"It seems that Oct 7th is a day of violence. Notably the Battle of Lepanto from where we get Our Lady of the Rosary, our US invasion of Afghanistan, and this weekend there were the attacks launched in the Holy Land.
I just want to share a few personal thoughts as I watch and pray about the horrendous goings on. I’ve seen the situation on the ground, and daily I read the Israeli news. Every day my Twitter and Instagram feeds are filled with IDF (Israeli Defense Force) violence and settler disputes. It’s a way for me to keep up with the issues that affect our Christian brothers and sisters in the land of Jesus. I give these to you my St. John parishioners as several of you have asked what I think, and many may be wondering what is going on.
Terror is always wrong. What is going on there is the inhumane actions of people who deny the humanity of each other. Terror launched on innocents is always wrong and there is no way around that. Saturday is what happens when people are pushed by provocations in their homes and which disrupt the established status quo of cultural and religious sites. In just this year over 200 Palestinian civilians and 40 children have been killed by Israeli IDF forces and settlers moving onto lands to provoke the peoples of the land. The past months have seen near regular incursions of Jewish settlers to visit and pray atop the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of armed guards. This year has been particularly volatile in the Land of the Lord. This follows up the government grab around the stealing homes of Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, next door to where I stay when in Jerusalem, which resulted in rocket fire into Israel just a couple of years ago.
Israel has been challenged to the core over the past months in the debates over its judicial reform. The political infighting and identity of what it means to be a Jewish State has led to massive protests never seen before for weeks on end, every night in the main cities of Israel. The arguments over politics, religious vs secular identity, orthodox and liberal angst at one another, and the equation of soldiers with boys who study in yeshivas have been constant. All the while the top politicians in cabinet-level positions make inflammatory and racist statements towards the Palestinians. I think the terrorists have seized upon the weaknesses and internal strife of Israel.
The news of terror is not acceptable and yet the government powers come back with American planes and bombs to lay siege on a trapped 2.4 million population. The UN has condemned the collective punishment levied on the people trapped in Gaza. They are trapped in an area 25 miles long and about 6 miles wide. The retaliation towards Gazans with precision bombs and massive firepower, along with a total cut off of water, fuel, electricity, and food is dangerous. The amount of indiscriminate killing by the side that has the most support and supposed moral high ground really needs to make the ordinary person look at what they wholly support. So many, and they cannot see the humanity of the other.
There is so much to talk about and discuss. I’d be glad if you’d like.
All along, who will be forgotten? The Christians. They are the most persecuted minority in the Holy Land and have no voice in either government. We are not a religion of a land or a mountain top, but a faith that worships in spirit and truth the True and Only God revealed to us in Jesus the Messiah. There will be no peace until Christ reigns in the hearts of all men and women. When the idea of a new Israel is spoken of, it is the Church of which is spoken. It is not a country established in the 1940’s, but the kingdom of God in the Church where all men and women, slave and free, Jew or Greek are welcome. Those who turn to Christ Jesus and believe in him are the promise. We have to keep that in the forefront of our thought before we support any worldly enterprise of government. Especially when on either side our Christian brothers and sisters, who are Palestinian, will suffer. Judaism was fulfilled with the advent of the Messiah Jesus and we must do our best to speak that truth for the conversion of all of good will. This time will come to be extra difficult for the Christians who rely on guiding pilgrimages are unable to do so and find themselves unable to work with dignity in the land their ancestors have called home for centuries.
In the meantime, I urge you to join in efforts of prayer and fasting to bring about the end of this warfare and the respect of the dignity of all parties. The atrocities committed whether years ago or today are terrible and unbecoming of a human. As Christians, our prayers are our greatest weapon and the most often requested by my friends in the Holy Land and Christian officials. Tuesday Oct 17th, we will have Adoration and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 9am till the normal 8pm as a time for you to pray and implore the Lord for peace and reconciliation.
I cannot imagine what those that have lost loved ones in such violent manners feel. Prayer for all souls lost and the consolation of their families would be the right thing to pray for in this situation. Please pray with me."