the following information got sent to me over e-mail. here it is for anyone who might be interested:
An Invitation to Join Pax Christi USA’s Lenten Fast for Peace-Shalom-Salaam
During this season of fasting, Pax Christi USA calls upon its members and people of faith everywhere to join together each Friday in fasting for peace. Fasting is a part of many religious traditions and it offers a simple, yet profound way of combining the spiritual and the political. Gandhi called it “the sincerest form of prayer.”
Fasting can take many forms, and we invite individuals and communities to discern the manner in which they will undertake this fast. Many Pax Christi USA members have already dedicated Fridays as days during which they will fast for peace, and in Islam, Friday is considered a holy day. We are asking that fast participants use each Friday to especially pray for peace. We encourage participants to fast in whatever way is possible for them. Please invite others to participate in this fast.
A fast works in many ways. The emptiness in our bellies can put us in solidarity with those who suffer hunger because most of our federal budget goes to military and corporate greed while the poor and hungry suffer. The fast can be an act of penance on behalf of our country for its failures to seek out peace and its willingness to embrace war, especially the ongoing war in Iraq. The fast also sanctifies us for the time ahead, for we will need to be ever more deeply committed to the way of nonviolence and peacemaking. Lastly, a fast is a clear statement to our political leaders that we will not stand passively by while they beat the drum for war and serve the interests of transnational corporations and neglect programs that promote peace and justice.
Logistics of the fast:
The fast will begin February 25, Ash Wednesday and continue on Fridays throughout Lent. This is a communal fast, and we ask participants to please let us know if you are joining in the fast by contacting Phyllis Jepson at paxwpb@gate.net. Please provide your first and last name and the state in which you live. Names will be posted by state on the web. We will keep an ongoing tally of fast participants to call attention to the cause of peace during this time.
Each Wednesday, we will post a short reflection as well as suggestions for further action at http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=785 that individuals or communities may want to undertake in conjunction with the fast.
We encourage communities to fast together and to incorporate public witness into their fasting to the degree in which they feel called. Please let us know of any planned public witness if possible.
Beginning Ash Wednesday, we ask people everywhere to recite this prayer that cries out for a society rooted in justice and peace. Whether one prays alone or with a group, at home or church or in the streets, we offer this prayer for your use.
Prayer for a New Society
All-nourishing God, your children cry for help
Against the violence of our world;
Where children starve for bread and feed on weapons;
Starve for vision and feed on drugs;
Starve for love and feed on videos;
Starve for peace and die murdered in our streets.
Creator God, timeless preserver of resources,
Forgive us for the gifts that we have wasted.
Renew for us what seems beyond redemption;
Call order and beauty to emerge again from chaos.
Convert our destructive power into creative service;
Help us to heal the woundedness of our world.
Liberating God, release us from the demons of violence.
Free us today from the disguised demon of deterrence
That puts guns by our pillows and missiles in our skies.
Free us from all demons that blend and blunt our spirits;
Cleanse us from all justifications for violence and war;
Open our narrowed hearts to the suffering and the poor.
Abiding God, loving renewer of human spirit,
Unfold our violent fists into peaceful hands:
Stretch our sense of family to include our neighbors;
Stretch our sense of neighbor to include our enemies
Until our response to you finally respects and embraces
All creation as precious sacraments of your presence.
Hear the prayer of all your starving children.
Amen.
This prayer is available from Pax Christi USA in prayer card format. To purchase, go to http://shop.paxchristiusa.org/shopsite/pax/page7.html#122. If you reproduce this prayer, we ask that you add: “Reprinted with permission from Pax Christi USA, ”www.paxchristiusa.org">www.paxchristiusa.org."
kirstin
Feb 10 2004
11:16 am
the following information got sent to me over e-mail. here it is for anyone who might be interested:
An Invitation to Join Pax Christi USA’s Lenten Fast for Peace-Shalom-Salaam
During this season of fasting, Pax Christi USA calls upon its members and people of faith everywhere to join together each Friday in fasting for peace. Fasting is a part of many religious traditions and it offers a simple, yet profound way of combining the spiritual and the political. Gandhi called it “the sincerest form of prayer.”
Fasting can take many forms, and we invite individuals and communities to discern the manner in which they will undertake this fast. Many Pax Christi USA members have already dedicated Fridays as days during which they will fast for peace, and in Islam, Friday is considered a holy day. We are asking that fast participants use each Friday to especially pray for peace. We encourage participants to fast in whatever way is possible for them. Please invite others to participate in this fast.
A fast works in many ways. The emptiness in our bellies can put us in solidarity with those who suffer hunger because most of our federal budget goes to military and corporate greed while the poor and hungry suffer. The fast can be an act of penance on behalf of our country for its failures to seek out peace and its willingness to embrace war, especially the ongoing war in Iraq. The fast also sanctifies us for the time ahead, for we will need to be ever more deeply committed to the way of nonviolence and peacemaking. Lastly, a fast is a clear statement to our political leaders that we will not stand passively by while they beat the drum for war and serve the interests of transnational corporations and neglect programs that promote peace and justice.
Logistics of the fast:
The fast will begin February 25, Ash Wednesday and continue on Fridays throughout Lent. This is a communal fast, and we ask participants to please let us know if you are joining in the fast by contacting Phyllis Jepson at paxwpb@gate.net. Please provide your first and last name and the state in which you live. Names will be posted by state on the web. We will keep an ongoing tally of fast participants to call attention to the cause of peace during this time.
Each Wednesday, we will post a short reflection as well as suggestions for further action at http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_events_more.asp?id=785 that individuals or communities may want to undertake in conjunction with the fast.
We encourage communities to fast together and to incorporate public witness into their fasting to the degree in which they feel called. Please let us know of any planned public witness if possible.
Beginning Ash Wednesday, we ask people everywhere to recite this prayer that cries out for a society rooted in justice and peace. Whether one prays alone or with a group, at home or church or in the streets, we offer this prayer for your use.
Prayer for a New Society
All-nourishing God, your children cry for help
Against the violence of our world;
Where children starve for bread and feed on weapons;
Starve for vision and feed on drugs;
Starve for love and feed on videos;
Starve for peace and die murdered in our streets.
Creator God, timeless preserver of resources,
Forgive us for the gifts that we have wasted.
Renew for us what seems beyond redemption;
Call order and beauty to emerge again from chaos.
Convert our destructive power into creative service;
Help us to heal the woundedness of our world.
Liberating God, release us from the demons of violence.
Free us today from the disguised demon of deterrence
That puts guns by our pillows and missiles in our skies.
Free us from all demons that blend and blunt our spirits;
Cleanse us from all justifications for violence and war;
Open our narrowed hearts to the suffering and the poor.
Abiding God, loving renewer of human spirit,
Unfold our violent fists into peaceful hands:
Stretch our sense of family to include our neighbors;
Stretch our sense of neighbor to include our enemies
Until our response to you finally respects and embraces
All creation as precious sacraments of your presence.
Hear the prayer of all your starving children.
Amen.
This prayer is available from Pax Christi USA in prayer card format. To purchase, go to http://shop.paxchristiusa.org/shopsite/pax/page7.html#122. If you reproduce this prayer, we ask that you add: “Reprinted with permission from Pax Christi USA, ”www.paxchristiusa.org">www.paxchristiusa.org."