Vigil For Peace in the Land of the Holy One

Dear Trinity Church and friends,
 
Grace and Peace to you this Tuesday morning.
 
As all of us continue to ache for the suffering in and around the Holy Land, please see below the pastoral letter from our bishops that I read during our worship last Sunday.
 
With continuing, urgent prayer for an end to this violence, I write with invitation for you to join with your clergy, our bishops, and our diocesan family for a “Vigil for Peace in the Land of the Holy One,” at 5:30 pm today, via Zoom. Convened by the diocesan Office of Immigration and Multicultural Ministries, the service answers the appeal by the Most Rev. Hosam E. Naoum, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem and the fifteenth Bishop of the Episcopal Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem, that churches around the world “observe a day of Fasting and Prayer for peace, reconciliation, and end to the war” today, Tuesday, October 17.
 
To receive the Zoom link for the service, the Diocese asks that all register here.
 
In addition to the Zoom opportunity, Trinity Church will be open for prayer from 5:15 to 7:00 pm tonight.
 
Between now and then, we join in the prayer commended to us by Archbishop Naoum:
 
O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land. Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land. While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples. Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
 
Peace be with you and the world,
 
The Rev. Morgan S. Allen, Rector

Oct. 13, 2023
 
Dear People of the Diocese of Massachusetts,
 
We share the outrage and horror all persons of faith must feel at the inhumane terror attacks carried out last weekend in Israel, and condemn them unequivocally. There is no justification for the intentional killing and hostage-taking of innocent civilians perpetrated by Hamas, nor for anti-Semitism in any of its manifestations in the Middle East or in our own land.
 
We know that violence begets violence; indiscriminate violence must not be used to justify indiscriminate violence. We affirm the value of all human life, and decry toxic rhetoric by anyone which dehumanizes an enemy in order to justify their killing or inhumane treatment. The concept of civilian human lives as acceptable collateral damage is antithetical to our faith. Innocent Israeli citizens and Palestinians alike have a fundamental right to safety. 
 
We join those who call for a de-escalation of hostilities, which is in the interest of all parties in the region and beyond. This conflict not only represents a critical humanitarian crisis, but risks broadening into a regional war. We join in the call for the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza (where 50 percent of residents are children not responsible for Hamas’s heinous crimes), and for adherence by all sides to the principles of the Geneva Convention.
 
Hamas in no way represents the interests or values of the Palestinian Christians who are our siblings and have been our partners in ministry for decades; indeed, the crimes of Hamas worsen their lot in an already fraught existence. Archbishop Hosam Naoum, head of the Anglican province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, has urged our support for humanitarian relief at that diocese’s Ahli Hospital in Gaza, as well as support for the churches and schools in Ramallah and elsewhere which have already begun to provide emergency shelter to refugees fleeing Gaza. The Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, as well as Episcopal Relief & Development, provide safe and accountable channels for this relief support, now and in the months ahead.
 
As your bishops, we call upon our people and congregations to provide prayer, advocacy and generous giving in this moment of crisis for our Christian, Jewish and Muslim siblings in the Holy Land. Resource links are below.
 
We join in this prayer offered by Archbishop Naoum:
 
O God of all justice and peace we cry out to you in the midst of the pain and trauma of violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land. Be with those who need you in these days of suffering; we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land. While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples. Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
 
Faithfully, in Christ,
 
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop Diocesan
The Rt. Rev. Carol J. W. T. Gallagher, Assistant Bishop