2/5/13 - English

Lord, we come to you with joy in our hearts as we have the opportunity to celebrate Orthodox Easter this week with all Christians in the West Bank and Israel and around the world. Again, we hear the words proclaimed, “al-Mesih qam; hakkan qam!” (the Lord is risen; He is risen indeed). And yet, while we rejoice in this glorious event, we are sadly reminded again of those who cannot come to their holy places because of travel restrictions, “security” measures, and unissued permits. We pray that one day this holy city of Jerusalem will be open to all who wish to come and worship, Muslims, Christians and Jews. Lord, in your mercy…

Lord, we grieve the ruling made last Wednesday by the Israeli civil court that made it legal for the separation wall to divide the Cremisan Valley from Beit Jala. For 7 years, petitions have been filed to try to save this land but the ruling will annex to Israel, without the people, farmland of 58 Palestinian families. The wall will now separate the Cremisan convent from 75% of their land, surrounding the convent on 3 sides. The nuns run a primary school for needy Palestinian children and the monks operate the only winery made with Palestinian grapes. Both will be adversely affected. This is the last green space accessible to the people of Bethlehem and Beit Jala. Our hearts are broken by the loss of this important land. How can we keep our hopes alive for a peace that will be just when our land is continually taken away? Lord, we pray that when Pope Francis meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres this week he will raise this issue. We pray that this decision will be rethought and justice will prevail. Lord, in your mercy…

Lord, we pray for Syria. We have watched while the fighting has escalated into a violent civil war. We pray for the refugees whose lives have been uprooted, and for those who have lost loved ones, and who daily suffer from the violence initiated by both sides. With the overall breakdown of law and order, we pray for the safety of those who are victims of the increasing number of kidnappings for ransom, among these Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim who were abducted last week. We hear rumors of the use of non-conventional weapons and we remember Iraq, and we pray that this will not flare into an outright war in the whole region. Lord, in your mercy…

Finally, we pray with the World Council of Churches for the peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia. Lord, in your mercy...