|
Woman's Day
Prayers and Wishes received through the
facilitations of Pax Christi - UK
To
the Women of the Sumud Peace House, Bethlehem,
Together with women around the
world, I will be keeping you in my
prayers on Women’s World Day of
Prayer this Friday.
Brid Fitzpatrick, Newcastle upon
Tyne,
The Ecumenical Women’s Advent Group in Coventry, UK, lit candles for you as we
prayed last week.
For the darkness of waiting
of not knowing what is to come
of staying ready and quiet and attentive
we praise you O God
For the darkness of loving
in which it is safe to surrender
to let go of our self protection
and to stop holding back our desire,
we praise you O God
For the darkness of choosing
when you give us the moment to speak, and act, and change
and we cannot know what we have set in motion
but we still have to take the risk,
we praise you O God
For the darkness of hoping
in a world that longs for you
for the wrestling and the labouring of al creation
for wholeness and justice and freedom,
we praise you O God.
By Janet Morley – taken from “Celebrating Women” and written for a liturgy of
hope.
You will recognise the logo of the women from the candle we lit
when Pat and I joined your meeting in the Peace House in October.
The logo is used by the Catholic Women’s Network and is symbolic
of women dancing together and holding each other in the circle – as we hope to
hold each other in the struggle for justice.
Blessing:
Tender God, touch us.
Be touched by us;
Make us lovers of humanity,
Compassionate friends of all creation.
Creator God hear us into speech;
Speak us into acting;
And through us, recreate the world.
Carter Hayward – taken from “Celebrating Women”
With love and friendship, Ann Farr,
Coventry, UK
Although we never fully understand what you have gone through
and are going through, we are moved by your courage, touched by your work and
challenged by the need to act.
We continue to remember the people of Bethlehem in our prayers,
and want you to know we are thinking of you, praying for you and meditating on
your suffering.
Alicia Williams
Coventry
From the women of Coventry Friends Meeting House, UK
Our love and support for you all in these difficult times.
Jo Hallett
Thinking of you all and sending love and best wishes from England.
Claire Barnett
Thinking of you, with best wishes,
Bunty
Lots of people are thinking of you,
Gyll Brown
May the blessings of God rest upon you,
May his peace abide in you,
May His Presence illuminate your hearts,
Now and forever more.
With Love, Anne Burkett
In love and peace – thinking of you all in such difficult times,
Gillian Anderson
We join you in our prayers – the women of the German Lutheran
Church, Coventry, UK
The women who met last week at Coventry Quaker Meeting House stand in solidarity
with the Women of Bethlehem and hold you in the Light.
From the women
at Coventry World Women’s Day of Prayer Service, UK
God’s Blessings
that peace continues to flow in your hearts and in Bethlehem.
We will pray
for you all. Angela xxx
We are praying
for peace to come again to Bethlehem. Jennifer and Anita Barel
Remember that
the women of Coventry are with you in prayer – we pay that peace will be
restored.
God Bless you
all.
God bless you
all. Elsa Nelson from Guyana
Greetings from
the plant church of St James-on-the-Grange in Coventry, UK.
May God fill
your hearts with his peace and joy. Angela Paisley
Greetings and
prayers from the women of St Martin’s Church, Coventry, UK
God Bless you
always.
Love and
prayers from St John the Baptist Church, Coventry. Josephine and Ann
From Coventry Women’s Festival
(UK) on International Women’s Day 2008
We are praying and standing with you as people of peace and love.
May you be blessed and may your children be comforted.
We celebrate our Coventry Women’s Festival and hope to give a voice to all women
especially those who are not heard.
Our love and prayers to you.
Love and God Bless you,
Pru Poretta
Are constantly thinking about the
people of Palestine and hold you in
our thoughts and prayers.
We greet you on the occasion of
International Womens’ Day. We are
members of South Somerset Peace
Group Palestine/Israel Section. We
live in Southwest England.
We want you to know that you are all
in our thoughts, hearts and
prayers. Some, but not all of us,
have visited Bethlehem. We pray
that God will give you the strength
and courage to continue coping in
such very difficult conditions.
We send you our love and
admiration. We pray for better days
ahead.
