Last Friday 1 March, St Francis Church in Devonport hosted a liturgy for the World Day of Prayer which is observed on the first Friday of March each year.  It is a worldwide movement of informed prayer involving people of many denominations and languages in more than 170 countries.

Each year the service is written by women in a different country who share the hope and fears, joys and sorrows, opportunities and needs, of their country.  It affirms that informed prayer and prayerful action are inseparable.

Thirty years ago, the women of World Day of Prayer Palestine were invited to write on the theme of “Come, See and Act.”  Since Palestine is the land where Christianity was born, the women of World Day of Prayer Palestine were invited again to write the programme for this year.  A group of ecumenical Palestinian Christian women worked collectively over the last four years to pray and reflect on the theme “I Beg You … Bear With One Another in Love,” inspired by Ephesians 4:1-7.  Last week, they invited all people around the world to join them in prayer and action. 

Lily McGivern, Claire Gillies, Mrs Sarah Menzies, and I were given the opportunity to attend and participate in this Mass.  We were involved in reading the Gospel, the Prayers of Intercession and one of the three testimonies of Palestinian Women that speak to us directly. 

We enjoyed a beautiful service of prayer, songs and reflection.

Honor Braid, Year 13