 
Breaking down the walls: Resources for prayer and worship
KAIROS: Cultivating Just Peace campaign
September 2004- June 2005
Contents
Micah 4: 6-7 (This reading is a continuation of the Micah
4 “swords into ploughshares” passage that was used in
the first year of the Just Peace campaign. The second section of
the chapter speaks to God’s unexpected action of re-creating
community with the “remnant” and the “lame”—the
survivors and the wounded of an oppressive system of exile, originally
cut off from the wider community, but now to be restored as the
foundation of a new community.)
Ephesians 2: 13-22 (Consider how this passage challenges
the “us and them” thinking that marks many of today’s
security concerns. Paul talks of moving past dividing walls and
into a full understanding of the unified peace held out by Christ—a
stark contrast to the walls and armed borders that characterize
today’s world.)
John 15: 9-15 (“First John 4:18 reminds us that perfect
love casts out fear. Jesus said that no one has greater love than
this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:13) Who
speaks such words today?”
Rev. Stephen P. Kristenson, Bishop, Synod of Alberta and the
Territories, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada)
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Lord God,
Bless all your children in the Middle East
with the gift of peace.
Reach out and embrace Muslims, Jews and Christians.
Dry their tears with your gentle hands.
Surround their trembling bodies with your loving arms.
Replace their fears with the hope and vision
of peaceful times to come. Amen
The Reverend Said Ailabouni
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago, IL
http://www.ncccusa.org/iraq/peaceprayers.html
O God Source of Life, Creator of Peace,
Help Your children, anguished and confused,
To understand the futility of hatred and violence
And grant them the ability to stretch across
Political, religious and national boundaries
So they may confront horror and fear
By continuing together
In the search for justice, peace and truth,
With every fiber of our being
We beg You, O God,
To help us not to fail nor falter.
Amen
Rabbi H. Rolando Matalon,
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, New York, NY
This we know:
Fear can yield to faith, hope can re-ignite
Rage can cease, hatred can be melted. . . .
Merciful One, illumine the sight of your children
To see You in each other's eyes.
Merciful One, spread the canopy of your peace over us,
Over Israel, over Ishmael, over all who dwell on earth.
Amen
Rabbi Sheila Weinberg
Jewish Community of Amherst, Amherst, MA
Loving God,
when we are afraid
may we place our trust in you.
May we call on you in our time of trouble.
May we resist the temptation to seek security in that which is not
worthy of our trust.
May we remember that you are our shelter, our refuge and our fortress.
May we recount the times that you have delivered us from harm.
And may we help our neighbors near and far to feel more secure by
sharing generously with them.
Amen.
Mennonite Central Committee,
www.mcc.org/canada
PRAYER FOR A JUST AND LASTING PEACE: The Philippines
Prepared by Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR), Philippines;
Rev. Fr. Allan Jose Arcebuche, July 26, 2004. Church people across
the Philippines are encouraged and challenged to participate in
the “people's state of the nation address” on the day
when the President of the country delivers the formal state of the
nation address to the Congress. Multi-sectoral organizations (peasants,
workers, indigenous peoples, urban poor, youth, women, professionals,
church people and others) gather to present their real situation
and to put forward what the people really aspire to and need. This
prayer reflects the present situation in the Philippines—take
a moment to explain this to your listeners.)
God of the struggling people
Hallowed be your name
Let the promise of abundant life be realized
And our longing for justice and peace be fulfilled.
Forgive our comfortable life
If we become unresponsive to the cries of the people
Forgive our daily prayers
If we close our eyes and hearts to the needs of the many
Forgive our act of charity
If it has thwarted us to work for justice.
Forgive our silence and solitude
If we departed from serving the oppressed wholeheartedly.
Look upon our nation
Corruption and violence govern us
The rich few exploit the many poor
The workers are deprived of just wages
Peasants and indigenous peoples are driven away from the land
Heavy taxes and unabated price increases burden the vast majority
Health, education and social services are not accessible
Those who shout for justice and human rights are silenced
Those who work for genuine peace are killed.
We lament that our government did not heed our call, and
Hardheadedly supported the U.S. illegal, immoral and unjust war
in Iraq
Now the Overseas Filipino Workers face even more vulnerability and
uncertainty.
Grant your people the courage and will to push forward the agenda
of peace.
Continue to challenge our faith and love;
nurture the hope within us
Strengthen our passion to serve and journey with the people
Accompany us on our way
Give us the strength of an eagle, the humility of a dove,
the wisdom of a serpent
As we join the people in the quest for a lasting Peace based on
Justice.
AMEN.
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by Jean Zaru in A Christian Palestinian Life: Faith and Struggle,
page 23. (Sabeel, 2004).
Peace is a state of respect, co-operation and well-being.
Peace is the presence of social justice.
Peace is the absence of war, poverty, and hunger.
Peace is the freedom from sickness and disease. It is employment
and health.
Peace is hope for our future and the future of all God’s children
and all God’s world.
Peace is when we have no fear to assemble, to worship, to work,
to publish and to say the truth, even to the powerful.
Peace is Salaam, well being for all, equality and respect for human
rights.
Peace is when everybody feels at home and accepted, without barriers
based on age, class, sex, race, religion or nationality.
Peace is a sense of unity and relationship that compels one to work
for justice and equality.
Peace is action that is dynamic and positive.
Peace is that fragile harmony that carries with it the experience
of struggle, the endurance of suffering and the strength of love.
::
PAN Y PAZ: Bread and Peace
Litany for the International Day of Peace 2004 from Colombia.
Written by KAIROS ecumenical partner Justapaz, this litany speaks
to the realities faced in Colombia.
Leader: We entrust to you Jesus, this country that we are
a part of, to give living testimony to your reign.
All: We will not participate
Leader: With the economy that makes and uses instruments
of death
All: We will not participate
Leader: With the scandalous expenditure of billions of dollars
for war
All: We will not participate
Leader: A new command I give to you: Love one another. As
I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all people
will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John
13, 34-35)
Leader: For the victims of the war
All: Have mercy
Leader: For the mutilated, displaced and tortured
All: Have mercy
Leader: For the bloody, abandoned, desperate
All: Have mercy
Leader: While we give bread, we give our love and announce
our hope here where there is none. While we join our hands letting
go of our indifference, we wait on you, Jesus, our example in life.
Leader: In reconciliation of victims and aggressors in this
war
All: We will actively participate
Leader: In accompanying and consoling communities who have
been displaced
All: We will actively participate
Leader: In the resistance of the peace communities
All: We will actively participate
Leader: Jesus offers us his peace, a deep sense of love,
liberty and life. At the same time he warns us that the way is not
that which world offers. It is the peace of being part of the struggle
against injustice. Today we see hunger and injustice. The Lord calls
us to assume responsibility for making peace happen.
Leader: In the search for new roads to peace and nonviolence
All: We commit ourselves
Leader: To not participate in any way in war
All: We commit ourselves
Leader: To put our resources and capacities in the service
of peace and social justice
All: We commit ourselves. Amen.
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