Tricia, Shaune, Sylvia, May, Pat
and Sister Jenny
We are thinking of you on
International Women’s Day 2008…from
the women of:
Bridgend National Women’s Register
Bridgend, South Wales ,UK.
We hope that you continue to
work towards peace in your homes
and your work-places, and we
hope that you will be given
strength to continue with your
lives in a difficult situation.
Love from us all.
I am writing from Manchester .I am
sorry if this arrives late
I wanted you to know tonight how
much I feel that we are all bound
up in each other though miles apart
. at 5pm I went into the city to
take part in a demonstration to
protest against what is happening in
Gaza .I was enthused by the presence
of a greater number than usual of
young women . I passed on
information about you to them and
hope they will be in touch also.
Later there were two candlelit
peace marches with lots of women
and children and young girls dancing
. It was very cold but our hearts
were warm . The police and firemen
were also there and it was a very
happy occasion everyone united in
determination to work to stop the
violence on our streets.I left home
earlier with much anger about the
lies and distortions of the media
over here about Gaza and the blatant
pro Israeli bias but came home
feeling inspired by the women I met
who see through the media lies and
will not be deterred .You remain a
powerful symbol for us all.
May love surround you , our soul
friends, always .
sheila simpson
To our sisters in Bethlehem,
We wish you peace and all good
at this time. We speak of you to
so many we meet here in the UK.
Please be assured of our
prayers. You are much on our
hearts at this time.
Ann Hemsley and Stewart Hemsley.
Pax Christi.
--
Stewart Hemsley
Chair Pax Christi British
section.
We are meeting tomorrow evening at
Nelson, Lancashire, UK and we will
remember you and stand with you in
our thoughts and prayers.
We are meeting tomorrow evening at
Nelson, Lancashire, UK and we will
remember you and stand with you in
our thoughts and prayers.
Dear sisters,
Let us ask God our Father and
Mother to show us how to step
gently, with respect and love
for all things and everyone that
she has brought into being.
Greetings for Women’s Day!
Frances Ballin.
Frank Campbell
Prayers and wishes for your
courage
We will be with you this Women’s Day
of Prayer 2008, thinking of the
abuse that is being heaped upon you
and yours. We will try to ensure
that your voices are heard.
Below is part of a poem by Nicola:
The sound of women’s silence runs
deep
Let us attune our ears to the sounds
of women’s silence,
To attend and listen to what is not
said
What has never been said.
Let this silence cry aloud in our
ears,
Let it resound and reverberate
inside our heads,
Let it deafen our whole being with
its colossal roar.
This silence is eloquent, articulate
of women’s pain and women’s lives.
It is compelling, hypnotic, fearful,
overwhelming.
It speaks louder than words.
It utters volumes of speech.
It drowns out all other language.
So many women’s voices have been
lost in the pages of history.
We need to hear their stories,
We need to hear their voices,
To hear and know who we are.
Love from Máirín
Praying for you on 7th March as we
join in the Women’s World Day of
Prayer here in York, England. May
God be with you now and in the
future. Let us pray for each other.
Stay strong – you have friends
around the world. In love and
prayers, mandy Coventry England
I send you warm greetings on
International Women’s Day! It was a
joy to be with you and to share
stories and hopes. I will never
forget you – let us be in solidarity
in your struggle for peace and
justice!
“My heart is touched by all I
cannot save
So much has been destroyed..
I want to cast my lot in with those
Who, with no extraordinary power
Re-constitute the world”
To the Women of the Sumud Peace
House, Bethlehem
Standing with you on this day of
solidarity with women around the
world
Pat Devlin
(Northumberland U.K.)
Dear Friends, how good to be in
touch with you to celebrate women
throughout the world… and you in
particular! I wish we could be
together to dance as the women in
this drawing are dancing…. perhaps
we can dance when we meet again.
“We are on a journey to bring
justice and liberation to all the
women of the world.
We have vision that the struggles of
our foremothers will not be in vain.
We dream dreams for our daughters
and granddaughters,
that they may stand upright and
strong in their lives and work,
taking on the tasks required of
them”
(Taken from Making liturgy :
creating rituals for life and
worship)
In love and peace
Take heart, dear Sisters,
Millions of women across the world
are praying for you and thinking of
you.
