Creator God, we know you see all
people through eyes of love. You explicitly tell us not to show favoritism to
some and mistreat others, whether for reasons of fear or expediency or personal
gain. Lord, we bring before you the racism so prevalent in this country. We
pray for all the victims of the latest form of racism institutionalized this
Monday with the creation of segregated bus lines for Palestinians and Settlers
traveling from the West Bank to Israel. Would you please open up opportunities
for creative resistance to this imposed segregation and racist humiliation. We
also pray for the Palestinian woman attacked by young settler women at the
Jerusalem light rail and the Arab-Israeli man severely beaten for nationalist
reasons in Tel Aviv just last week. God, please end this racism! Usher in a
world where Palestinians and Israelis are recognized as equals, and where they
would be justly treated as such by individuals and by the law. Lord, in your
mercy...
As we pray for justice, freedom,
and equality between races, we also pray concerning the challenges faced by
girls and women everywhere. We thank you for the observance of International
Women’s Day this Friday and celebrate the unique strength and contributions of
women to societies around the world. We especially reflect on the difficulties
of Palestinian women suffering under the effects of occupation or second-class
citizenship in Israel. We pray for all women awaiting the return of
administrative detainees, for mothers fearing sudden unwarranted arrests of
their children, and for Bedouin women losing their homes to forced relocation
from their unrecognized villages. Please strengthen these and all the women of
this country, regardless of race or faith, to courageously work for peace in
unique, innovative ways. Lord, in your mercy...
For the ministry of Sabeel, we
ask your provision and wisdom. Lord, would you bless the work of Sabeel
Nazareth this week, especially the International Women’s Day joint lecture with
the French Institute and Thursday’s youth gathering in Kufr Kana to discuss
fasting and Lenten self-preparation with Fr. Francois. We thank you for
Nazareth’s World Day of Prayer event on Wednesday and for their meeting with a
Swedish group interested in learning about the situation of Arab-Israelis.
Lord, please also accompany Sabeel Jerusalem as they host a clergy meeting this
Friday at Artas Monastery near Bethlehem. In all these things, we pray that you
would multiply our efforts as we seek to be faithful to how you teach us to
live. Lord, in your mercy...
Finally, we pray alongside the
World Council of Churches for the countries listed in this week’s ecumenical
prayer cycle: Andorra, Austria,
Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and Switzerland. Lord, in your mercy...
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