Greetings to you, sisters and brothers,
in the name of our Lord Jesus,
the one we know as the Prince of
Peace.
On Sunday, Roman Catholic Pope
Francis spoke strong words of condemnation for the use of chemical weapons in
Syria, expressing clearly his personal sorrow and the inevitable judgment of
both God and history upon such actions. Francis also shared words of caution for
those who would seek to use violence to achieve peace saying:
"War brings on war! Violence brings on
violence!"
It is too easy to feel powerless
in the face of such terrible events that are half the world away. That is why I
was moved by Francis' invitation to his flock to a day of fasting and prayer for
peace in Syria. And in a promising spirit of ecumenism, he extended this
invitation to all people "of good will." I am writing to encourage you to
consider how we might accept this invitation.
Our United Methodist Social
Principles clearly express our distain for war and violence, recognizing how
they "frustrate God's loving purposes for humankind." As Christians we are
called to be peacemakers, even as we sometimes hold within our body very
different understandings on how that peace might be achieved. But nothing in our
disagreements should keep us from being united in our prayers for peace in Syria
and around the world.
It is up to our government,and
other foreign governments, to decide whether to intervene to stop these acts of
violence by the Syrian leadership. This will most likely involve military
intervention. Although we have the power of the prophetic voice, our main
mission as a church is to seek peace, not war or violence. Our most important
response at this time is to pray and ask for peace.
So let me encourage you
to heed Pope Francis' invitation to spend Saturday, September 7th in fasting and
to pray for peace in Syria. For some, this may be most practically done
in private or with your loved ones. For others, you may wish to invite your
community to pray and fast together in some manner - leaving your sanctuary open
or hosting an evening vigil. Wherever there is an opportunity, I would challenge
you to reach out to other faith communities to join together in that most
generous spirit of interfaith ecumenism. What a blessing it would be for our
sanctuaries to be used by our communities for prayers such as these!
Despite its long history in our
Christian tradition, I expect that fasting may be something relatively
unfamiliar to some and beyond the ability of others for any numbers of heath
reasons. Please participate as you can, knowing that God understands and does
not expect us to endanger our health.
I have asked our Office of
Connectional Ministries to gather a few resources to support your efforts of
prayer and fasting for Syria. These should be available for you sometime on
Wednesday. Please take advantage of these if they are useful but don't let us
stop you from seeking out and sharing your own practices as well.*
Grace and
peace,
Bishop Grant Hagiya
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