Fast for peace

Idea exchange
March 2004

Fast for peace
Operation Rice Bowl: Around the world in 40 days

Fast for peace
Pax Christi USA (PCUSA) is conducting the 2004 Lenten Fast for Peace, Shalom, Salaam. More than 500 people including participants from England, Peru, Canada, Italy, the Philippines, and the Marshall Islands have joined PCUSA's Lenten Fast.

PCUSA invites you to view an online list of fasters, PCUSA's Lenten resources, or sign up to join the fast yourself.

During this season of fasting, Pax Christi USA calls upon its members and people of faith everywhere to join together each Friday in fasting for peace. Fasting is a part of many religious traditions and it offers a simple, yet profound way of combining the spiritual and the political. Gandhi called it "the sincerest form of prayer."

Fasting can take many forms, and PCUSA invites individuals and communities to discern the manner in which they will undertake this fast. Many Pax Christi USA members have already dedicated Fridays as days during which they will fast for peace, and in Islam, Friday is considered a holy day. PCUSA asks that fast participants use each Friday to especially pray for peace and encourages participants to fast in whatever way is possible for them.

A fast works in many ways. The emptiness in our bellies can put us in solidarity with those who suffer hunger because most of our federal budget goes to military and corporate greed while the poor and hungry suffer. The fast can be an act of penance on behalf of our country for its failures to seek out peace and its willingness to embrace war, especially the ongoing war in Iraq. The fast also sanctifies us for the time ahead, for we will need to be ever more deeply committed to the way of nonviolence and peacemaking. Lastly, a fast is a clear statement to our political leaders that we will not stand passively by while they beat the drum for war and serve the interests of transnational corporations and neglect programs that promote peace and justice.

Logistics of the PCUSA fast:

* The fast will begin February 25, Ash Wednesday and continue on Fridays throughout Lent.
* This is a communal fast, and PCUSA asks participants to please let them know if you are joining in the fast by contacting Phyllis Jepson at paxwpb@gate.net. Please provide your first and last name and the state in which you live. Names will be posted on the PCUSA website. They will keep an ongoing tally of fast participants to call attention to the cause of peace during this time.
* Each Wednesday, PCUSA will post a short reflection as well as suggestions for further action that individuals or communities may want to undertake in conjunction with the fast.
* PCUSA encourages communities to fast together and to incorporate public witness into their fasting to the degree in which they feel called. Please let us know of any planned public witness if possible.
* Groups and individuals may want to consider using the Prayer for a New Society as part of their fasting prayer.

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