source from: <http://www.vidimusdominum.org.>
VIDIMUS DOMINUM Tuesday, March 18, 2003

The various Missionary Societies in Germany, both Catholic and Protestant, together with the National Associations of the Religious, have set up a network of prayer for peace.

We invite all to pray to for a "just peace" in the Region of the Middle East, especially around the Persian Gulf. We join in the urgent appeal for peace made by Pope John Paul II on January 13th, 2003.

With this request for prayer, we remind all men and women of good will of the power of Christian witness and of Jesus' model of non-violence. We appeal to all those with responsibility to give preference to the peaceful solution of the conflicts in the region and to have confidence in the fact that, through a common initiative of all the spiritual traditions that have their origins in the region, we will be able to stop the war in Iraq even before it is begun.

 

Aachen, 14th of February 2003
Hermann Schaluck, ofm
www.missio-aachen.de

ECUMENICAL PRAYER FOR PEACE 2003

OO one God of all peoples and nations,
You created the earth and the cosmos,
in their beauty and also in their frailty.
All cultures and religions are on their way to you,
the origin of all that has been created..
You want all to be for one another not a threat,
but a blessing.

Our one world should be, by your will,
a peaceful home for all.
You chose the Orient to make known to all
your many names.
Abraham is a father in faith for Jews, Muslims and Christians.
He listened to your call
in the region between the Euphrates and the Tigris, the present-day Iraq.
In a special way, you promised life and future to the old and new People of Israel.

As Christian men and women, we thank you
for our Lord and Brother Jesus Christ.
He is our Peace.
He came to knock down walls and to give to all, without distinction,
life and a future.

We know ourselves to be in communion with the Churches of the Orient.
They witness to the Gospel of Jesus,
to the liberating power of his non-violence
and to his Resurrection.

We also pray to you
in unity with all our brothers and sisters of other religions,
especially those which have their origin in the Middle East.
In all of them you have instilled the hunger and thirst for justice
and a deep desire for peace.
All are in mourning for the victims of hatred and violence.
All are called to collaborate in the construction of a new world.

We, therefore, beseech you:
Have mercy on all the victims and on all the offenders.
Put an end to the spiral of violence and hatred.
Let all of us, especially those who bear responsibility,
be ever more convinced that the way to peace
is not that of war and violence,
but of building peace through non-violence and justice,.
Let your peace flow like a river through all our deserts.

Lord, give us strength and endurance
to pull down the mountains of misunderstanding,
to fill in the trenches of hatred
and to level the paths towards a more just and a more peaceful world order.
Let the arms of destruction be laid down soon,
and let the melody of peace and reconciliation resound throughout your entire creation.

One God with many names,
make us all instruments of your peace.

Up...