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
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