Every year, 8 March is celebrated around the world as International Women's Day.
For equal opportunities for women and respect for their human rights!
Let's make this a special day when women have the opportunity to strengthen their spiritual bonds as they pray for and with each other.
We are those valiant women,
giving leadership in our homes,
contributing to our community,
working for change at all levels of society,
crying for justice and mercy,
living the Gospel,
understanding theology,
practicing our faith,
remaining true to the Word
Let us pray:
For all world leaders, that they may be moved to work for peace and justice by ratifying the United Nations Convention, to eliminate all forms of Discrimination against Women, and carry out its terms we pray.
For those most vulnerable to oppression or neglect, especially women and children, we pray.
For women who bring forth their children in uncertainty - for refugees and for victims of war, we pray.
For women victims of violence, rape, and domestic abuse, we pray.
Loving God, hear our prayer.
| Who shall find a valiant woman? Look! We are all around you:
in the work rooms of industry,
and of every functioning enterprise,
unheralded, invisible,
some say nonexistent,
but we know otherwise. |
| | Look! We are all around you:
Woman of courage, compassionate, patient.
Our number is legion, our gifts diverse,
our goal one and the same:
that history hear, that history is cognizant of,
that history will one day recall our names. |
| | We honor the women of the Hebrew scriptures,
especially Mary, the Mother of Jesus,
whose courage, persistence, love, and fidelity
kept the lineage of faith alive. |
| | We honor the women of Jesus' time Who cared for the community of believers;
Who followed Jesus to Calvary;
Who buried Him;
Who proclaimed Jesus' resurrection
Who passed the Gospel to their families, friends and strangers; |
| : | We honor the valiant women of our own time Who nudge us back on track;
Who remind us of the promises of Christ'
Who claim the Gospel for women, too;
Who preach the reality of wholeness;
Who strain against a patriarchal church
Who challenge us to grow! |
| | Living God, Today we gather in and among Your Presence.
Valiant women throughout the world,
and all gathered here, raise our voices in global petition
for your promise of wholeness --fullness of life--
to be realized in all our world, in our nations and in our lives.
This we pray in Your Name. AMEN. 
|
Why dedicate a day exclusively to the celebration of the world's women?
The United Nations General Assembly, composed of delegates from every Member State, celebrates International Women's Day to recognize that peace and social progress require the active participation and equality of women, and to acknowledge the contribution of women to international peace and security.
For the women of the world, the Day is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development.
You might think that women's equality benefits mostly women, but every one-percentile growth in female secondary schooling results in a 0.3 percent growth in the economy. Yet girls are often kept from receiving education in the poorest countries that would best benefit from the economic growth.
Until the men and women work together to secure the rights and full potential of women, lasting solutions to the world's most serious social, economic and political problems are unlikely to be found.
In recent decades, much progress has been made. On a worldwide level, women's access to education and proper health care has increased; their participation in the paid labor force has grown; and legislation that promises equal opportunities for women and respect for their human rights has been adopted in many countries. The world now has an ever- growing number of women participating in society as policy-makers.
However, nowhere in the world can women claim to have all the same rights and opportunities as men.
The majority of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor are women.
On average, women receive between 30 and 40 per cent less pay than men earn for the same work.
And everywhere, women continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women of reproductive age worldwide.
