Fifth Sunday of Lent
April 06, 2025
Isaiah 43:16-21 | Psalm 126 | Philippians 3:4b-14 | John 12:1-8
Fifth Sunday of Lent Devotion
by Gerry Yokota
“I am in Gaza, and Gaza is in me.”
These are the words I chanted unceasingly for the forty kilometers we walked on the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage in Osaka, Japan in March of 2024.
Our pilgrimage was only ten hours, but I will now embody the precious memory of the people’s suffering, and also their joy, for life.
This simple chant has become a daily reminder that the Nakba is ongoing.
I am mindful that the trauma of the Holocaust also still cries out for healing.
When it rains, as it did all that day, I am reminded of the 2014 prayer of the Reverend Yohanna Katanocho:
“Our tears are the bridge between brutality and humanity;
our tears are the salty gates for seeing a different reality.”
What else can I remember? What will I pray? What will I do?
When I see a rock, I recall the rubble. I may pray for the souls trapped beneath it. Will I appeal to our world leaders to cease and desist from the madness of war?
When I see a wall, I lament the walls we have all built up around our rock-hard hearts. I may pray that my tears soften those hard hearts. Will I appeal to everyone to let down their hard-hearted defenses?
When I break bread, I renew my faith that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Can I share my bread?
When I hear the laughter of children, I renew my commitment to live in the knowledge that any child is my child. What can I do so that the mouth of every child is filled with laughter, and their tongue with singing?
The heart of Quaker faith and practice is in our queries. I conclude with these queries and with a prayer that they echo in hearts around the world.
How will you remember? What will you pray? What will you do?
“The grains of a dying ear of grain fill the valley with ears of grain.”
Mahmoud Darwish
Professor Gerry Yokota is semi-retired as of 2020 from Osaka University, where she had taught in the School of Language and Culture since 1988. She continues to teach in the International College. Prof. Yokota organized a Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage in Osaka in April of 2024 and continues to be an advocate of nonviolence.
To read the previous devotional click here: https://cmep.org/prayers4peace4thsundayoflent/