Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs triumph over suffering and are
faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving,
to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may
receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let’s begin with some
audience participation. Please raise your hand if you can name the prophet Muhammad’s
mother. No one? I had to look it up, it’s Aminah bint Wahb. And if any of us
had been in the Westland mall in Nairobi, Kenya two weeks ago, our inability to
answer that question would have gotten us a bullet in the head, as it did our brother
in Christ, Joshua Hakim. He was just one the nearly 70 people who were killed
in that attack by the Boko Haram terrorist organization. And this attack, which
specifically targeted non-Muslims and Christians, is just but one example of
the plight that our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing around the world.
