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Religious Education - Grade 6 Students Pray for Peace in the Holy Land
April 2007

Blessed are the peacemakers….for they shall be called children of God - Mt 5:9
Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus.
- Written by the U.S. Bishops in “The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response”

Sixth grade students created an interreligious prayer service for peace in the Holy Land by drawing upon their experiences of field trips to Temple Jeremiah and the Islamic Cultural Center earlier this year. They followed the model of The Catholic Campaign for Peace in the Holy Land, which is part of an unprecedented interreligious initiative which engages Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders and communities in a coordinated effort to promote a just peace in the Middle East.

The students researched and then read verses from the Qu’ran, the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Christian Scriptures which offered common ground for peace-making. The Golden Rule (“Treat others as you would have them treat you”) and the symbol of a dove were also highlighted as common elements that can be found in many religious traditions.