A call from Pax Christi: Prayer, Fasting and Action for Peace

Pax Christi invite people of faith around the country to join in solidarity with others to fast and pray for one or more 24-hour period between September 8 and October 7.

Pax Christi hope that this simple gesture will be a small act of solidarity with those whose lives are destroyed by war – in Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Ukraine, and that it will offer prayerful encouragement to the many peace talks and negotiations which are taking place, as well as supporting a range of peace activities.

Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of Pax Christi, commented: “People of faith need to draw on all the resources available to them in the face of so much violence in our world.

“We felt drawn by the message in the Gospel: 'Why couldn’t we drive the spirit out?' Jesus replied: 'This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.' Mark 9 v 28.

“We know that people are involved in all kinds of campaigning and advocacy work and that this needs prayerful support.”

A school in Birmingham Diocese has committed to prayer and fasting between September 22-26; members of the organisation Christians Aware are to take part on September 16 and Pax Christi are organising a prayer and fast event in London on October 2.

Pax Christi is involved in a number of initiatives during this period, including:

• An emergency lobby of Parliament for Gaza on September 9, which will call for an end to the arms trade with Israel and a permanent lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

• A range of services and meetings between September 18-21 for the World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel.

• A vigil of prayer and fasting for peace outside Downing Street on October 2, International Day of Nonviolence.

Those wishing to join in with this project are invited to choose one or more days to fast and use the Prayer for Peace in the Middle East (see below). If they wish, they can tell Pax Christi which day and where they are from, and this will be added to a Prayer and Fasting calendar.

(info@paxchristi.org.uk or 0208 203 3884)

Pax Christi Prayer for Peace in the Middle East:

We come to you, God Creator.
You are the source of life and beauty and power.
Your son Jesus is the way of faith and hope and love.
Your Spirit is the fire of love, the fount of wisdom, the bond of unity.
You call us at all times to be people of the beatitudes,
witnesses to the Gospel of peace and love and forgiveness.
You call us at this time, when war and rumours of war,
weigh heavily on the peoples of the Middle East.
Their lives are already broken by suffering and violence.
We renew our acceptance of your call.

We promise to work:

To bring the light of the Gospel to those living in darkness,
To bring the hope of the Gospel to those living in despair,
To bring the healing of the Gospel to the lonely,
the disadvantaged, the marginalized,
and to bring the peace of the Gospel to a divided world.