Thursday, April 28, 2011

Sabeel Wave of Prayer

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 celebrate the Eucharist, to discuss how the scriptures apply to our lives today, and to pray for the specific needs of this region. Following the 2006 Sabeel International Conference, the Friends of Sabeel coordinators met and discussed the idea of "Waves of Prayer." The premise is that in their respective time zones, individuals and groups around the world will pray together at 12:00 on Thursdays, in solidarity with Sabeel in Jerusalem and with "Friends of Sabeel" worldwide. Starting in Australia, passing through Palestine, and on around the world we will pray for Peace with Justice and focus on specific issues each week.



Wave of Prayer for Thursday, April 28, 2011

Al-Masih Qam ~ Christ is Risen


Sabeel Jerusalem sends Easter greetings to all of our friends. We ask that you keep the Christians of the Holy Land, the Middle East, and around the world in your prayers during this special time, especially those who continue to face many challenges. We pray that this celebration of the resurrection will bring a renewal of faith, of commitment to the marginalized and oppressed and of dedication to work for justice and peace in our communities and around the world.


With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for:

Eritrea, Ethiopia



http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle.html


Wave of Prayer for Thursday, April 21, 2011

► As Sunday was Palestinian Prisoner's Day, we remember current political prisoners and the over 700,000 Palestinians who have been detained by Israeli authorities since 1967, about 20% of the total Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza, many without charges or trials. In commemoration of this day, 6,000 Palestinian prisoners launched a one-day hunger strike to protest Israeli measures and internal Palestinian divisions. We pray for an end to this devastating tactic of arrests and for prisoners, their families and communities who are forced to face it on a daily basis.

► We pray for the family, friends and wider community whose lives were touched by last week's murder of two men who dedicated their lives to justice and peace. Juliano Mer-Khamis, son of a Palestinian-Israeli Christian father and Jewish-Israeli mother and founder of Jenin Refugee Camp's Freedom Theatre in the West Bank, was shot by a masked man in Jenin, while Vittorio Arrigoni, a prominent International Solidarity Movement activist, was hanged by a radical Salafist group in Gaza. May their lives motivate us all in the work for justice and peace in Palestine.

► Our prayers are with our Jewish brothers and sisters remembering the anguish of slavery and the release from oppression by God's hand with Passover. We pray that remembering this past will open ears to current cries for freedom from the oppressive Israeli occupation, which during festivals like Passover causes even more suffering with actions such as the military "general closure" of the West Bank.

► We pray for Christians in Jerusalem and around the world as we celebrate Holy Week and Easter. We especially remember the many Palestinian Christians who face great difficulties to obtain special permits to cross Israeli checkpoints, which are especially slow or even closed due to Passover, in order to worship in East Jerusalem, and those who are denied permits and so cannot come to celebrations in East Jerusalem. We pray for a time where all people can freely access and worship in their holy places.


With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for:

Djibouti, Somalia



http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle.html

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sabeel Wave of Prayer

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 celebrate the Eucharist, to discuss how the scriptures apply to our lives today, and to pray for the specific needs of this region. Following the 2006 Sabeel International Conference, the Friends of Sabeel coordinators met and discussed the idea of "Waves of Prayer." The premise is that in their respective time zones, individuals and groups around the world will pray together at 12:00 on Thursdays, in solidarity with Sabeel in Jerusalem and with "Friends of Sabeel" worldwide. Starting in Australia, passing through Palestine, and on around the world we will pray for Peace with Justice and focus on specific issues each week.


Wave of Prayer for Thursday, April 14, 2011

► We pray that a complete cease-fire and end to the blockade of Gaza will come out of the recent lull in the flare-up between Gaza and Israel which climaxed this past weekend in the deadliest three days since the war on Gaza in 2008-9, with 19 Palestinians killed and 120 mortars fired into southern Israel. We pray for an end to the cycle of violence that has caused so much pain and death in Gaza and fear and damage in Israel.

► As talks between Israel and Palestine continue to stall, we pray for a renewal of commitment from all parties to work for peace, in spite of actions that suggest otherwise such as the approval last week of the construction of 942 new housing units in Gilo, an illegal Israeli settlement on the edge of East Jerusalem in the West Bank. This comes as part of a series of recent announcements for new settlement construction, which is illegal under international law. In addition, the US postponed a Quartet meeting which was supposed to be held this Friday to discuss how to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks, saying "it wasn't the right time." We pray for now to be the time for peace.

► Our prayers continue to be with people everywhere challenging their governments to make reforms. We especially pray for the people of Syria as the month-long protest movement, which includes calls for an end to the 48 year old emergency law, continues to grow despite violent government crackdowns. May the courage it takes to protest strengthen across the Middle East and speak truth to those in power in a way that they will listen.

► We pray for the Holy Week and Easter programs: Sabeel Nazareth's children's Easter Program at the Carmelite Convent on Tuesday, April 12; the Nazareth Young Adult's special Easter Bible Study and dinner on Thursday, April 14; and the Easter Egg Hunt and games for 140 children from disadvantaged families in Jerusalem and Bethlehem co-organized by Sabeel Jerusalem and the Catholic Scouts on Friday, April 15.


With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for:

Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan



http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle.html

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Sabeel Wave of Prayer

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 celebrate the Eucharist, to discuss how the scriptures apply to our lives today, and to pray for the specific needs of this region. Following the 2006 Sabeel International Conference, the Friends of Sabeel coordinators met and discussed the idea of "Waves of Prayer." The premise is that in their respective time zones, individuals and groups around the world will pray together at 12:00 on Thursdays, in solidarity with Sabeel in Jerusalem and with "Friends of Sabeel" worldwide. Starting in Australia, passing through Palestine, and on around the world we will pray for Peace with Justice and focus on specific issues each week.



Wave of Prayer for Thursday, April 7, 2011

► As we celebrate Palestinian Children's Day on April 5, we pray for all the children whose experience of a normal life is disrupted by military occupation, but who nevertheless are the hope and future of peace in this land. We especially remember the children in the Daughters of Charity St. Vincent home for children, who enjoyed an afternoon with participants on Tuesday through a Sabeel joint Community-Clergy Lenten program.

► Our prayers are with all those whose homes have been demolished or threatened with demolition. According to UNRWA, March saw the third consecutive month of record highs for Palestinian buildings in the West Bank demolished by Israeli authorities. The past month's demolition of seventy-six homes caused the forced displacement of 158 people, including 47 children. We pray for an end to this destructive policy that devastates the heart of a family's life and secure foundation for the future.

► We remember in prayer the residents of Beit Ommar, a Palestinian town in the West Bank with an active nonviolent resistance movement, who have experienced increasing violence and military closure since an Israeli settler opened fire on a funeral procession on March 21. For over two weeks Israeli forces have surrounded and terrorized the town, entrances have been blocked, a fence is being constructed around part of the town, and dozens of residents have been detained. We pray that plans for a more permanent blockade being considered by Israeli forces will not be implemented and that the residents of the town may live in peace.

► On Tuesday, April 12, Sabeel will lead a Contemporary Way of the Cross as part of the Lenten program for the community, clergy and youth. As participants follow the Via Dolorosa linking the original events of Jesus' suffering on Good Friday with the continued suffering of the Palestinian people who live under occupation today, we pray that this transformative path of suffering and hope inspired by the resurrection will also be experienced by the many international pilgrims coming for Easter.


With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for:

East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines



http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle.html