On Sunday, Roman Catholic Pope Francis spoke strong words of condemnation for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, expressing clearly his personal sorrow and the inevitable judgment of both God and history upon such actions. Francis also shared words of caution for those who would seek to use violence to achieve peace saying:

“War brings on war! Violence brings on violence!”

Bishop Grant Hagiya presented a strong United Methodist letter in support of peace.

The Bishop concluded: “So let me encourage you to heed Pope Francis’ invitation to spend Saturday, September 7th in fasting and to pray for peace in Syria. For some, this may be most practically done in private or with your loved ones. For others, you may wish to invite your community to pray and fast together in some manner – leaving your sanctuary open or hosting an evening vigil. Wherever there is an opportunity, I would challenge you to reach out to other faith communities to join together in that most generous spirit of interfaith ecumenism. What a blessing it would be for our sanctuaries to be used by our communities for prayers such as these!

Despite its long history in our Christian tradition, I expect that fasting may be something relatively unfamiliar to some and beyond the ability of others for any numbers of health reasons. Please participate as you can, knowing that God understands and does not expect us to endanger our health.

I have asked our staff to gather a few resources to support your efforts of prayer and fasting for Syria. These should be available for you sometime on Wednesday. Please take advantage of these if they are useful but don’t let us stop you from seeking out and sharing your own practices as well.*

UMCOR is supporting Syrian Refugees. The number of refugees is incredible–perhaps the greatest challenge for refugee workers since the Rwandan Refugee efforts.

Here are some of the references on fasting:

Resources on Fasting

An Embarrassment of Riches, a short intro to Fasting

A John Wesley Sermon on Fasting

Lent: A Time to Fast and Pray – UM Interpreter

What does The United Methodist Church say about fasting? – umc.org

Regional Media Center Resource | Celebration of Discipline | Mudhouse Sabbath

Related articles

• Pope Francis renews appeal for prayer and fasting on Saturday (en.radiovaticana.va)
• Vatican ramps up opposition to Syria strikes (thehindu.com)