Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of March 21, 2022

More than thirty women attended the recent Sabeel Nazareth meeting. During this month of March they marked the beginning of springtime in Palestine, the International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day.

• Dear Lord, we thank you for your grace as we see the springtime flowers blossom and trees bud in this season in Palestine. We take time to remember days of special significance to Palestinians and to people around the world during this month. Lord, in your mercy…

On Tuesday, the 22nd of March, Sabeel Jerusalem and Sabeel Nazareth will hold a Contemporary Way of the Cross event. Sabeel expects more than eighty participants, they will discuss present day Palestinian issues in the light of the sufferings endured by Christ as he walked the Via Dolorosa to his crucifixion.

• We join together in the Sabeel prayer, ‘Merciful and loving God, we give you thanks for the many blessings you have so graciously given us. Thank you for your presence and guidance as we walk the way of peace. Bless the work of Sabeel and its friends, local and International.’ Lord, in your mercy…

Last week Israeli crop duster planes flew for four consecutive days near the eastern Gaza Strip, spraying chemicals, believed to be herbicides, close to agricultural land owned by Palestinians. The spraying only starts when the wind is blowing in a westerly direction, in the direction of Palestinian land. The herbicides destroy the crops and ruin the arable land. The Israeli army claims it is clearing vegetation on the buffer zone.

• Lord, we pray for an end to the aerial spraying of Gaza by the Israeli military. We pray for the Gazan farmers who depend on crops for their livelihood and see their crops damaged over and over again. Lord, in your mercy…

On Friday, the 18th of March, the Eighth International Palestine Marathon took place in Bethlehem, after it had to be cancelled for the past two years due to the pandemic. Over ten thousand Palestinians and international runners took part in the event. Full marathon runners had to run the 11km course four times over, to avoid passing through Israeli checkpoints.

• Lord Jesus, we give thanks for the Marathon taking place again and for the regeneration this event brings to the town of Bethlehem. How sad it is to think that this town was under occupation at the time of your birth and remains under occupation today, scarred by the separation wall, refugee camps and Israeli checkpoints. Lord, in your mercy…

The Palestinian prisoners’ movement has announced that prisoners in Israeli jails will begin an open-ended hunger strike from Friday, the 25th of March. The hunger strike will be in protest at the worsening conditions being imposed upon them by the Israeli prison authorities.

• Lord, we pray that the inhumane conditions imposed on Palestinian prisoners by the Israeli authorities will be eased. We pray particularly for an end to administrative detention, which leaves Palestinians in jail for years without charge and condemns them to a life without hope. Lord, in your mercy…

The World Council of Churches’ Easter Initiative 2022(EAPPI) gives us a glimpse of the lives of Palestinians living in and around Jerusalem. While our hearts cry out for those suffering from warfare in Ukraine, let us also remember those who live under constant threat of eviction from their homes and communities in Palestinian neighbourhoods around this sacred city. One Palestinian interviewed in Silwan spoke about how the news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine makes him feel ‘more persecuted than ever’. He lamented, ’I see the whole world and the UN standing resolutely on the side of the Ukrainians- as they should. But I see a double standard and I see the world giving Israel a free hand to do whatever it wants to persecute us.’

• Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, we pray for an end to warfare and persecution throughout the world. Help us to remember those suffering in warfare as well as the forgotten ones, living under occupation. Lord, in your mercy…

In Palestine, as in many Arab countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the 21st of March. Traditionally Palestinian families honor their mothers with flowers and other gifts on this day.

• Lord, we give thanks on this special day as we remember the love, care and sacrifices made by mothers as they nurture their young ones. We pray especially for those mothers facing fearful times of warfare, want or need around the world at this time. Lord, in your mercy.
• We join with the World Council of Churches in their prayers for the countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Lord, in your mercy…