28th December 2024
Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31: 15
You Lord, are the source of all good things:
Yet we fail you.
You call us to tend and care for your creation:
Yet we fail you.
You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:
Yet we fail you.
A reading from Matthew 2: 16-18
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.’
Response
Thus says the Lord, ‘Not only in Ramah but in Ramallah too
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!’
In Rafah, Jabalia and Khan Yunis too
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
In Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al Salam of North Darfur
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
In the refugee camps of Arkoum, Adré and Farchana, Chad
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
In Goma, north east in the Democratic Republic of Congo
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
In the gang warfare in Haiti
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
In the aftermath of earth quakes in Vanuatu
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
In the small boats crossing the Mediterranean and the Channel
is the sound of wailing of wailing and lamentation heard.
In the underground shelters and the streets of Kharkiv, Lviv, and Odesa
is the sound of wailing and lamentation heard!
Lord, how is it we do not hear and do not respond?
Lord, how is it that our governments ignore the cries
and yet continue to send arms?
Lord, how is it that politicians say they understand people’s concern
and yet just sit on their hands?
Lord, how is it that financial institutions perceive the risks
and yet continue to provide the funds?
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15
Prayer
Merciful God, Mother and Father of all,
remake in us new hearts for love,
new minds for wisdom,
and new resolve for action.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where the wolf shall live with the lamb,
where refugees will not have to fear a tyrants rage.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where the leopard will lie down with the kid,
where those of minority faiths will not fear oppression.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where the calf, the lion and the fatling will be led by a child,
and where no child will be sidelined by those in power.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where the cow and bear, the calf and cub, will eat together,
where no one will go hungry because someone has hoarded the surplus.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where the lion eats like an ox,
where the CEO will dine like a delivery driver – and vice versa.
Help us to reshape our world as a place where the
where the baby shall play over the hole of the asp,
where babies will sleep to the lullabies of the wind turbine.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where the toddler will put its hand on the adder’s den,
where all will be inoculated against childhood diseases.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
where no one will cause injury or destruction,
where all will be treated as holy.
Help us to reshape our world as a place
that is as full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters that cover the sea.
Amen. (With material from Isaiah 11 6-9)
The Green Tau 