many people today do not have their basic human dignity and rights recognised. For example, people living in communities in the La Guajira region, Colombia face a humanitarian crisis. They can no longer provide for their families as coal mining in the area where they live increases pollution and causes water supplies to dwindle.
Despite many legal rulings related to human rights abuses and environmental damage in the Colombian courts, the mine continues to operate with impunity. Human rights defender Estrella*, who lives near the coal mine, tells us:
“Our children already suffer from skin problems ... bronchitis, pneumonia and diarrhoea because of our pollution problem. And not only that, but other communities also suffer from being uprooted from their communities and we have to leave.”
This Advent we turn to God to ask for inspiration to work for a world where the dignity and rights of all people are respected.
*Name has been changed to protect her identity.
Advent prayer
Good Shepherd, seek me out
and bring me home
in accord with your will.
Let me dwell in your house
all the days of my life
and praise you forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer of St Jerome (c. 342–420)
Act
Be inspired by our article on the work of brave human rights defenders protecting their communities and our world.
Advent prayers
Pause, reflect and pray with us in preparation for Christmas.