CPTnet
December 16, 2004

IRAQ INVITATION TO PRAYER AND FASTING: December 21, 2004. A mother's story

 CPT in Iraq invites you to join with us every Tuesday for a day of prayer
and fasting that will continue until Easter week. At 9am Eastern Standard
Time (1400GMT) on Tuesdays the team will gather for an hour of focused
prayer. You are invited to participate as you are led either by joining us
in fasting (the team will do a bread and water fast) and/or participating
with us a time of joint prayer -- Additionally we will provide an action
step(s) connected with the sacred passage that will be the focus for our
time of prayer together. If you are so led, the CPT Iraq team asks that you
participate in the suggested action between Tuesday and Thursday so we can
be working together. We created a web page where people can post
reflections that occur during their time of prayer. You will find a link to
the website at the end of the release.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004
A Mother's Story

Luke 1:38
Then Mary said, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word."

The story of the birth of Jesus is also the story of Mary. This simple,
faithful woman from Galilee accepted the task of being the mother of Jesus,
knowing from the beginning that it was going to be difficult. Her own
engagement at the time was enough reason to decline. She ran the real
risk of becoming an unwed mother and possibly being stoned as an adulteress
when Joseph discovered she was with child. Yet her heart told her her
pregnancy was right.

The rest of the story described more trouble for Mary. Emperor Augustus
called for a census, which meant that Mary and Joseph had to travel, in the
late stages of her pregnancy, to Joseph's hometown of Bethlehem to register.
While they were there Jesus is born in a humble manner, and sometime after
the birth the family had to flee to Egypt to avoid the wrath of King Herod
who was determined to kill Mary's child. Of course, Mary didn't know all of
these things would happen to her, nor did she know that she would eventually
witness the agonizing death of her son. She simply accepted motherhood with
all its joys and perils.

Right now in Iraq and in the United States mothers (and fathers) have
accepted this same labor of love and are now concerned for the well-being of
their children, whether their children are babes in arms or soldiers in
uniform. Families on all sides of the conflict are experiencing the
absence, injury and sometimes even death of their beloved children.

Suggested Action:
* Make a special time of prayer this week for the mothers, fathers and
children who are affected by the conflict in Iraq. Pray that those who
perpetrate the violence will recognize their own humanity and will be led to
stop making war on families. Pray by name for those you know who are
affected personally.

* Support a family who has a loved one in the conflict, be s/he from the
United States, Iraq, the United Kingdom, etc. Be supportive as you feel
led--share Christmas treats, visit, drop a card or an e-mail, or simply let
them know you remember their loved one.

* Remember the Iraqi families who are suffering now, many who have
experienced great personal struggle and loss.

 Post your message on our web log http://prayerandactionforiraq.com for us
to relay to Iraqis. Follow these instructions:

* Go to http://prayerandactionforiraq.com

* Scroll down to the bottom of the posting you wish to comment on.

* Click on the place that shows the number of comments made on the
posting.

* Scroll to the bottom of that page and click where is says, "Post a
comment."

For other comments, CPT in Iraq has begun a web log found at
http://prayerandactionforiraq.blogspot.com. We encourage you to post any
insights that may have come to your during your time of prayer. We also
encourage you to post any heartening or disheartening aspects of our actions
so that we may encourage each other's spiritual growth.

To post a comment on our web log, follow these steps:
1) Scroll down to the bottom of the posting you wish to comment on.
2) Click on the place that shows the number of comments made on the
posting. 3) Scroll to the bottom of that page and click where is says,
"Post a comment."