Our hearts share your pain, though
we find it hard to comprehend how
hard life is for you.
We send you love, laughter and dance
– all the good things in life which
we have in abundance. Sent
tearfully across the ether, may they
strengthen you in your darkest
hours.
God bless you.
Jane Harries
Bridgend Quakers & Women to Women
for Peace in the UK
May Peace come flowing like a river,
calming all fears and encouraging
you in your efforts to build a
better world for your families and
neighbours.
With you in spirit on this day of
universal prayer.
We send a message of love and peace.
We think of you and pray for you all
and stand in solidarity with you.
May better times come soon so that
you can live in peace and security.
With our very best wishes,
Lyn and Arn Dekker, Cambridge ,
England.
I admire your tenacity and your
courage.
More and more I understand how we
know so little about love.
May you allow yourselves to be loved
by God
And may he bless your intentions and
guide your actions.
I myself am from Bethlehem, although
currently living abroad. My thoughts
are with all my Palestinian sisters
and to them I dedicate the following
poem by Maya Angelou:
|
|
|
|
You may write me
down in history
With your
bitter, twisted
lies,
You may trod me
in the very dirt
But still, like
dust, I'll rise.
Does my
sassiness upset
you?
Why are you
beset with
gloom?
'Cause I walk
like I've got
oil wells
Pumping in my
living room.
Just like moons
and like suns,
With the
certainty of
tides,
Just like hopes
springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to
see me broken?
Bowed head and
lowered eyes?
Shoulders
falling down
like teardrops.
Weakened by my
soulful cries.
Does my
haughtiness
offend you?
Don't you take
it awful hard
'Cause I laugh
like I've got
gold mines
Diggin' in my
own back yard.
You may shoot me
with your words,
You may cut me
with your eyes,
You may kill me
with your
hatefulness,
But still, like
air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness
upset you?
Does it come as
a surprise
That I dance
like I've got
diamonds
At the meeting
of my thighs?
Out of the huts
of history's
shame
I rise
Up from a past
that's rooted in
pain
I rise
I'm a black
ocean, leaping
and wide,
Welling and
swelling I bear
in the tide.
Leaving behind
nights of terror
and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak
that's
wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the
gifts that my
ancestors gave,
I am the dream
and the hope of
the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou
|
|
Today the Sisters of the Helpers of
the Holy Souls remember you in their
prayers and a candle has been lit
for you in St. Agnes Church, Huyton.
Dear sisters, I spent a week in
Jerusalem in 1990. I tried to walk
to Bethlehem I had a large blister
and did not make it. However, there
were no barriers or walls. Though I
have not returned to the Holy Land
since then, I have never left it in
spirit and my thoughts and prayers
are with you.
Catherine Vernon
Secretary Churches Together in
Notting Hill, London.
The women of Penmaenmawr in
North Wales will remember you
today during their service for
Women’s World Day of Prayer. We
pray for peace and for courage
for all of you to continue your
work for peace in such difficult
times.
Are constantly thinking about the
people of Palestine and hold you in
our thoughts and prayers.
Grace be to you, and Peace, from God
who is, and who was, and who is to
come … (Revelation, 1:4)
Thoughts and prayers from
We
have heard much about you from Ann
Farr and are appalled at the
treatment you receive. What stands
out however is your incredible
courage.
In
our church we remember Good Friday –
when Jesus was crucified – before
Easter Day when we believe he rose
again. May you find the peace and
joy of the Resurrection too.
You have been through so much
already we wish to learn from you,
and hope our prayers can help you
sustain your courage.
With our love,
Mary and Allen Edwards,
6
Belvedere Road, Coventry, UK
I am sorry I am a day late but I’ve
been thinking of all you courageous
women in Bethlehem on International
Women’s day, and stand with you in
your continuing suffering under the
occupation. I stayed in Bethlehem
last November and came away with so
many memories
Of your city, the Peace Centre, the
Special Rehabilitation Hospital,
Beit Sahour, the vigil at the wall.
I want to wish you continued
courage. With love and prayers for
peace and justice SOON
Nanny in Cambridge
You are in my prayers at this time
and I hope for a better
tomorrow for you and your families
and loved one.
Teresa Mitchell, Penarth , Wales
|
