December 26-2019

Sabeel Wave of Prayer

26^th December 2019

At least 30 Palestinians were injured on Friday as Israeli occupation forces fired upon thousands of protesters taking part in the weekly Great March of Return at Gaza border. The Ministry of Health reported that around 30 Palestinians, mostly non-violent protesters, were injured by live ammunition east of Gaza Strip.  Over 300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 30,000 injured by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the Great March of Return protests at Gaza border on March 30, 2018. The weekly protests call for lifting the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their ancestral homes in pre-1948 Palestine.

• ·        Lord, we continue to pray for the people of Gaza as they raise their voices in protest. May your will be done so that all the people of this land may come to enjoy the fruits of a just peace. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

The Kumi initiative gives space for feedback this week on the Kumi Check-in, which happens three times each year. The Kumi team would particularly value your email feedback on the Kumi actions for their review.

·         Lord, we thank you for all those people around the world who make the effort to engage with the Kumi actions to raise greater awareness of the plight of the Palestinians. We pray that these actions would bring more international support to call for change. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Once again, we celebrate the glory and the mystery of the Nativity, when God sent his son into the world to dwell among us and ‘we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14).

·         Dear Lord, help us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas as we light our Christmas trees and sing our Christmas carols. May our hearts be full of thankfulness for your son, our Saviour and Redeemer, born in a lowly stable. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78-79). Zechariah prophesied the birth of Jesus and that this would light the way of peace. Today, Jesus’ birthplace, the town of Bethlehem stands under occupation, divided by a separation wall and checkpoints, overcrowded with refugee camps and surrounded by twenty-two Israeli settlements. Peace seems a long way off but there are people on all sides working towards a just peace throughout this land.

·         Dear Lord Jesus, we bring the town of Bethlehem, where you were born, before you in our prayers. Lord, we pray for the Palestinian people trying to survive in this town with the darkness of oppression all around. When the darkness threatens to overcome, help us to remember that you, the true light of the world, became flesh in this place. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

Father Peter Madrous, a Roman Catholic priest from Jerusalem, died on the 18th of December. He was a courageous man who spoke out for the rights of Palestinians. He was also a gifted linguist who had mastered five ‘dead’ languages, as well as being able to speak and write eleven other languages. In 1973 he published an Arabic translation of the Book of Psalms.

·         Dear Lord, we give thanks for the life and gifts of Father Madrous and for his service in different parishes in Palestine, including Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Ramallah. and Bethlehem. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.

·         We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan. Lord, in your mercy...hear our prayer.