17.12.2023
A Word for the Week: … Do not be afraid…
Each week during our Shine a Light for the Diocese of Jerusalem appeal, the Archbishop is offiering a ‘Word for the Week’.
The United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough is seeking to raise €250,000 for The Diocese of Jerusalem. Through our Shine a Light for the Diocese of Jerusalem campaign, our efforts centre on The Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. This is now one of the most distressed and dismembered parts of the world. The hospital is under the care of The Diocese of Jerusalem.
In the past Dublin and Glendalough has provided on–call facilities and solar panels in the hospital. These greatly enhanced its operational capacity. The needs today are greater than ever and require urgent response.
You can uphold the people of our partner Diocese in the gift of prayer. You can also donate a gift of money by any of the following means: by bank transfer to Diocesan Funds of Dublin and Glendalough No 1 A/C Current Account,
Bank of Ireland, 2 COLLEGE GREEN DUBLIN 2 IBAN: IE50 BOFI 9000 1769 3548
78, BIC: BOFIIE2D. Cheques may be sent to Diocesan Offices of Dublin
and Glendalough, Church of Ireland House, Church Avenue, Rathmines,
Dublin 6, D06 CF67. You may also donate through Bishops’ Appeal envelopes in your parish church. (Bishops’ Appeal is supporting Dublin and Glendalough’s appeal as well as Tearfund.) All funds donated to the Shine a Light appeal will go directly to our partners in the Diocese of Jerusalem.
Between Advent and Christmas Archbishop Michael Jackson will be offering A Word for the Week derived from The Christmas Gospel as found in St Luke chapter 2. It brings us to the heart of the Christmas Story. That story reminds us of the vulnerability of all children and others, irrespective of Faith affiliation, in Gaza and of how Al Ahli is hampered in its response to their needs and urgently requires our generous support to enable it to get up and running again.
For The Third Sunday in Advent:
… do not be afraid …
Holy Scripture takes us into a realm we inhabit only at Christmas and very occasionally at other times. It is the realm of easy working relations between two parts of the creation: the angelic and the human. Much of our effort today is concentrated on the relationship between two other parts: the human and the natural as we waken up to our responsibilities for the whole created order.
The word of reassurance ascribed to the angel in St Luke’s account of Christmas is one to which all in Gaza and in Al Ahli and in every situation of terror and hopelessness the world over can hold: … do not be afraid …