|
The Rev. Canon Dr. Richard LeSueur gave the sermon at Christ Church Cathedral on Jerusalem Sunday (12 May). Richard has served as an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Jerusalem, in Western and Central Canada, and more recently in the Diocese of British Columbia as the Rector of St. George’s Cadboro Bay until 2016. He joined the teaching staff of St. George’s College, Jerusalem in 1992 and over 30 plus years has facilitated more than 50 programs of Christian pilgrimage for clergy and laity through the biblical lands.
Sermon video
Richard quoted The Venerable Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s College in Jerusalem following an email conversation. One of the questions our preacher asked the Dean in response to the war in the Holy Land is: “Are there things we can do from afar?”
Dean Sewell provided three actionable items as follows:
1. “Please pepper your political representatives calling for a ceasefire – for an end to this humanitarian catastrophe. Tell people they don’t need to have all of the arguments for a ceasefire – just make Canada a leader in calling the parties to end the awful killing and release the hostages... stop the war.”
The MP for Victoria is Laurel Collins. She can be reached at 250-363-3600 or laurel.collins2@parl.gc.ca or
The Prime Minister can be contacted at: pm.gc.ca where you can send an email to his office.
CAUTION: Following the news on this continuing disaster can be traumatizing. If you are able, please find a way to at least be aware of how the situation in the Holy Land is unfolding.
2. “Please don’t look away from this situation. I know it is relentless. I know it is sometimes overwhelming, but simply turning off and saying “No, I can’t cope with any of that anymore.. I can’t watch this”, that really does leave us bereft. So, stay in touch with the news in a way that is manageable for you, but please, don’t just look away from us.”
3. “Please don't let your language, whatever your particular perspective is, whichever side of this awful conflict you tend to veer towards, become infected by the language of hatred and division where you demean or diminish the pain of the other side as if it were nothing. If we do not engage in a radical empathy which reaches beyond those that we naturally feel an affinity to, we will be perpetuating the same awful conflict in our own communities. So, finding words that bridge is important.”
Richard LeSueur also spoke of the Anglican hospital in Gaza, the Ali Hospital, which is still functioning while many others, being completely destroyed, cannot. You can find out more about the hospital and how to support it, here: https://pwrdf.org/blast-in-gaza-devastates-al-ahli-arab-hospital-shocks-international-community/
|
