"Even if it ends, the desires for revenge will persist, and we will have to struggle with the consequences of this war on people’s lives for a long time to come.”
This was the heart-rending response to the question on the intractably knotty conflict between Israel and Palestine, which has claimed thousands of lives and rendered millions homeless in recent times, by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in his homily during the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, August 15.
The prelate, whose diocese covers both Israel, those living in the Palestinian territories of Gaza, and the West Bank, stated that while everyone wants an end to the conflict, its end will not mark “the end of hostilities and the pain they will cause,” as the desire for revenge will persist, and “we will have to struggle with the consequences of this war on people’s lives for a long time to come.”
His vintage position has allowed him to experience firsthand the consequences of violence, especially that which has ravaged the Gaza Strip in the last two years, which requires, according to him, "true words of peace, not sugarcoated and abstract speeches."
This comes amidst fresh concern of evacuation order issued Monday, August 18, to all the neighborhood residents of the Holy Family Parish, Gaza city, by Israel, as part of a broader Israeli plan to relocate Palestinians from northern Gaza, where the parish is located, to designated zones in the south.
Fr. Romanelli expressed concern about the feasibility of relocating Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants, querying: “Where can they find the space for all the inhabitants?” Even more worrisome is what will become of the only Church in isolation.
But Israeli military says the relocation plan is necessary to protect civilians amid the ongoing two-year war, which has led to a humanitarian crisis due to severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies, with Aid agencies such as Caritas Jerusalem reporting that people were dying of hunger and children suffering from malnutrition.
“It really does seem that our Holy Land, which preserves the highest revelation and manifestation of God, is also the place of the highest manifestation of Satan’s power. And perhaps precisely because it is the place where the heart of salvation history is located, it is also the place where ‘the Ancient Adversary’ tries to assert himself more than anywhere else,” he noted.
The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem was reflecting on the passage from the Book of Revelation that depicts the enormous dragon with seven heads and 10 diadems, which “is a very clear representation of the power of evil in the world, of Satan.”
“It strikes me that it is clear from this passage that the dragon, Satan, will never cease to assert himself and rage in the world, especially ‘against those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus,’” he noted.
This, he explained, leads Christians to be aware that “the power of evil will continue to be present in the life of the world and in our own lives,” but this does not mean resignation, since the solemnity of the Assumption “also tells us that there is someone before whom evil is powerless.”
“The power of the dragon cannot prevail in the face of a birth, a mother who gives birth, who generates life. The dragon cannot triumph over the seed of life, the fruit of love,” he pointed out.
The Cardinal noted that the Church is called to plant a seed of life in the world. “Evil will continue to express itself, but we will be the place, the presence that the dragon cannot overcome: a seed of life,” he affirmed.
He said “we know that sooner or later the dragon will be defeated,” Christians today are called to persevere, “because we know that the dragon will continue to rage through history,” adding that “the blood caused by all this evil” throughout the world “flows under the altar, mingled with the blood of the Lamb, united to the work of redemption to which we all are part of.”
Landscape of destruction
“The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which we celebrate, her complete participation, with body and soul, in the victory of Christ, is also a foretaste of our destiny as children of God, as baptized and redeemed by the blood of Christ,” he affirmed.
Finally, encouraging his faithful, the patriarch said: “As we rise from the Eucharistic table, today, we carry with us the certainty of Christ’s victory over death, the conviction that our life, however much it may be turned upside down by the dramatic events of today, is nevertheless the place where the dragon will not prevail, for it is a life bathed in the blood of the Lamb, in God’s infinite love."
News & information costs money, real MONEY. Kindly support our modest effort to keep you abreast of relevant information you need. If you'll like to encourage and support us, kindly send us mail at: chimeziepascal@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment