On Sunday, June 22 at 5 p.m., St. James held a profoundly meaningful Holy Eucharist for Peace in the Holy Land and Middle East. The Rev. David Henson’s litany, among other prayers were said:
In peace and for your peace, we pray to you:
You know what it is to be separated from your home and to be forced to flee from violence in your native land. We pray for all those living in exile, as refugees, as displaced persons in the midst of war and violence, saying:
Lord, give us your peace.
You know the perilous consequences of living among leaders who reshape the world with violence, destroy cities in retaliation, and occupy foreign lands. We pray for the victims of war, starvation, dehumanization in Gaza, Palestine, Israel, and Iran, saying:
Lord, give us your peace.
You know what it is to grieve the victims of the powerful, having lost your cousin John to unjust imprisonment and execution and having wept over the condition of Jerusalem at your arrival. We pray for those worn down by the unending anxiety of war and consumed with sorrow, saying
Lord, give us your peace.
You know what it is to preach the audacity of peace and the love of enemies in a time of reliable violence and vengeance; to proclaim mercy when people seek salvation only at the tip of a sword. We pray that you would raise up peacemakers and transform their voices into anvils against which swords of war will be beaten into ploughshares, saying
Lord, give us your peace.
You know what it is to become powerless in the face of certain death and to love even when your friends betray you and your enemies crucify you. We pray for the courage to disarm, for the will to let go of even justified grievances, for the resilience to seek just reconciliation that restores the dignity and flourishing of all your children, saying,
Lord, give us your peace.
Almighty God, look with favor upon your beloved children in the Holy Land and the Middle East, and gather its people under your wings as a mother hen gathers her chicks. Teach us the things that make for true peace, break down the walls of suspicion and prejudice that separate us, and help us to see your face even in those the world asks us to hate so that even in the fog of war, we might see that there is no Jew, no Greek, no male, no female, and no “us” and “them”, only the holy children of God. This we pray through Christ our Lord and Prince of Peace. Amen.