Sabeel Wave of Prayer 7.5.20
This
week’s Kumi Now initiative looks at the work of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem
as it seeks to educate and develop its students to the highest standards
despite ongoing occupation and oppression.
·
Lord, we pray for the teachers at Al-Quds University and
other educational establishments who seek to build the confidence and self-esteem
of students who face prejudice in their own land and abroad. Lord, in your
mercy...hear our prayer.
Religious
leaders stood on the terrace of the King David Hotel in West Jerusalem to offer
their prayers in Hebrew, Arabic, and English for relief from the Covid-19 virus
on Friday, 24th April. More than 200 people have died from the virus in Israel,
while so far at least two people have died in the West Bank and Gaza. However,
concerns have been raised over the thousands of Palestinian workers who have
recently returned home to the West Bank from Israel. At least a third of the
confirmed cases of the virus among the Palestinian population have become
infected while working in Israel.
·
Lord, we bring our prayers to you asking that the
authorities in Palestine and Israel may share the will and their resources to
limit the spread of this deadly virus. So many Palestinians are already
suffering from the loss of employment, a lack of food and medication. We pray
that the Israeli government will work with the Palestinian Authority to provide
the necessary emergency support. Lord, in your mercy...hear our prayer.
On
the last day of April 2020, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), finally
won a landmark victory against the UK government to allow Local Government
Pension Schemes to divest from companies seeking to profit from the Israeli
occupation of Palestine. The final verdict given by the Supreme Court marks the
end of a campaign which has been running since 2017.
·
Lord, we give thanks for the long and hard-fought campaign
and for the verdict at the Supreme Court.
UK public bodies can now make their own ethical decisions on how to
invest their finances without fear of incrimination. Lord, in your mercy...hear
our prayer.
Farah
Nabulsi a Palestinian filmmaker living in London recently announced that her
film, ‘The Present’ has qualified for the Oscars, after winning the Jury Award
for the Best Live Action Short Film at the Cleveland International Film
Festival. Her film follows Yusef, a Palestinian living in the West Bank, who
sets out with his young daughter to buy a gift for his wife on their
anniversary. The search for the present soon turns into an ordeal as they
encounter Israeli soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints.
·
We thank you, Lord, for film makers like Farah Nabulsi who
use their storytelling gifts to expose the harassment and intimidation
experienced by Palestinians every day under the Israeli occupation. Lord, in
your mercy…hear our prayer
Kairos
Palestine has drawn attention to the recent actions of the Israeli ‘emergency’
government. Under the cover of a ‘Coronavirus cabinet’ Israel has continued to
use its policies of home demolitions, child arrests, and support for settler
violence against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories despite
the crisis. It is also intent on carrying out the annexation of around 30% of
the West Bank by the 1st of July so that it can be carried out with the support
from the Trump administration before the November US elections.
·
Lord, we raise our voices together with the voice of Kairos
Palestine. We pray for an end to the occupation of Palestine and that
international lawmakers and governments around the world will actively condemn
Israel for their plans to annex more Palestinian land. Lord, in your mercy...hear
our prayer.
On
Thursday, the 30th of April, Fatou Bensouda, the International Criminal Court
(ICC) Prosecutor, published her decision to affirm that Palestine is a state. A
panel of three judges will now examine the case and the statements of a number
of countries both in support of the Palestinians and of the Israelis before
making a decision on whether the lengthy process of investigation into
potential war crimes by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank can proceed.
·
Lord, we pray for those invested with power to uphold the
law at an international level, knowing that such responsibilities weigh heavily
on the lawmakers. We remember that ‘whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life, righteousness and honor’ (Proverbs 21:21) Lord, in your
mercy...hear our prayer.
This
month, the Catholic Church around the world celebrates the Virgin Mary, leading
up to the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary on the 31st
May.
·
Lord, as the Catholic Church celebrates Mary, the mother of Jesus, we
pray that peace, like the flowers used to crown the statues of Mary, is given
the chance to bloom around the world and especially in Palestine at this
challenging time. Lord, in your mercy…hear our prayer.
·
We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers
for the countries of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Lord in your mercy...hear
our prayer.
Lectionary
Prayer
Fifth
Sunday of Easter (Year A)
John
14:1-14
Heavenly
Father,
You
are the source of our life.
You
have given us a wonderful world
and
permeated it through and through
with
your grace and your love.
You
have promised that you will give us your Spirit,
to
be with us as we journey through this life.
Yet,
we confess the many times when
our
eyes can’t see you,
can’t
take you in,
can’t
comprehend how you can be at work
in
occupation and oppression, pain, disappointment and sorrow.
We
need your Spirit to lift our sights to your wide horizons.
Teach
us to pray with such openness to your Spirit that you make yourself plain to
us.
Bring
us to that place where we are willing
to
place our lives in your keeping,
to
submit to your life-changing love,
and
to move with you into your large open spaces of salvation.
We
ask these things in Jesus’ name, our light and our salvation, who lives and
reigns with the Father and the Spirit in the bright glory of the holy Trinity,
forever and ever.
Amen
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