advent 2024
Hearing the Cry of the Holy Innocents
As the holiday season approaches and we find ourselves inundated once again with manufactured emotion, saccharine sentimentality, and consumerist excess, we mustn’t be lulled into forgetting that the true story of Christmas is a story of unspeakable violence. With the magi’s visit, King Herod is confronted with the illegitimacy of his position as Rome’s imperial puppet in Jerusalem, and he lashes out in a genocidal rage worthy of Pharoah himself.
The contemporary parallels would be uncanny, if they weren’t so horrifying.
The Herods of our time and their imperial patrons must never be allowed to silence the cries of the innocent. We must continue to hear their cry, refusing to be comforted by the lies and enticements of privilege; we must amplify their plea, ensuring that the powerful be forever haunted by the cries of their victims.
As the magi read the words of the prophets, they find hope, seeing in them the promise of new life, of deliverance and liberation. Herod, meanwhile, instrumentalizes the very same prophecies to enact unimaginable terror in an attempt to prolong his idolatrous reign. Again, we can’t help but notice the contemporary parallels:
The court prophets of Christian Zionism continue to subvert the promises of Christ’s reign, as they provide ideological cover for imperial violence and settler-colonial conquest.
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in al-Ram, weeping and great mourning, Rahil weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
This Advent, will you hear the cry of the holy innocents?
Will you Preach Palestine and help cut through the noise of the imperial propagandists and genocide apologists who work hard to silence (or even justify) their screams.
Responding to the call of our sisters and brothers in Palestine, FOSNA calls upon all communities of faith and conviction to stand firm in the light of truth and Preach Palestine this Advent season.
Like the mothers of Bethlehem, may we refuse to “be comforted” in the face of genocidal evil.
We have gathered resources for worship planners from a diversity of traditions and voices that lift up liberation, from Turtle Island to Palestine and beyond. Please consider:
an entire service or a single prayer
a study series or a guest lecture
a film screening or a fundraising event, and/or
direct action or justice advocacy
We are asking you once again to Preach Palestine and lift up the Palestinian people such that they would come to experience the joy, justice, and peace of Christ's liberating reign, as a very real light in this age of darkness. Preach Palestine and take a stand against apartheid, dispossession, and genocide, in Palestine, in Lebanon, and beyond.
How to Participate
Commit to Preach Palestine this Advent season, sign up here, and help spread the word.
Explore, share, and utilize the Worship Resources below, including prayers to sermons to children’s stories.
Record the service and send it to friends@fosna.org. We are also calling for Advent 2024 submissions, now, as we continue to build our library of Preach Palestine resources.
Take part in the special events and actions listed below.
Consider contributing a special collection to Sabeel, FOSNA, or another solidarity or aid organization supporting Palestinians.
Explore ways to deepen your congregation's understanding and take action. Review FOSNA’s Stay Informed—Take Action—Get Involved Solidarity Guide, explore our Direct Action Database & Countering CZ Toolkit.
Featured Activities and Resources 2024
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Winter Offensive: Advent of a Revolution & Birth of a Movement
FOSNA’s Preach Palestine is collaborating with the Freedom Church of the Poor’s Winter Offensive 2024-2025. From Advent to Christmas and on to Epiphany, join us each for the “Advent of a Revolution” & “Birth of a Movement” series.
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VFHL Film Salon: "What's in a Word? - Defining Zionism"
Voices From the Holy Land, in partnership with FOSNA and (TBA) is hosting a three-part film salon series focused on Zionism. This first in the series, “What’s in a Word? - Defining Zionism,” will be December 15 @ 3pm Eastern and explores the questions of what Zionism is, how it is defined, and who gets to define it.
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Friends of Palestinian Detainees
“I was in prison, and you saw me.” FOSNA is seeking congregations in North America to participate in a pilot program that will personalize and humanize the reality of thousands of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails and prisons.
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Advent Solidarity Delegation
Contact jessewheeler@fosna.org to inquire or apply. “We extend this heartfelt invitation, asking you to come to Palestine and witness firsthand the reality our communities face. Stand in solidarity with us, be a voice for the voiceless, and help us amplify the call for peace and justice.”
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FOSNA Solidarity Guide
Stay Informed—Take Action—Get Involved: With the absence of a viable political solution, we must call on the only remaining avenues for advocacy, awareness raising, and the pursuit of a just peace: YOU!
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Advent against Apartheid
A 3-part study based on the Kairos Dossier on Israeli Apartheid. Includes: a description of apartheid and how Israel meets the international definition; a Biblical / theological reflection on the sin of apartheid; a heartfelt call to the global church; recommended actions.
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Cornerstone: Christmas Amidst Massacres
Palestinian Liberation Theology ( PLT ) has marked certain events within Palestinian history that have demanded a theological response. In the 1948 Nakba Palestinians not only experienced a physical Nakba, but a faith one as well. Today’s crisis, too, demands a theological response.
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Lenten Resources 2024
Feel welcome to explore and perhaps draw inspiration from worship resources collected during the past Lent and Easter seasons and compiled in a separate page.
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Direct Action Database
Community Organizing. Public Education. Ethical Investing & B.D.S. Legal Defense, Lawfare, & Human Rights. Media & P.R. Handbooks & Toolkits. Political Advocacy. The Arts, & Creative Resistance. Events Calendars.
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Countering Christian Zionism Toolkit
Understand Christian Zionism, learn best practices to challenge it, and discover liberating theological alternatives. Recruit and mobilize your community to Counter Christian Zionism. Gain the skills to nonviolently confront Christian Zionist organizing in your area.
Worship Resources
Sermons, sermon Starters, Bible Studies, & Devotionals
Liturgy
Prayer
Children’s Stories
Art, Music, poetry, & Multi-Media
Additional Resources
Statements, Responses, & Resources
Pray & Preach, Sing & Study Palestine In the Season of Advent and Christmas (UMKR)
BETHLEHEM UNTOLD: We Sing Stories of Hope (Heart of the Rockies Christian Church)
An Invitation to Stand with Palestinian Christians this Advent and Christmas (UMKR)
A Litany for the Holy Land
This litany was prepared by an Episcopal Palestinian priest for use on October 17, 2023, a day of fasting and prayer, called by Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings - Advent Year B (2023)
UCC PIN—Anticipating Advent: Liturgical Resources (2022)
Full Litany: Honoring First Peoples — Confession and Reconciliation
A Litany Honoring First Peoples.
Full Litany: KEEP AWAKE!
An Advent Litany around the theme: Keep Awake!
CONFESSIONS & ASSURANCE
Confessional Prayer around U.S. Zionist oppression and a supplication for wisdom.
CANDLE LIGHTING, HOPE THEME, AND RESPONSIVE READING
A prayer for those living under occupation and oppression.
Openings, Invocations, Calls To Worship, Acknowledgements
An Invocation on the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine.
Litanies of Intersession for Palestine
Raise prayers of intercession for Palestine using our litanies.
Closings and benedictions
Christ is our peace
And now we commit to sharing that peace with the world.