EASTER SUNDAY MESSAGE: Father Manuel, the Pastor of Gaza 4Apr10 April 4, 2010
Editor’s Note: Today is the holiest of holy days in the Christian calendar and remembering Christ’s resurrection should indeed be a glorious celebration of redemption from sin and rebirth. But there is no joy in such a release when millions of people in the world through no fault of their own are suffering the most horrible iniquities. No chants or hymns can even begin to drown out the keening sounds of humanity and no priestly blessings will absolve us of guilt and shame for our silence. If Christians don’t bear witness to the true message brought by Jesus Christ’s ministry and speak up against the atrocities and criminal acts being wrought on their watch, then any act of worship or prayer is simply a hollow declaration of Christian faith. Christ was about healing and bringing people together in love. As Easter 2010 dawns, there is one place where an act of humanity might be the beginning of countless others – the Holy Land – the very place of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection. Palestinians have suffered decades of violence and oppression and it matters not whether they are Muslim or Christian, in the eyes of Jesus, each of them are blessed for they are the meek of the earth who need our compassion and our voices to end their suffering.
Easter mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Father Manuel Musallam, the recently retired parish priest of the Holy Family Church in Gaza said at the height of Israel’s killing spree: “Our people in Gaza are treated like animals in a zoo. They eat but remain hungry; they cry, but no one wipes their tears. There is no water, no electricity, no food, only fear, terror and blockade… Our children are living in a state of trauma and fear. They are sick from it and for other reasons such as malnutrition, poverty and the cold… The hospitals did not have basic first aid before the war and now thousands of wounded and sick are pouring in and they are performing operations in the corridors. The situation is frightening and sad.” When he speaks about Jerusalem, he reminds us that it “was the city of God, peace and prayer, but it has been converted into a city of man, war and hatred. Instead of becoming the key to the doors of heaven, it has become the key to war and blood. . . Every stone built in the Apartheid Wall, every axe strike digging under the Al-Aqsa Mosque and every house destroyed by Israel will increase the intensity of resistance and resentfulness. . . Israel has devastated and tortured us in their many wars. We ask you to see the wounds of innocent Palestinian people and to be compassionate towards the Palestinian holocaust that you witness with your own eyes and touch with your own hands, and to know those who perpetrated this crime against our children. Search with us for justice that is the mother of peace. Protect us and safeguard our Holy Sites. . . May Christ’s compassion revive our love for God even though it is currently in ‘intensive care’.”
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Dear Sonja and Australians for Palestine
Thank you for faithfully giving voice to the sufferings of Palestinians. On this day when Christ rose from the dead, conquering evil and bringing hope to all who suffer, we are grateful for your steadfast support of the Palestinians. Easter pilgrims from all over the world visit the Holy Land to see the empty tomb, but it is only when they turn away from the stones that they will meet the living people of the Land and the true Body of Christ. It is in standing in solidarity with them and partaking of their suffering that they will become one with Crucified Christ and part of His Body.
We will continue to speak up and act against the perpetuation of injustice against the Palestinians this Easter and every day till the justice of God flows like the river tide in His own land. We will speak out and act against the false peace imposed by robbing Palestinians of their rights and freedom, against the stonewalling of their destroyed lands and homes, against the hypocrisy and complicity of the west who allow brute force to attempt to annhilate an entire people. Strengthen by the Easter message, we will not be fearful but will denounce and stand up against evil, and face the persecutions such a stand results in with joyful acceptance to the glory of Christ.
We reach out to everyone who love the justice of God to take this forth and so be counted as His instruments of justice and peace. May the Risen Lord clothe us with courage. truth, justice and love. May He fill us with hope and faith that His justice and kingdom will come.
Thank you Swee for your beautiful message. Your steadfastness and courage is inspirational to us all.
Dear Dave,
As always, thoughtful provoking and heartfelt posts. As usual, we differ on *some* views.
“Jerusalem, he reminds us that it “was the city of God, peace and prayer”- it hasn’t *always* been… people are inherently *people*… they didn’t live in a Utopia. There were hierarchies, and a different kind of conflict.
Yes, agreed, converted into a city of man, war and hatred. Let’s keep emphasis on “man”. The middle east thinking dynamics is “tribal”. They process information differently, and approach conflict with a different frame of reference.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, and Arabs have more liberties there than any other arab country. What’s sad it that the Palestinians were looked upon as the lowest of the low by fellow arabs, until the Jews settled. Then the anger and conflict escalated… better to have lowly arabs than Jews.
What’s happening in Gaza, yes, is wrong. Is Israel always right, no. Is much of what’s shown in the media taken out of context, yes. Israel is getting bombed every hour near the Gaza strip, and girls I know attending school for engineering told me on a good day, bombed 12 times, on and bad day, 24… they study on the first floor of the University, no longer on upper levels. Yet, no one hears of this…. the news only portrays Israel as the attacker, not the attacked.
I’ve visited Israel, stood and the Wailing Wall, walked the roads of Nazareth.. it is a deeply spiritual place for all religions. It inspires respect for believing in something larger than yourself.
Should Palestinians have their own land, yes. Is Hope and Faith going to win peace, likely not. It is compassion and dedication to peace, it is mutual respect. It is because we have the capacity to do so that we must; not because we await to be filled with love, but because we were created with love.
Happy Easter
esta
Don’t know who Dave is Esta, but I’ll reply to your comment. Not sure though exactly what your position is. The Palestinian were never considered “the lowest of the low by fellow Arabs”. they were always the most highly educated and industrious people in the Middle East. If anything they were feared because they were far more secular. I hope the compassion of which you speak will be given to the thousands of Palestinians still suffering from the trauma of Israel’s war and its inhuman siege.