Each Thursday at noon in Jerusalem, Sabeel holds a Communion service that is open to the community. It is a time to join together to discuss how the scriptures apply to our lives today, to pray for the needs of this region and our world and to share the Eucharist. Starting in the Pacific Islands, passing through Asia, Africa, Palestine, Europe, the Americas and on around the globe, we pray for peace with justice.
Sabeel Wave of Prayer – May 23, 2013
Lord
God, last week we watched as Israel further segmented West Bank land with a new
road closure between Ramallah and Jericho, not only frustrating Palestinian
travel between two important West Bank cities, but also isolating four villages
that lay along that road. Lord, we also continue to witness widespread acts of
settler violence against Palestinians, especially in the Hebron, Nablus, and
Ramallah areas. Lord, please do not allow these radical settlers to continue
uprooting trees, attacking villages, or beating Palestinian individuals; may
they be brought to justice! God, we are grateful for signs of hope like the
Palestinian activists’ demolition of part of the wall separating the two
Palestinian villages of Al-Eizariya and Abu Dis, yet the wall remains. Lord,
from all these things and from the entire Occupation that sustains them, please
bring us deliverance. Lord, in your mercy...
Lord,
as US Secretary of State John Kerry has been attempting to revive negotiations
between Palestine and Israel, we find ourselves horrified by the blatant
anti-peace policies Israel is implementing. God, we cannot help but be
astounded that instead of removing four illegal settlement outposts, Israel
authorized them last week, and meanwhile three more East Jerusalem homes were
demolished in At-Tur, directly affecting several Palestinian families. God, may
the international community rise up and call Israel to account for these
crimes! May the state not be allowed to persist in speaking peace while
enacting violence on the Palestinian people. Lord, in your mercy...
God,
here at Sabeel, we give thanks for the launch of Yasmine Perni’s film “The
Stones Cry Out: The Story of the Palestinian Christians”, and for the three
well-attended film-showings in Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem last week. We
also offer up heart-felt gratitude for the work of long-time friends of Sabeel
Kathy Bergen and Doug Dicks; we praise you for their commitment to justice and
peace-making in the Middle East. Lord, in your mercy...
God,
as we pray about violence and responses to violence here in Israel and
Palestine, we pray also for the victim’s of nature’s violence in Oklahoma City.
We grieve alongside the Oklahoma communities who were hit by a deadly tornado on
Monday. With a death toll of 24 that is expected to rise, including many
children, we pray for rapid crisis relief responses and ask that you would
comfort each shocked and grieving family. Lord, in your mercy...
Finally,
we pray alongside the World Council of Churches for the peoples of Malawi
and Zambia. Lord, in your mercy...
