This Sunday, we light the candle of peace.

It is a brave (or maybe foolish) thing, I think, to light a candle for peace, to pray for peace, to work and advocate for peace, when peace seems impossible to us right now in so many parts of the world.

What is happening in the Holy Land, and has been happening for years, weighs on my heart particularly, without taking away from the violence and conflict in so many places around the world. Working for peace in this part of the world must include an awareness of and vigilance against the sin of antisemitism that runs deep in our society and our churches.

And so, waiting for, praying for the coming of the Prince of Peace, I want to share a section of this year’s Advent letter and Appeal from the Most Reverend Hosam E. Naoum, the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, our brother in Christ, himself from Galilee, whose diocese serves many of the region’s Palestinian Christians.

Due to the current situation in our beloved Holy Land and the heartbreaking scenes that have shattered our hearts, we have decided this year to limit our celebrations to prayers, liturgies, and carols within our churches. In a spirit of solidarity within the Body of Christ, I invite you to join us in the discipline by reflecting on the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ more than two thousand years ago, as well as on the conditions prevailing in the land at that time.

In doing so, we will find that they were no better than the circumstances here today. During the first Christmas, the Holy Family had difficulty finding a place for their son’s birth. There was the killing of children. There was military occupation. And there was the Holy Family becoming displaced as refugees. Outwardly, there was no reason for celebration and joy other than the birth of the Lord Jesus. In our day, let us likewise find our cause for celebration from fixing our eyes on the Child lying in the manger. Let Advent be for us a time of expectation through prayer, worship, and acts of kindness: “Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Paslm 33:20-22, NRSV).

Come Now, O Prince of Peace.

CG+

 

Read the head of the Anglican Church of Canada’s invitation to respond to Archbishop Naoum’s letter.

(tiny.cc/6g4hvz)

 

Find a way to donate to the PWRDF “Gaza Emergency Response Fund,” including to the re-opened, Anglican-run Al-Ahli hospital in Northern Gaza.

(tiny.cc/bh4hvz)

 

Read the heads of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada’s letter to the Prime Minister calling for a ceasefire. Perhaps consider doing the same.

(tinyurl.com/4s2m88tm)